Thin Lizzy fans have been getting their money’s worth in recent years. Reissues of the studio albums, beautiful collection boxes and the freshly released reissue of Live And Dangerous, the classic live album by the band. Life Live was that album’s younger sibling, distinguishing itself in bringing mostly songs written and performed later than the ones Live And Dangerous. Furthermore it featured most of the band’s guitar players and, to top it off, alas in a negative way, it’s sound was significantly less crisp and clear than Live And Dangerous. Phil, who oversaw the production, must have been out of touch with the band’s total sound and focussing on getting a great bass sound. Fans awaited it’s re-release eagerly because of it’s sound, even while realizing the original master tapes were gone.

Listening to the earlier version of this album on CD, then on to the new one and back and again, again and through your headphones, it requires a very good hearing to hear any  substantial differences. Sometimes you may actually think you did find them. Then again, can it be that it feels that way because you may have listened to the album already many times before? And does it not simply require more repeated listening because you might just want to get used to that new sound, demanding more than even a second, third and fourth listening?  Maybe even so you can’t just spot  a difference at all; the release has been remastered, it says, from the best sources available. But, do yourself a favour and listen to the later released recordings of the Reading festival in 1983 which really sound better.

Still, this new release of Life Live  doesn’t bring a life-size difference in sound to the table. Neither is it about  getting a treasure trove of extra songs; there are none at all. So what is the album about then? When it was first released in 1983, this was first of all the live album of the line-up with John Sykes and Scott Gorham and Darren Wharton as well as the first and at the time only document of the band’s farewell tour. It is and was wonderful to hear Baby Please Don’t Go and Holy War back to back and, at that, sublimely played! At the same time, the Life Live tracks are not only recordings of this tour, because we also find Hollywood, Killer On The Loose and Renegade here, from 1981, with the unsurpassed Snowy White on guitar. Great performances too, with the more subtle White in songs he also contributed to in the studio, more tasteful than the raging version of Angel Of Death for instance we also get to hear as that was played during the farewell tour by Scott and John.

John Sykes certainly knows how to play, he was key to renewing the band’s energy before they threw in the towel. At the same time, the more metal orientation that the band got as with John’s joining also somewhat drove out the just so essential melodic side of the band, partly formed by the double guitar work that was so characteristic of the Lizzy sound. Listen again to the last tracks of the first disc: both Angel Of Death and Are You Ready almost sound like they’re in the hands of a metal band that plays Thin Lizzy. Where many fans of the band would have liked to see an album with John Sykes, the memory of the Bospop festival where the later incarnation of the band with John on vocals and Tommy Aldridge playing the drums, even ramming the rhythms home with his bare hands, performed and made the band sound almost unrecognizable and especially very heavy, is reason enough to send shivers down the spine. Much more so than Thunder And Lightning, Cold Sweat or other songs in which the lightning fast John Sykes certainly shows his great guitar playing, Lizzy was always a band that built on Celtic influences, groove, melancholy, heroism in lyrics and a harder approach, yet always bathing in melody.All that is not completely lost on this album, certainly not, but listen carefully and you will hear the band rip through the classics with a slight tendency towards metal. Everyone can have their own opinion but no matter how much energy John brought, even the significantly more subtle Snowy, no matter how far he was from the image of the rugged Lizzy, fit better with that classic more melodic Lizzy approach in terms of guitar sound. Not that John didn’t fit in or metallized everything, but the difference in approach is certainly there. With perhaps Got To Give It Up being the most wonderful exception that John completely owns here: a master in melody. Emerald, on the other hand, a gem among Lizzy songs is also performed in raging fashion here and although Brian Robertson in his time as Lizzy guitarist could certainly be fast in his solos, the performances of the solos in that song with Scott were always much more of an exchange of solos rather than a race. In any case, it is great that Brian participated and was part of it. Also for the great Black Rose from the time that Gary Moore was in the band, he played the song himself. With all its Celtic influences and finesse, youwouldn’t want that in any different way. It has Gary’s name all over it, so to speak.

The penultimate song is a great performance of Lizzy’s ballad Still In Love With You where you can also hear how Phil was doing. Here, by the way, much less tendency to rip into a metal version. The closing number is very special. Eric Bell, Brian Robertson and Gary Moore play The Rocker together with John Sykes, Scott Gorham, Phil, Brian Downey and Darren Wharton. It is phenomenal to hear all those guitarists play the solo together with Darren. Life Live is a beautiful document of the last tour of Thin Lizzy with Phil still alive and on board. It’s not the most amazing release from a sound point of view, but it has a historical significance due to the participation of pretty much the entire bunch of Thin Lizzy guitarists who participated and it holds some very strong performances. For a long time it was the only long player with live recordings of the Sykes-Gorham period and thus a splendid reminder of the last revival of the band. Valuable especially in historical terms and one of the go-to live albums of the Lizzy lovers who especially hold the John Sykes period high. If you love your Lizzy with a heavier punch than on Live And Dangerous, this, with it’s rawness from start to finish could be right up your ally.