Vagabonds of the Western World

Vagabonds of the Western World captures Thin Lizzy before the later twin-guitar style was fully formed, moving freely among blues, folk, soul and hard rock while strongly establishing Phil Lynott’s identity as a writer. Eric Bell’s guitar does more than deliver heavy riffs: it adds crying phrases and rough distortion according to each song’s shade, supporting the stories in Lynott’s voice and bass. Brian Downey never overplays, shifting between lightness and weight to fit each track’s temperature and giving the trio a natural flow. The glossy entrance of “Mama Nature Said,” the uneasy drama of “The Hero and the Madman” and the melancholy of “Little Girl in Bloom” show a band that refuses to fit inside simple rock and roll. The movement from the quiet afterglow of “A Song for While I’m Away” to the raw drive of “The Rocker” summarizes the album’s range. Different colors appear in every song, but Lynott’s humane voice and writing hold the record together. It anticipates the leap to come while preserving the rich uncertainty and appeal of early Thin Lizzy at its strongest.