Thin Lizzy: Are You Ready: Greatest Hits Live (1981/Rockpalast/Eagle DVD)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Concert: B-

 

 

Thin Lizzy was a groundbreaking Rock/Pop act in the 1970s from Dublin, Ireland best known for their hit The Boys Are Back In Town.  Fans have noted that had leader singer/guitarist Phil Lynott (who died young in 1986) been black, they would not have experienced silent racism that made them a one-hit wonder.  Album sales were better and Are You Ready: Greatest Hits Live (1981) shows a band still at their best form an episode of the famous German music series Rockpalast.

 

This DVD offers the following songs:

 

1)     Are You Ready?

2)     Genocide

3)     Waiting For An Alibi

4)     Jailbreak

5)     Trouble Boys

6)     Don’t Believe A Word

7)     Memory Pain

8)     Got To Give It Up

9)     Chinatown

10)  Hollywood

11)  Cowboy Song

12)  The Boys Are Back In Town

13)  Suicide

14)  Black Rose

15)  Sugar Blues

16)  Baby Drives Me Crazy

17)  Rosalie

18)  Desaster

19)  Emerald

 

 

Lynott influenced many performers, from Prince to Bono to many others who would cross music genre barriers and the band remains ahead of its time.  The material holds up well and the band had the talent to play, along with the energy and joy real talent brings to the stage.  If you like their music, you’ll want to see them on this DVD.

 

The 1.33 X 1 image is a little softer than I expected considering this is a PAL analog taping of the time, but it survives.  The DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes try to make the sound cleaner and clearer, but neither can cover up the age of the audio.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is also on the weak side.  There are no extras.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo