via Spotify

Picture it, it’s 1977, and Dublin, Ireland rock band, Thin Lizzy has just released two records the year before, the concept album “Johnny the Fox” and the smash hit record, “Jailbreak.” The latter contains classics like “Cowboy Song,” and “The Boys Are Back In Town.”

By now in ‘77, Thin Lizzy had eight records under their belt, a massive discography of music, and a worldwide fan base, Thin Lizzy would go on to release “Bad Reputation” which turned out to be the fourth to last record the band would release before the death of singer and bassist, Phil Lynott.

The entire record is a run time of 30 minutes and the entire record contains nine songs of dual guitars from Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham with Brian Downey on the drums.

The first song of the record, “Soldier of Fortune,” starts out slow for the first half a minute until the very familiar double guitar riff kicks in in front of Lynott’s bassline.

“Soldier of Fortune” is a very fun song, it’s jumpy and has that classic Thin Lizzy sound that can be found on popular songs like “Jailbreak” and “The Boys Are Back In Town.”

What I love most about this song is the chorus and the harmony between the band in the final line of “I can hear the pipers calling.” What I gathered from a little research and educated guesses is that the song is about a soldier who is “trained to kill and kill he will” while attempting to march to glory.

What I think is even cooler than looking into the lyrics of the song is the armylike drum beat at the three-minute mark of the song. It fits perfectly with the theme of the song, how can you not have an army marching beat in a song about a soldier? 

Track two, which is the title track, has an opposite feel of the song that came before. It has a hard rock groove and shows how tight the band has become at this point despite Robertson leaving the band and then coming back at the beginning of the recording of the album.

I really like this song and it’s a great song to blast on the stereo system since I was finally able to get my hands on a vinyl copy. I love the bassline in this song, it’s not too chunky, it’s the perfect song that has helped mold the band’s sound.

The next two tracks, “Opium Trail,” and “South Bound” are pretty good songs that help the record progress.

“Opium Trail” sounds similar to “Bad Reputation” in terms of sound and feel of the song while “South Bound” is a return to the double guitar riffs that were heard in “Soldier of Fortune.”

As we move to the song in the middle of the record and one of two singles from this record we come to my favorite song off the record, track five which is “Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in It’s Spotlight).”

What I love about this song is that it’s different in that it stands out from the rest of the record. It contains a saxophone played by Supertramp member, John Helliwell. 

It might just be the way I hear this song but I hear a lot of Lynott’s bass over the other two guitars and I really like that. I rarely hear a song where the bass is being used more like a lead guitar and it really is a refreshing sound to hear that instead of guitars, especially at the halfway point of the album.

The next song, “Killer Without a Cause” is a return to the hard rock sound that has been heard throughout the record. This particular song contains an acoustic guitar reinforcing the electric riff while there are multiple breaks for a talk box throughout the song. If you’ve read other articles then you know I love a good talk box.

Track seven, “Downtown Sundown,” is a return to the mellow, chill vibe that was found in “Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in It’s Spotlight).” It’s a pretty good song, it’s relaxing and it fits on a Thin Lizzy record because only they can pull off having a clarinet in one of their songs played by Helliwell.

The second to last song, “That Woman’s Gonna Break Your Heart” is a faster song than the one before it and it’s pretty catchy. It’s not the best song on the album but it’s a pretty nice way to segway into the final song on the record.

With the final song just being mentioned, that brings us to the closing track, “Dear Lord” which opens up with an instrumental section that lasts just over a minute while including one mini solo. 

This song is one of my favorite songs on the entire record. It’s just one of those mellow songs that you can just vibe to. It’s a lot like some of the other songs on the record in terms of the vibe.

Like most Thin Lizzy songs, Lynott’s bassline is very distinct in the song and his vocals are amazing whether that’s in the chorus that the entire band sings or the regular lyrics throughout the song.

I love the bassline and riffs from this song, it all meshes together really well and the rhythm from Downey on the Hi-hat and the rest of the drum kit help keep the beat down and move the song along.

I really enjoy this record a lot. There’s something for every type of rock fan on this record and I think it is Thin Lizzy’s best. That’s right, better than “Jailbreak.”

I think “Bad Reputation” is a lot more diverse than most Thin Lizzy records and explores a lot of different styles of music which I really like a lot.

This is a must-listen to in terms of great and underrated records of the 1970s and should get a lot more recognition than it gets when it comes to the band.

So, do you remember?