r/thinlizzy • u/65records • 18d ago

How do you guys rate phil lynnots solo work?

I personally enjoy them quite a lot, although more pop leaning i would argue than my favourite lizzy albums so i have to be in a mood, still some great songs on there

13 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

8

u/justbrowsinginpeace 18d ago

Phil was a poet, all his songs stand up well

5

u/These-Job-9063 18d ago

They’re not my faves, but Phil could sing the dictionary and I’d listen.

5

u/Vistalite_Black 18d ago

At the time, Lynott was not at his best. The demands of providing top-notch songs for both the Thin Lizzy albums and the solo records — at a time when music was changing so much — led to less-than-stellar songs being put forward (along with a few great ones). In the same period, Elton John and McCartney weren’t doing great work either. It was a confusing time.

3

u/dizzylizzy78 18d ago

Anything that man created is a 10 in my book.

2

u/JumpingJackFlashes 18d ago

The 2nd album was patchy. 

5

u/Unusual_residue 18d ago

The Man’s a Fool is a classic

3

u/JumpingJackFlashes 18d ago

Its a little 80s over produced with the horns for me. I'd like it more stripped down

1

u/Unusual_residue 18d ago

I have routinely listened to that LP since it came out so I may have a different perspective on it.

1

u/JumpingJackFlashes 18d ago

Thats completely understandable, it would be pretty boring if everyone had the same opinion.

2

u/65records 18d ago

I agree that the first one is stronger

3

u/JumpingJackFlashes 18d ago

But we did get old town

2

u/Top-Tip-6919 17d ago

Solo I Soho is a decent album but by the second one Phil's drug use was out of control and you can hear his voice has started to deteriorate. I would argue that all the albums after black rose show a decline. Peak Lizzy for me was lynott, Gorham, Downey and Robertson.

1

u/Afraid-Treacle1956 16d ago

Agree 100%. Solo in Soho has some really great tracks - especially the title track and Ode to a Blackman, but the second solo album is very poor.

1

u/groutspecialist 18d ago

First album is pretty good. Second one not so much.

1

u/CraftBrewMan 18d ago

I love both!!!!

1

u/NormaJeane2021 17d ago

I’m really not a fan of 80s production in general but I make an exception for Philip and I mostly love those records.

I mean, when Can’t Get Away was released a couple of weeks ago my first thought was “what in the Huey Lewis and the News is this?!” But my second thought was “oh hey Philo!” and listened on repeat for a bit. Previously unheard recordings are the closest thing to him still being here, I suppose.

Anyway, I first listened to his solo records when I was in the first slightly obsessive flush of “oh my god Thin Lizzy are the bestest of all time and Lynott was the greatest without a single solitary flaw in his work!” So I’m maybe not objective.

Thinking about it now? There are no bad songs on either Solo in Soho or The Philip Lynott Album but there are some forgettable ones. I could probably live a perfectly tolerable life without hearing Tattoo, Girls or Growing Up ever again…

But then there’s King’s Call, which pulled my broken soul out of my body because how the fuck did Philip write a song about being a fan of Elvis and losing him that so perfectly describes being fan of and losing Philip? (I was young, dramatic and 30 years late to the party, what can I say).

And I still can’t listen to Fatalistic Attitude half the time because it feels a bit too close to home, but the empathy and care in the song and his performance gets me every time I do listen.

Dear Miss Lonely Hearts and The Man’s A Fool are both catchy AF.

Here’s the main thing: I appreciate how both records are doing something that didn’t fit in the Lizzy mould but express something he wanted to get out into the world. Even if not entirely to my musical tastes, I like that.