Thin Lizzy are a hard rock band formed in Dublin, Ireland, in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist and lead vocalist Phil Lynott, met while still in school. Lynott led the group throughout their recording career of twelve studio albums, writing most of the material. The singles “Whiskey in the Jar” (a traditional Irish ballad), “The Boys Are Back in Town” and “Waiting for an Alibi” were international hits. After Lynott’s death in 1986, various incarnations of the band emerged over the years based initially around guitarists Scott Gorham and John Sykes, though Sykes left the band in 2009. Gorham later continued with a new line-up including Downey. Here are all of Thin Lizzy’s albums ranked.

Don’t miss out on the TIMELESS Thin Lizzy music below! Click to experience the greatest Irish band of ALL TIME!

12. Shades of a Blue Orphanage (1972)

“What a wonderful thing to discover this gem. It’s easy to hear some Van Morrison and Free in the music but also a bit of Mountain as well. It’s amazing that this album didn’t sell well in the UK in 1972 and probably wasn’t released at all in the states at the time since Thin Lizzy didn’t tour here until a couple of years later. Eric Bell was a fantastic guitarist and sounds great in a wide variety of styles. This is easily among the best albums from a year that had a lot of great albums.”

11. Thin Lizzy (1971)

“Thin Lizzy came out in 1971 and it showed that Phil Lynott could come up with good songs. It is quite likeable for a debut and the best songs from the period when they had Eric Bell were the acoustic based ones; in this case ‘Saga of the Ageing Orphan’ and ‘Honesty Is Not Excuse’ are excellent. In addition, Brian Downey did great on drums throughout while the song that Eric Bell wrote is ‘Ray-Gun’ that has some good riffs on it. The remaining songs have valuable aspects on them and Thin Lizzy’s debut came out as a more accurate representation of would they could accomplish than what they would release as a followup.”

10. Renegade (1981)

“Renegade is a very musically diverse album from the borderline metal Angel Of Death with it’s eerie keyboard intro solo, to the jazzy track Fats. Some Thin Lizzy classics to come from this album in my opinion include Angel Of Death, Renegade, The Pressure Will Blow, and Hollywood. Those tracks alone should have been enough to gather at least a 3 star review from the “professional critics”. If you read the review on AllMusisGuide, you will see a “critic” stating how the title track fails to “tug on the heart strings”. That struck me as rather odd, as Renegade was as heavy as Lizzy could get before Thunder and Lightning. If any track on this album is meant to tug on the heart strings, it’s It’s Getting Dangerous.”

9. Vagabonds of the Western World (1973)

“This is Thin Lizzy’s final album with Guitarist, Eric Bell. This 2 Disc CD contains many great tunes including the title track “Vagabonds Of The Western World”, the Blazing Anthem “The Rocker”, and the dark bluesy number called “Slow Blues.” My personal favorite is Eric Bell’s Blazing Guitar Solo at the end of “Slow Blues”. It is by far the best part of the entire song which is “Slow Blues.” Thanks!!!”

See More: Deep Purple Albums Ranked

8. Thunder and Lightning (1983)

“The final Thin Lizzy album was in many ways a new beginning. New blood in the form of John Sykes and Darren Wharton (who was now greatly contributing to the writing) had given the band a new lease on life and freshened up their sound considerably. Not saying that the preceding albums were bad mind you, but the collective focus was re-adjusted and the band sounded hungry again. Songs such as “The Holy War”, “Baby Please Don’t Go”, “The Sun Goes Down”, “Cold Sweat” and the roaring title track showed that this band still had something to prove. Alas, they never got the chance and this would be their swansong.”

7. Nightlife (1974)

“Nightlife is Thin Lizzy’s Fourth album. It contains the signature Thin Lizzy Ballad “Still In Love With You” which would become a live favorite four years later on the “Live And Dangerous” album in 1978. Other favorites including the All Man Brothers influenced opening track “She Knows”, the heavy upbeat of “It’s Only Money”, the funk- inspired number “Showdown”, the melodic short track “Frankie Carroll”, a melodic powerful ballad “Philomena”, the thunderous upbeat rocker “Sha La La”, and the Electric Light Orchestra Closer Ballad “Dear Heart.”

6. Chinatown (1980)

“Regarded as a major slip in their step by many (but not me), this album is Lizzy’s first of the new decade and even with it’s faults and shortcomings, it’s still a good record with some pretty damn good songs. At this time Phil Lynott was a damn machine; in 1979 alone he released his first solo album and what I feel to be the best Thin Lizzy album of all time with “Black Rose” all while taking an astonishing amount of drink and drugs AND touring. Gary Moore split in the middle of a U.S. tour and the band scrambled to fill his spot which was eventually taken by blues guitarist Snowy White. Time has shown that White wasn’t the best choice suited for the band and his time was brief, but the songs that made the cut for this album were far from sub-par.”

5. Fighting (1975)

“By the time 1979 came round, Thin Lizzy was already going through the lead guitarists like no tomorrow. Brian Robertson was out and Gary Moore was back in for the third time. The result has to be the most creative album in the band’s back catalogue. Thin Lizzy’s Black Rose is the peak of the band’s creativity. Jailbreak was a balls to the wall heavy album and Johnny The Fox was a slick disc of great songs. However Black Rose trumps them both in sheer quality. Sure they don’t necessarily have that all time classic hit single, the closest being Waiting For An Alibi.”

4. Bad Reputation (1977)

“An anomaly within the catalog; this is the first Lizzy album to be recorded primarily as a trio since 1973’s “Vagabonds of the Western World” but it is a giant step forward in terms of songwriting and sonic structure. Opening with what I feel is the strongest song on the record, “Soldier of Fortune” begins with an impassioned vocal from Lynott and impressive guitar work from Scott Gorham, who handled most of the record on his own. Thankfully Brian Robertson was able to come back and play on a few songs on the album and it’s all the better for it. This might be the most balanced album in the group’s catalog with a fine mix between rockers and ballads and it has a smattering of “should-have-been hits” like “Dancing in the Moonlight” and lost classics such as “Southbound” resting alongside fiery rockers like “Opium Trail” and the title track.”

3. Black Rose: A Rock Legend (1979)

“Jailbreak contained their biggest hit and had comfortably their greatest U.S. success, but Black Rose is Thin Lizzy’s artistic high watermark. Gary Moore’s temporary presence made hard rockers such as ‘Do Anything You Want To’ and ‘Waiting For An Alibi’ sound punchier than ever, while Phil Lynott’s genuine sensitive side was showcased on the lovely ballad to his baby daughter, ‘Sarah’. Shortly after Black Rose, drug abuse would really begin to get its claws into some of the members and especially Lynott; they never reached these heights again.”

2. Johnny the Fox (1976)

“Overall, “Johnny the Fox” is a very underrated but superb and excellent album from Thin Lizzy, and is also the second of four “classic” releases that these legendary Irish rockers put out in the 70’s which also include 1976’s “Jailbreak”, 1977’s “Bad Reputation”, and 1979’s “Black Rose”. Sadly though, the concept of this album here would prove prophetic for Phil Lynott as he would become a victim of the same lifestyle a decade later. This whole album is just wonderfully produced from start to finish. Every song is just perfect, essential, classic hard rock listening. From the vocals, to the guitars, bass, drums, just everything on this album is just tight, polished, and played with pure professionalism throughout here. Bottom line, “Johnny the Fox” is truly an essential must have if you’re already a fan of Thin Lizzy and classic hard rock in general, and if you’re just starting to get into the band’s music, then this album here along with “Jailbreak” would be both great places to start with.”

1. Jailbreak (1976)

“This is the pretty good title track of the Jailbreak album. Here you will find a consistent rhythmic rocker with great guitar riffs and solos. I don’t consider it the greatest song on the Jailbreak album although it has been a steady staple on classic rock stations for many years. There are other songs on the Jailbreak album, like Emerald, that I consider better songs but this is still a solid guitar song and solid performance.”