ADRIAN THRILLS: The boys are back in town with the greatest live album of all time

THIN LIZZY: Live And Dangerous (Universal Deluxe Edition)

Classification:*****

Verdict: Still in love with Lizzy

MÅNESKIN: Quick! (Columbia)

Qualification: ***

Verdict: Derivative, but fun

We’ve been live and dangerous for you at the Rainbow,’ says Phil Lynott on one of 63 previously unreleased tracks added to a mammoth new edition of Thin Lizzy’s celebrated 1978 live album.

I wasn’t kidding. By the late 1970s, the group he launched at the turn of the decade was one of the most feverish and formidable rock acts in the world.

With the charismatic Dubliner at the helm, and hits like The Boys Are Back In Town in the repertoire, Live And Dangerous is ranked the greatest live album ever by both Classic Rock and the NME. And, while a recording can never replicate being there, this one comes closer than most.

Recorded in London, Philadelphia and Toronto in 1976 and 1977, the original double LP spent three months in the UK Top Ten and only stayed out of the top spot thanks to the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Time has only amplified her power: the verve of Lizzy’s impeccable musicianship is something to behold.

Overseen by guitarist Scott Gorham and available as an 8-CD box set (£67) as well as on streaming platforms, the new package brings together all six shows bundled together for the initial LP. Also included is a 1978 London concert, plus a remastered version of the original album. Despite the inevitable repetition (and there is a lot of it), it’s a rewarding exercise: not an album to be listened to all at once, but one to be immersed in, one show at a time.

This reissue also sheds new light on one of rock’s great debates. There have been suggestions that Live And Dangerous is not strictly a live album. Producer Tony Visconti, who delayed work on David Bowie’s Lodger to mix the original selection of songs, claimed much of the 1978 album was spruced up with studio overdubs.

The band has always denied the gimmickry, admitting only that some off-key choruses were replaced and some technical issues were fixed. Without resolving the controversy, the concerts reproduced in their entirety here support the band’s side of the argument by reiterating what a compact and professional team they were on stage.

Behind the singer and bassist Lynott, his main letter of introduction was the guitar interplay of Gorham, a Californian, and the young Scotsman Brian Robertson. They synchronized her playing to produce her galloping, rocking solos in tandem, creating Lizzy’s legendary “twin harmony” wall of sound. Tellingly, they were both introduced on stage as lead guitarists.

The album was also Lynott’s finest hour. With his crotch-hugging leather pants and studded wristbands, the leader had a pirate vibe and plenty of star quality. Beneath the macho stance, he was also a gifted songwriter with a golden voice and soulful Celtic heart.

High points include the blue-collar rocker Southbound, the upbeat pop song Dancing In The Moonlight and the confessional Still In Love With You, a power ballad so romantic Sade covered it years later. Of the previously unheard tracks, a cover of Soldier Of Fortune from 1977, recorded in Philadelphia, is one of the standouts. Lizzy never got this momentum back. Guitarist Robertson has been left out of a US tour with Queen after injuring his hand in a fight outside a London club. The rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle also took its toll on the other members.

Here, however, they were at their best. And, with legacy albums from Elton John, Abba, Queen and Fleetwood Mac in the top 20 best-sellers of 2022, this offers another fascinating look at the heyday of classic rock.

• WITH former contestant Sam Ryder now one of Britain’s brightest pop stars and John Lydon in the frame to sing for Ireland, the once-ridiculed Eurovision Song Contest is (whisper it) in danger of becoming credible. Their rehabilitation dates back to 2021, when Maneskin became the first rock band to win since Lordi in 2006. Rather than disappear, like most Eurovision hopefuls, the fiery Italian foursome flourished.

His reputation, already polished by a dynamic live show, should be further enhanced with today’s release of Rush!, his third album overall and his first sung primarily in English. There’s nothing hugely innovative on display. With Swedish mastermind Max Martin co-producing, the band rushes through short, crisp songs that take no time at all to reach their TikTok-friendly hooks.

Bassist Victoria De Angelis adds a loud rumble to Gasoline. Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello guest on Gossip. The influences are easy to detect. Maneskin covered Franz Ferdinand’s Take Me Out on the Italian X Factor in 2017, and there’s more indebtedness to Glasgow indie-rockers in Feel’s angular grooves. Kool Kids winks at the Pixies. But, as they sing on the latter: “We’re not punk, we’re not pop, we’re just music fans.” For a group in their early 20s, they seem unusually fame-fatigued, with shallow celebrity culture a particular target. “Sip the gossip, drink until you choke,” frontman Damiano David says on Gossip.

But the responsibility largely lies in having fun, even if that occasionally turns into a gimmick, as in the number of the novelty Bla Bla Bla, a song that (despite some fruity language) could easily have been tailor-made for Eurovision. . . Or, at least, Eurovision as it was, before Maneskin changed the game.

• MANESKIN will headline the O2 Arena, London on May 8 (ticketmaster.co.uk).