Nightlife (Thin Lizzy album)

Nightlife is the fourth studio album by Irish band Thin Lizzy, released in 1974. It was produced by Ron Nevison and bandleader Phil Lynott, and was the first album to feature the band as a quartet with newcomers Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson on guitars.

Nightlife
Cover art by Jim Fitzpatrick
Studio album by Thin Lizzy
Released	8 November 1974
Recorded	April and September 1974[1]
Studio	Saturn Studios, Worthing, Trident Studios and Olympic Studios, London, UK[2]
Genre	Hard rock blues rock
Length	37:11
Label	Vertigo Mercury (Canada only)
Producer	Ron Nevison and Phil Lynott
Thin Lizzy chronology
Vagabonds of the Western World (1973) Nightlife (1974) Fighting (1975)
Singles from Nightlife
"Philomena" / "Sha La La" Released: 25 October 1974 "It's Only Money" / "Night Life" Released: 1974 (Germany only) "Showdown" / "Night Life" Released: 1974 (US only)

Some reissue CDs, and occasionally other sources, spell the album title as Night Life, the same as the song title. However the original album title is Nightlife.[1]

The song "Philomena" was written for Lynott's mother.[1]

Album artwork

The album cover, designed by Jim Fitzpatrick, shows a panther-like creature in a city scene. The panther is often thought to be intended to represent Lynott,[1] but Fitzpatrick has confirmed that the panther referred to the Black Panthers and African-American political figures like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.[3]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	7/10[5]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described Nightlife as an "underrated gem of a record", but a "complete anomaly within their catalog"... "a subdued, soulful record, smooth in ways that Thin Lizzy never were before and rarely were afterwards". He singles out "She Knows" as "gently propulsive, [and] utterly addictive", but adds that there are "still moments of tough, primal rock 'n' roll", such as "It's Only Money" and "Sha La La".[4] Martin Popoff judged the album "more enigmatic, sincere and philosophically complex than much else rock 'n' roll out there at the time", but also "too distant from the band's heart and soul" and overtly into black music, with Lynott "searching for ways to pay homage to his racial heritage."[5]

Cover versions

• American metal band Slough Feg covered "Sha La La" on a 2006 split with Bible of the Devil, and again on their 2011 live album Made in Poland.[6]
• Concrete Blonde covered "It's Only Money" on their 1989 album Free.[7]
• "It's Only Money" was re-recorded 35 years later by Robertson on his 2011 solo album Diamonds and Dirt.[8]
• The Obsessed covered "It's Only Money" on their 2017 album Sacred.[9]

Track listings

All tracks are written by Phil Lynott, except where noted.

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"She Knows" (Scott Gorham, Lynott)	5:13
2.	"Night Life"	3:57
3.	"It's Only Money"	2:47
4.	"Still in Love with You"	5:40
5.	"Frankie Carroll"	2:02

Side two

No.	Title	Length
6.	"Showdown"	4:32
7.	"Banshee"	1:27
8.	"Philomena"	3:41
9.	"Sha La La" (Brian Downey, Lynott)	3:27
10.	"Dear Heart"	4:35

The song "Night Life" borrows the title and chorus of Willie Nelson's 1960 song "Night Life", but Nelson is not credited on the album.[10]

On the cassette version, the positions of "She Knows" and "Showdown" were reversed.

Remastered edition

A remastered 2-CD set deluxe edition of Nightlife was released on 12 March 2012.

Disc two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"She Knows" (BBC Session, 3 October 1974)	5:10
2.	"Sha-La-La" (BBC Session, 3 October 1974)	3:38
3.	"It's Only Money" (BBC Session, 3 October 1974)	2:44
4.	"Philomena" (BBC Session, 3 October 1974)	3:43
5.	"Dear Heart" (BBC Session, 23 October 1974)	4:28
6.	"Banshee" (BBC Session, 23 October 1974)	2:43
7.	"Showdown" (demo with Gary Moore)	3:53
8.	"Still in Love with You" (demo with Gary Moore)	6:27
9.	"It's Only Money" (demo with Gary Moore)	2:55
10.	"Showdown" (alternate take)	4:37
11.	"Still in Love with You" (rough vocal mix)	6:02
Total length:		46:20

Singles

• Philomena/Sha-La-La – 7" (1974)
• It’s Only Money/Night Life – 7" (1974)
• Showdown/Night Life – 7" (1974)

Personnel

Thin Lizzy

• Phil Lynott – bass guitar, vocals, acoustic guitar, producer
• Scott Gorham – guitars
• Brian Robertson – guitars, backing vocals
• Brian Downey – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Frankie Miller – joint lead vocals on "Still in Love with You"
• Gary Moore – lead guitar on "Still in Love with You"
• Jean Alain Roussel – Hammond B3, piano on tracks 1, 4, 5 and 10
• Jimmy Horowitz – orchestral arrangements on tracks 1, 5 and 10

Production

• Ron Nevison – producer, engineer, mixing
• Ted Sharp – engineer
• Arnie Acosta – mastering at The Mastering Lab, Los Angeles

References

1. Byrne, Alan (2006). Thin Lizzy: Soldiers of Fortune. London, UK: SAF Publishing. pp. 65–86. ISBN 978-0946719815.
2. "Thin Lizzy - Nightlife". Thin Lizzy Guide.com. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
3. "Nightlife album cover". Jim Fitzpatrick official website. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Thin Lizzy - Nightlife review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
5. Popoff, Martin (October 2003). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 1: The Seventies. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 278. ISBN 978-1894959025.
6. Made in Poland (CD booklet). Slough Feg. Warsaw, Poland: Megadisc. 2011. MEGACD1.CS1 maint: others (link)
7. Free (CD booklet). Concrete Blonde. Culver City, California: I.R.S. Records. 1989. IRSD-82001.CS1 maint: others (link)
8. Diamonds and Dirt (CD booklet). Brian Robertson. Hannover, Germany: SPV GmbH. 2011. SPV 309072 CD.CS1 maint: others (link)
9. Sacred (CD booklet). The Obsessed. Upper Darby, Pennsylvania: Relapse Records. 2017. RR7361.CS1 maint: others (link)
10. Adams, Scott (10 September 2012). "Thin Lizzy: Nightlife and Fighting, Reissues". Ink 19.com.