Vagabonds of the Western World is the third studio album by Irish hard rock band Thin Lizzy, released in 1973. It was the band's last album with original guitarist Eric Bell and the first to feature the artwork of Jim Fitzpatrick, whose work would appear on many subsequent albums by the band.
Pitchfork reviewer Stuart Berman remarked how the band were "starting to kick out the jams with greater confidence and consistency" on this album, with Phil Lynott producing "the sound of a spiritually adrift musician ecstatically discovering his true calling" on "The Rocker". Berman also commented favourably on the "swinging" "Mama Nature Said", the "gorgeous soul serenade 'Little Girl in Bloom'" and the title song.[6] Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic described the album as Thin Lizzy's "first sonically satisfying album", with Lynott "brimming with attitude and dangerous swagger" on "The Rocker", their "first bona fide classic". He described "Little Girl in Bloom" as "absolutely flawless", and noted Eric Bell's slide guitar playing on the environmentalist "Mama Nature Said", but criticised "The Hero and the Madman" and "Slow Blues" as "overblown" and "tepid" respectively.[4] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff remarked on the album's "crusty sound quality and style-searching waywardness", mixing influences ranging from American blues, to Motown, to early metal. He rated Vagabonds of the Western World the lowest of all Thin Lizzy's albums for four tracks which "seem either simple and out-of-character or dated", "bearing scant few traces of the high class Lizzy imprint."[5]
When the album was repackaged for CD in 1991, it included the respective A and B-sides of the two singles released at around the same time. "Whiskey in the Jar" was Lizzy's first hit.
On 11 October 2010 Vagabonds of the Western World was reissued as a 2CD deluxe edition. This version was remastered with bonus tracks. The original album and bonus material is featured on disc 1, while disc 2 features bonus material.
Disc one bonus tracks
No.
Title
Writer(s)
Length
9.
"Randolph's Tango"
3:49
10.
"Broken Dreams"
4:26
11.
"The Rocker" (single version)
2:41
12.
"Here I Go Again" (B-side of the single "The Rocker")
Lynott
4:41
13.
"Cruising in the Lizzymobile" (originally "A Ride in the Lizzy Mobile", B-side of the German single "The Rocker")
Bell
4:07
14.
"Little Darling"
Lynott
2:55
15.
"Sitamoia"
Downey
3:20
16.
"Slow Blues" (1977 overdubbed and remixed version)
Gary Moore – lead guitar and acoustic guitar on "Sitamoia", "Little Darling" and "Slow Blues (1977 Version)" on disc 1 & tracks 8–13 on disc 2
Strings: Tony Harris – viola; Ian MacKinnon – violin; Don McVay – viola; Alan Merrick – violin; Paul Mosby – cor anglais, oboe; Peter Oxar – violin; Peter Poole – violin; Godfrey Salmon – violin; Alan Sloan – violin; Quentin Williams – cello
^Vagabonds of the Western World. Alan Byrne. 20 September 2015. p. 50. ISBN9780992948085. Retrieved 31 December 2022. sessions for what was to become Vagabonds of the Western World began in earnest on April 11
^Vagabonds of the Western World. Alan Byrne. 20 September 2015. p. 53. ISBN9780992948085. Retrieved 31 December 2022. the album was compiled and mixed over July17-19 but further work was done on "The Rocker
[4]