2011 has been a good year for Thin Lizzy fans, with various deluxe reissues bringing new life to the band’s classic back catalogue. The year saw deluxe and expanded reissues of ‘Jailbreak’, ‘Johnny The Fox’, ‘Bad Reputation’, ‘Live & Dangerous’, ‘Black Rose’ and ‘Chinatown’.
The end of the year also saw the release of a seven disc (6CD+1DVD) box set of the band’s extant BBC recordings. It was not complete, however, since Lizzy’s 1983 performance at the Reading Festival was conspicuously absent. The gig was previously issued by a BBC subsidiary in the mid 90s, but for whatever reason, they chose not to include it as part of an otherwise unmissable set.
The band’s 1974 and 1975 releases ‘Nightlife’ and ‘Fighting’ seemed to be overlooked – an odd move in the case of the latter – but there’s some great news. Both albums will be reissued as 2CD deluxe sets on February 27th 2012. As yet, no tracklistings have been announced.
Following those, it is likely 1981’s ‘Renegade’ and 1983’s ‘Thunder & Lightning’ will receive deluxe treatment – making a complete set of expanded studio albums – but this is not yet confirmed. The absent Reading Festival ’83 appearance would make a perfect bonus disc for ‘Thunder & Lightning’ after all.