Song Of The Day 4/18/2014: Thin Lizzy - "The Rocker"

It's Alive: The only thing that keeps me from saying Thin Lizzy's Live And Dangerous was the premier live rock album of the '70s is the nagging question of total authenticity. Tony Visconti, the producer, claims that the document sounds so flawless because it was 75% recorded in the studio, and only 25% in an actual live performance. The band insists it was the other way around. Nobody's claiming there weren't any overdubs; they're just squabbling over how much. But that's how it was back then. Truth is it's probably hard to find a live album that wasn't doctored in the studio. Frampton Comes Alive!, The Last Waltz, the entire KISS Alive series -- yes, even Cheap Trick at Budokan, though Rick Nielsen claims they only overdubbed parts you couldn't hear on the original master tape. That had to account for at least 50% of the show back then. I can't think how it was possible to have perfect mobile recordings in the 1970's.

So you know what? Screw it! Live and Dangerous was the premier live rock album of the '70s. There. An assertive proclamation. My life coach, Miley Cyrus, will be thrilled. This is the album's closing song, "The Rocker," but any other track on Live And Dangerous is also fantastic. Go listen to the whole thing and see if you can spot Huey Lewis (seriously).