Thin Lizzy Digs Into the Vault to Complete ‘Acoustic Sessions’

Thin Lizzy will release a stripped-down new album called Acoustic Sessions with archival contributions from late frontman Phil Lynott and former drummer Brian Downey. It’s due on Jan. 24, 2025.

Fellow band cofounder Eric Bell reimagined the songs by adding acoustic guitar to tracks from the 50th-anniversary super deluxe editions of Thin Lizzy’s 1971 self-titled debut, 1972’s Shades of a Blue Orphanage and 1973’s Vagabonds of the Western World.

Pre-ordering for the album is already underway. The complete track listing, an all-new acoustic version of “Whiskey in a Jar” and a trailer for Acoustic Sessions can be found below.

READ MORE: Ranking Every Thin Lizzy Album

Bell said he used an approach that wasn’t much different from how Thin Lizzy originally completed these songs. “I remember recording ‘Eire’ from our debut album Thin Lizzy in 1971. I wrote the main guitar part first on acoustic and then we built it up from there. I played the 12-string acoustic throughout the track and introduced the electric on top,” Bell said in an official statement.

“This was useful in the studio in Belfast recently where we recorded fresh guitar parts to allow us to create new Thin Lizzy acoustic versions of some of our favorite songs,” Bell added, “by recreating those original acoustic parts and adding the vocals which Philip laid down on the day and those original drum parts which Brian came up with in the original recording sessions.”

Bell left Thin Lizzy following the release of Vagabonds of the Western World. After Gary Moore‘s brief first stint, Scott Gorham succeeded Bell and subsequently led the reunited act in the wake of Lynott’s 1986 death at age 36. Downey has been out of the lineup for more than a decade.

Producer Richard Whittaker provided the basic tracks for Acoustic Sessions once he’d completed the recent Thin Lizzy remixes. “After sifting through all the Decca recordings, I presented a list of ideas,” he said. “However, in most cases, additional development and material was required. So the guys at the label approached Eric, who was happy to get involved with the project and between us, I think we’ve made something really quite unique and special.”

Acoustic Sessions also includes a bonus song titled “Slow Blues G.M.” in tribute to Moore, who died of a heart attack at the age of 58 in 2011. Thin Lizzy’s most recent studio effort dates back to 1983’s Thunder and Lightning, though the offshoot band Black Star Riders remains active in the studio.

Thin Lizzy, ‘Acoustic Sessions’ Track Listing
“Mama Nature Said (Acoustic Version)”
“A Song For While I’m Away (Acoustic Version)”
“Eire (Acoustic Version)”
“Slow Blues (Acoustic Version)”
“Dublin (Acoustic Version)”
“Whiskey in the Jar (Acoustic Version)”
“Here I Go Again (Acoustic Version)”
“Shades of a Blue Orphanage (Acoustic Version)”
“Remembering Pt. 2 (Acoustic Version)”
“Slow Blues G.M (Acoustic Version)”