Thin Lizzy started out in the early seventies as a sort of folk rock outfit. It wasn't until later they started to adopt more hard rock vibes, specifically when they added another guitarist. Lizzy has always been famous for their excellent guitar players among who is counted Gary Moore. In the mid to late seventies they had their glory period, with albums like Jailbreak, Live And Dangerous and Black Rose. As the seventies waned away the new wave had started to settle in and as with most classic rock acts from the first part of the seventies, the new generation wanted punk/new wave or NWOBHM instead.
So in this situation of things splitting directions, Lizzy chose the heavy way, or at least the general direction. More riff driven and harder edged, than the more folkish pop oriented classic rock they served their fans with in the hey days. In stead Phil Lynott found an outlet for his softer output, in a couple if solo albums from around the same time of the Chinatown album. They would dig deeper into the heavy metal side as they progressed through the next albums, climaxing with the Thunder And Lightning album, which would sadly be their last.
But at this time they were experimenting with this new sound and it seems that this level of heavyness combined with the soulfulness and folkishness of Phil's style, was exactly right. I would also argue that there are better Lizzy albums than this one, it is generally unjustly looked down upon, becauseit really strays away from their popular mid seventies style, more than the actual quality of the music.
Actually it is not THAT far away from their previous style as some may say, at least not as much as it would become on later albums. The melodies and unique soulfulness of Lynott is still there, there are just a foundation of powerful riffs and drums on most tracks. It is a brilliant collection of hard rock and very underrated in my opinion. Brilliant guitar work by Scott Gorham and Snowy White. Their sound are full, meaty and melodic.
