Black Rose: A Rock Legend is Thin Lizzy's ninth studio album, released on 13 April 1979 on Warner Bros. Records. It follows Bad Reputation from 1977 and comes before Chinatown, and it sits comfortably in the hard rock and heavy metal camp that the band helped shape for a generation of listeners.

The record matters for two reasons. It is the first Thin Lizzy album that guitarist Gary Moore stayed around long enough to record, after short spells with the band in 1974 and 1977. It also gave the group their best UK chart showing, peaking at No. 2, and it became their fourth album in a row to be certified Gold by the BPI. If you want to hear Thin Lizzy at their most commercially successful, this is the place to start.

Black Rose: A Rock Legend: tracklist, credits and charts

9 tracks · 38:43

Tracklist

  1. 1Do Anything You Want ToPhil Lynott3:53
  2. 2Toughest Street in TownGorham, Lynott, Moore4:01
  3. 3S & MBrian Downey and Phil Lynott4:05
  4. 4Waiting for an AlibiPhil Lynott3:30
  5. 5SarahPhil Lynott and Gary Moore3:31
  6. 6Got to Give It UpScott Gorham and Phil Lynott4:24
  7. 7Get Out of HerePhil Lynott and Midge Ure3:37
  8. 8With LovePhil Lynott4:38
  9. 9Róisín Dubh (Black Rose): A Rock Legend7:04
Produced by
Thin Lizzy, Tony Visconti, Phil Lynott, Tony Visconti and Thin Lizzy, Tony Visconti and Phil Lynott (on "With Love")
Recorded at
Pathé Marconi EMI Studios, Paris, France, Good Earth Studios and Morgan Studios, London, UK
Recorded
December 1978 – February 1979
Engineered by
Kit Woolven
Labels
Warner Bros. Records, Vertigo, Mercury (Canada), Warner Bros. (US)
Length
38:43

Line-up

  • Brian Downey · drums (drum set)
  • Scott Gorham · guitar, background vocals
  • Phil Lynott · acoustic guitar, bass guitar, lead vocals
  • Gary Moore · guitar, background vocals
  • Huey Lewis · harmonica · guest
  • Jimmy Bain · bass guitar · guest

Singles

  • “Waiting for an Alibi” · 23 February 1979
  • “Do Anything You Want To” · 8 June 1979
  • “Got to Give It Up” · September 1979 (US)
  • “Sarah” · 5 October 1979

Peak chart positions

ChartPeak
UK Albums Chart · 19792
US Billboard 200 · 197981
Swedish Albums · 19798
Norwegian Albums · 197915
Australian Albums (ARIA) · 197929
New Zealand Albums · 197948

Certifications

RegionCertification
United KingdomGold

From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.

64.4
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
1.4k
ListenBrainz listeners
69k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
—
Deezer fans (all editions)

Also released on 13 April

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Releases and pressings

How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
SourceDateNote
MusicBrainz13 April 1979
Wikipedia infobox13 April 1979
Wikidata13 April 1979
US releaseApril 1979earliest US date
UK / Europe release13 April 1979earliest UK or European date
13 editions
DateCountryLabelBarcodeKind
—DEVertigo042283039223other
April 1979USWarner Bros. Recordsother
April 1979IE—other
13 April 1979GBVertigooriginal
5 February 1989JPVertigo4988011314056other
1996GBMercury Records731453229921other
19 June 2001USWounded Bird Records664140333826other
2011—Mercury Records602527727004deluxe
24 August 2011JPUniversal International4988005669513other
9 November 2011JPVertigo4988005678232other
13 April 2019XEMercury Records0602577207969other
——UMC00602527727004deluxe
——EMI00731453229921other
Cover art sources

fanarttv · upscaled: major: best source 1000x1000, upscaled to 1500 (x1.50)

SourceSizeVerdict
fanarttv ✓1000×1000upscaled: major: best source 1000x1000, upscaled to 1500 (x1.50)
coverartarchive400×400upscaled