The difference between Thin Lizzy and your run-of-the-mill heavy-metal band has always been bassist Phil Lynott. At his best, Lynott writes with the Gaelic passion of Van Morrison and the street sympathies of Bruce Springsteen, sings with ghetto anger and Irish macho, and commands the Lizzies like one of the heroes in his beloved Celtic legends.

On Renegade, though, Lynott isn't up to snuff. Opening with the trademark Lizzy fury of "Angel of Death" (which is undermined by a cream-puff synthesizer and a Darth Vader-style monologue), the LP drifts aimlessly from the overlong half-heavy-metal, half-Dire Straits title track to the faceless superboogie "Leave This Town" to the cosmetic salsa touches of "Mexican Blood." Only the rousing chorus of "Hollywood (Down on Your Luck)" and the poignant sense of loss in "It's Getting Dangerous" hint at the sensitive yet anthemic writing and hard-rock smarts that usually separate Thin Lizzy from the lunkheads. (RS 367)

DAVID FRICKE