"Angel of Death" is a song by

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...

featured on their

Renegade Renegade or The Renegade may refer to: Aircraft *Lake Renegade, an American amphibious aircraft design *Murphy Renegade, a Canadian ultralight biplane design *Southern Aeronautical Renegade, an American racing aircraft design Games *'' Comman ...

album, released as a single in the United States. The tune peaked at No. 38 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The song was a collaboration between band leader

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish singer, bassist, and songwriter. His most commercially successful group was Thin Lizzy, of which he was a founding member, the principal songwriter, lead vocalist and ba ...

and

Darren Wharton Darren Leigh Wharton (born 25 December 1961) is a British keyboardist, singer and songwriter. He has fronted his own band, Dare, since 1985, but first came to attention as a member of Thin Lizzy. His son, Paris, is also a musician. Biography W ...

, who had joined the band as a keyboard player in 1980. ''Angel of Death'' was premiered live in August 1981 when its lyrics were rather different from the later released versions. The opening number of Thin Lizzy's live set during the ''Renegade'' world tour of 1981/2 when it heralded the band on stage with the sound of air-raid sirens, Angel of Death was also an integral part of the Thunder and Lightning live set in 1983.

Versions

Three versions of the song performed by Thin Lizzy have been released: Version 1. Studio recording. Lynott,

Downey Downey may refer to: People *Downey (surname) *Robert Downey Jr. Places *Downey, California, US *Downey, Idaho, US *Downey, Iowa, US Businesses *W. & D. Downey, photographic studio *Downey Studios, created out of a former Boeing plant Schools * ...

, Gorham,

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

Wharton Wharton may refer to: Academic institutions * Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania * Wharton County Junior College * Paul R. Wharton High School * Wharton Center for Performing Arts, at Michigan State University Places * Wharton, Ch ...

. ''Renegade'' album and released as a single 6'17" Version 2. Live at Hammersmith Odeon, 27 November 1981. Lynott, Downey, Gorham, White, Wharton. Released as a bonus track on the ''

Cold Sweat "Cold Sweat" is a song performed by James Brown and written with his bandleader Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis. Brown recorded it in May 1967. An edited version of "Cold Sweat" released as a two-part single on King Records was a No. 1 R&B hit, and reac ...

'' 12" and double single. Version 3. Live probably at Hammersmith Odeon, 12 March 1983. Lynott, Downey, Gorham, Wharton,

Sykes Sykes may refer to: People * Sir Alan Sykes, 1st Baronet, businessman and British politician * Annette Sykes, New Zealand human rights lawyer and Māori activist * Bob Sykes (American football), American football player * Bob Sykes (baseball), Ame ...

. Included on the ''Life'' album 5:56 The

guitar solo A guitar solo is a melodic passage, instrumental section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. In 20th and 21st century traditional music and popular m ...

on all three versions is by

Scott Gorham William Scott Gorham (born March 17, 1951) is an American guitarist and songwriter who is one of the "twin lead guitarists" for the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. Although not a founding member of Thin Lizzy, he served a continuous membership after ...

Background

The song was inspired by a book about the Prophesies of Nostradamus that Phil Lynott was reading. "It's a very popular book in France now. Recently its sales have picked up because of the depression and because of the Cold War. He said that an Angel of Death would come and create a holocaust which everybody considers to be a nuclear war." "I'd just finished reading the Prophesies of Nostradamus and I thought it would be a good idea to write about that. So I picked two great disasters that he prophesied and I gave the talking piece where I ask people do they believe it. Then I talk about a personal tragedy – a person watching his father die – a personal disaster and basically the Angel of Death coming down to destroy the world or to take you to hell. It isn't full of humour and life is it?" Despite the lyrical content, in real life Lynott's father Cecil Parris was still alive at the time the song was recorded and would go on to outlive his son by 26 years before dying in 2012.

Reaction

The track stood out on the Renegade album as a hard rocker in contrast to the other softer, more diverse tracks. However, it was not universally popular, even in the band. Scott Gorham has said: "I hated that song Angel of Death, even the title. C'mon, are we getting corny again? F••king hell." However, later guitarist

John Sykes John James Sykes (born 29 July 1959) is an English guitarist, best known as a member of Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy and Tygers of Pan Tang. He has also fronted the hard rock group Blue Murder and released several solo albums. Following a stint in ...

cited it as a reason he joined the band: "Did you hear the Renegade album? The band seemed to be losing the track of the rock feel of everything. Apart from the first track. Angel of Death was the best track."

Covers

It has been covered by Iron Maiden - recorded during the A Matter of Life and Death album sessions but never released,

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

group Vader and

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

group

Gamma Ray A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ or \gamma), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves, typically ...

References

{{authority control Thin Lizzy songs 1982 singles Songs written by Phil Lynott 1981 songs