Dedication (The Very Best of Thin Lizzy) (1991)

Viewed strictly from a Top 40 perspective, Thin Lizzy — the hard-rocking Irish guitar band that made 14 albums before the 1986 death of singer/bassist Phil Lynott — was a one-hit wonder. Few Americans are likely to remember much beyond ''The Boys Are Back in Town'' and maybe ''Jailbreak,'' a similarly taut dramatic tale from the 1976 LP of the same name. Dedication, a commendable effort to telescope Lizzy's history, collects 18 tracks, but the inadequately annotated 76-minute compilation ignores entire albums, omits crucial songs, and avoids concert material by what was a sensational and well-documented live band. (Check 1978's ''Live and Dangerous,'' available on CD, for the proof.) Ironically, the clarity of digital remastering leaves a lot of the early work sounding woefully underproduced, reinforcing the impression that only the band's commercial successes of the mid-'70s are essential listening. B-