Thin Lizzy - Johnny The Fox (1976)

Year: October 1976 (CD ????)
Label: Vertigo Records (US), 822 687-2
Style: Hard Rock, Classic Rock
Country: Dublin, Ireland
Time: 35:42
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 232 Mb

Lynott and Robertson clashed over musical differences, such as the composition of "Don't Believe a Word". When Lynott first played the song in a slow 12-bar blues format, Robertson claimed it was "shite", and Lynott reacted badly, disappearing for a few days. Robertson then felt that he may have been a little harsh, and he and drummer Brian Downey decided to rework the song. Downey devised a faster shuffle rhythm and Robertson wrote the riff, and Lynott was pleased with the outcome when he returned to the studio. Robertson was annoyed when the song was credited solely to Lynott, as he felt that all three members involved should have been credited. The original bluesy arrangement was subsequently recorded by Lynott and Gary Moore on Moore's Back on the Streets in 1978, and Thin Lizzy versions later appeared on Thin Lizzy's 1983 double live album Life and the deluxe edition of Thunder and Lightning.
Robertson also co-wrote "Borderline" with Lynott, for which he did receive a writing credit. He later revealed that the song was about a girlfriend: "I was really in love, [but] she hated me. I was extremely down when I wrote it." Alcock confirmed that Robertson had significant lyrical input on this track, and that the band's other guitarist Scott Gorham had similar influence on the lyrics for "Sweet Marie".
According to Robertson, Lynott wrote "Rocky" with him in mind. John Alcock has stated that "Massacre" was written in the studio. Its lyrics came after Lynott was visited in hospital by a Protestant clergyman, and Catholic Lynott became defensive. Later he regretted his reaction, and wrote the lyric condemning religious prejudice.
"Fools Gold" was inspired by the Great Famine of Ireland of 1845–52. The lyric imagines Irish people travelling to America to escape the famine and start a new life.
The album included two tracks with the name "Johnny" in their titles as well as the album title itself, a character by that name having appeared in earlier songs such as "Showdown" and "The Boys Are Back in Town". Gorham noted the name's proliferation: "Phil should've been this guy's publicity agent, as he was cropping up everywhere!"
"'Johnny the Fox meets Jimmy the Weed' was really the only song that Lizzy did in a funk style..." noted Scott Gorham. "Phil Lynott was a huge fan of the O'Jays and their song "For the Love of Money". At every soundcheck, he'd be playing that funky riff... Once we'd found that riff, we just went for it. The whole thing really took off when Brian Downey sat down and put his personal funk take on it with the drums... And these characters – Johnny the Fox and Jimmy the Weed – they were real people. They were from the Manchester area, where Phil's mom had her hotel... They were part of a gang of cultured thieves... They weren't drug dealers, like it says in the lyrics for the song... But they were pretty heavy guys, yet they were real funny, so you couldn't help but like them."
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_the_Fox)

Album recorded and mixed in the analog domain - AAD. That is, a minimum of digital processing.
A=Analog. D=digital. The first letter stands for how the music was recorded. The second letter for how it was mixed. The third letter stands for the format (all CD's will have D as the last letter).

01. Johnny (04:18)
02. Rocky (03:43)
03. Borderline (04:37)
04. Don't Believe A Word (02:18)
05. Fools Gold (03:53)
06. Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed (03:36)
07. Old Flame (03:05)
08. Massacre (03:01)
09. Sweet Marie (04:00)
10. Boogie Woogie Dance (03:06)

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Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak (1976)

Year: 26 March 1976 (CD April 20, 1990)
Label: Vertigo Records (US), 822 785-2
Style: Hard Rock, Classic Rock
Country: Dublin, Ireland
Time: 36:18
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 215 Mb

Charts: AUS #51, UK #10, US #18, CAN #5, SWE #21. CAN, UK & US: Gold.
Considering my latest Dadrock fixations include the best of Def Leppard and Thin Lizzy, another highly inspirational old school record from days gone which deserves contemporary praise is the latter's wildly incongruous but infinitely tutorial Jailbreak from 1976. In short, I've been rocking this once-owned-on-vinyl gem's ballsiest songs for a spell, and have finally acclimated myself to its poppy fare, as their guitar play is still cool, albeit decidedly mellow and soft compared to smoking slew of adrenaline charged classics we've grown to love. That said, even if you're not the most ardent Lizzy (non Borden) fan, there's no denying a good part of this slab is pure rock n' roll magic, enhanced by the twin-riffed and soloed dynamo's Irish heritage. Much like Budgie's Impeckable, if you can get past its wacky pacing, there's a lot to learn from sadly departed Phil Lynott and the boys (to point where his spirit hovers ever gayly, in the original sense of the word).
As far as kick-ass openers go, it's hard to surpass the simple but hooking title track - alongside riffs to Black Sabbath's definitive "Paranoid" and Deep Purple's guitar shop infuriating "Smoke On The Water", it's crunchy, swaying beat is impossible to resist. This amazingly fun tune also displays the long active trooper's penchant for wickedly poised and muffled staccato shuffles, taken to their most mesmerizing level on "Warriors", which these fledgling fingers are taking to like a duck to water, with its wah-wah'd, Ace Frehley style blues (metal) solo. Its numerous little guitar fills procure climatic feelings of sunglasses shaded wingman-ery. If anything, "Jailbreak" is as great as AC/DC's equally vintage version. Okay, I understand how the next three tracks might ruffle leather and spike wrist metal merchants, but taken at face value - as in, out of context, on their own - they're quite good. For instance , "Angel From The Coast" is a slippery canoodler with a Hawaiian type boogie!
I've no trouble wigging out to saxophoned waltzer "Running Back" either, but admittedly, the whimsy gets old by the time "Romeo And The Lonely Girl" strut on by. Thankfully, the sizzling duo of Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson pulls through with one of their classic, powerfully charged tango leads. Much like Wishbone Ash and UFO (or lone wolf Jimi Hendrix), it's easy to see how Iron Maiden was influenced by their twin guitar tag-team. This is no more evident than on "Warriors", with its laid back yet auspicious intro riff and bass line culminating into one of the gang's toughest and slickest riffs, enhanced of course by that tricky muffle-shuffle...propelled into outer space once its closing dirge seals the deal. I also dig the Sabbathian chord interlude in its stead. Of note, drummer Brian Downey's loosely break-beat-ish time keeping tactics make me think of a less inebriated and dishevelled, but just as groovy Bill Ward. Side A is masterfully bookended; the same applies to slightly shorter Side B.
First, the fluff: both "Fight Or Fall" and "Cowboy Song" mildly dilute Jailbreak's awesomeness. This is where I put my foot down and exclaim: "Why?". However, they're not total losses, as the random Wild West tribute shines due to Phil's solemn crooning, again proving himself as a well-rounded and talented front man and bassist taken from us far too soon. Musically, it's amusing, but its bland predecessor yields to the skip button. Closer "Emerald" is real banger; along with mega commercial radio star "The Boys Are Back In Town", it features the band's iconic ease with folksy Irish type melodies, riffed to oblivion and back, especially the former's killer pre-solo which translates into more wickedly phrased leads. As for the seminal staple, I was delighted to find out, as with Judas Priest's ultimate driving hit, "You've Got Another Thing Coming", it tucks within its happy-go-lucky confines more than meets the ear, particularly rhythm wise.
(https://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/Thin_Lizzy/Jailbreak/4446/) Review by CHAIRTHROWER. March 17th, 2025

01. Jailbreak (04:04)
02. Angel From The Coast (03:06)
03. Running Back (03:16)
04. Romeo And The Lonely Girl (03:58)
05. Warriors (04:12)
06. The Boys Are Back In Town (04:30)
07. Fight Or Fall (03:48)
08. Cowboy Song (05:18)
09. Emerald (04:04)

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Thin Lizzy - Fighting (1975)

Year: 12 September 1975 (CD 1990)
Label: Vertigo Records (US), 842 433-2
Style: Hard Rock, Classic Rock
Country: Dublin, Ireland
Time: 38:26
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 238 Mb

Now to continue my one man quest to get you to put down your Viking metal albums and other silly things from Scandinavia and get you to listen to some Thin Lizzy! This is for your own good! Anyway, yes no reviews for this one either but than can be expected as ‘Fighting’ is one of the lesser known Lizzy albums which always struck me as odd as it’s a fucking corker.
‘Fighting’ is perhaps most significant as it’s the album where Brian ‘Robbo’ Robertson and Scott ‘Joni Mitchell’ Gorham discovered their signature twin guitar sound, meaning guitar harmonies a plenty. Also ‘Fighting’ can be considered the first truly focused and more importantly hard rocking Lizzy album, as previous albums weren’t really too consistent and showed a band trying and often failing to find their own identity.
Song wise Fighting shows a band truly hitting their stride, of course most will have you believe that ‘Jailbreak’ was the bands turning point, commercially this is true but ‘Fighting’ is a excellent collection of melodic hard rock songs that I must stress shouldn’t be overlooked. Bob Seger’s ‘Rosalie’ kicks things off and it’s a nice little rocking number, however when compared with the ‘Live and Dangerous’ version it sounds a tad weedy, but that minor gripe aside (‘Live and Dangerous’ absolutely destroys! Listen to it now!) it’s a still a classic fat slice of Thin Lizzy (Alan Partridge? Answers on a postcard). ‘For Those Who Love to Live’ is an overlooked masterpiece, and dedicated to another dead Irish legend George ‘Pist’ Best (an alcoholic football player, to those of you who don’t know), this is the first Lizzy song to display the twin guitar harmony sound that would prove so influential. ‘Suicide’ is the hardest rocking song on this album and well flat out rocks, Robbo’s guitar solo is one of my favourites especially the lick where he plays a double stop and then slides it up an octave, simply magic! ‘Wild One’ is simply one of the finest ballads the band, or anyone else for that matter has ever done. It’s steeped in Irish history and is sentimental and romantic without being sappy, something very few could pull off, but Phillip Lynott being god, of course could. Also take note guitar fans, the harmonised lead is absolutely magnificent it sends shivers down my spine, see I told you this was better than Viking metal! ‘Fighting My Way Back’ is another overlooked yet masterful Thin Lizzy track, upbeat and hard rocking. ‘King’s Vengeance’ yet again is exceptionally good, yet no ones heard the thing! Please, rock fans give this album a listen. ‘Spirit Slips Away’ is strangely ominous and during the songs recording Scott and Robbo supposedly discovered their guitar harmony sound but its one of the albums weaker moments. ‘Silver Dollar’ is just a bit of filler really, nothing too offensive but it doesn’t really warrant repeated listens. ‘Freedom Song’, sentimental and overtly romanticised but Phil and the boys pull it off in style, some lovely guitar harmonies and a story of a man being hung and shouting freedom (sounds like a Mel Gibson film!). ‘Ballad of a Hard Man’ is a funky hard rocker, but Lizzy could do funky quite well as Phil was black, however this rule doesn’t always work, for instance I don’t think Entombed could do funk…….but I digress.
This is without doubt the classic Thin Lizzy line up, the whole band shine and not a single note is out of place. Phil Lynott is not only the consummate songwriter but also a impossibly tight bassist with an instantly recognisable fat bass sound. Brian Downey, is one of the most underrated drummers in rock, hard hitting, neat and tight with a distinctive style. Now, at this point I must stress that Brian Robertson was actually better on guitar than Scott Gorham, but still Scott is still excellent although his playing is not quite as jaw dropping as on say ‘Bad Reputation’ or ‘Black Rose’. So Brian Robertson was the best guitar player in Thin Lizzy at this point, I can put this down to the fact that his playing is more balls out, than Scott’s, but then he was a whiskey drinking Scottish mentalist whereas Scott just looked like Joni Mitchell, so there you go.
Well if you want an excellent 70’s Rock ‘n’ Roll album look no further. ‘Fighting’ has it all great songs, exceptional playing and even a touch of romance, well what more could you possibly want?
(metal-archives.com/reviews/Thin_Lizzy/Fighting/4445/)

Album recorded and mixed in the analog domain - AAD. That is, a minimum of digital processing.
A=Analog. D=digital. The first letter stands for how the music was recorded. The second letter for how it was mixed. The third letter stands for the format (all CD's will have D as the last letter).

01. Rosalie (03:15)
02. For Those Who Love to Live (03:11)
03. Suicide (05:16)
04. Wild One (04:21)
05. Fighting My Way Back (03:15)
06. King's Vengeance (04:08)
07. Spirit Slips Away (04:39)
08. Silver Dollar (03:28)
09. Freedom Song (03:35)
10. Ballad of a Hard Man (03:13)

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