07. Thin Lizzy Fighting 1975 (Vertigo)
Hard Rock
The ballad of a hard band......... Lord have mercy!
Overview
By the time of
Fighting Thin Lizzy were already veterans of four studio albums, but it would be on
Fighting their fifth studio album, that they would finally find their true musical niche and finally give us their trademark sound. This sound had been noticed on earlier releases, but it finally all slotted into place on
Fighting. Originally the Dublin based rock outfit had composed of Phil Lynott on bass and vocals, Eric Bell on guitar and Robert Downey on drums. This three piece band in the vein of their heroes the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream had recorded two early albums, the debut
Thin Lizzy and its sophomore
Shades of a Blue Orphanage, these were two rock albums with a folky slant, that at best were scraping poor to average and not taking the band anywhere special! By the time of their third album
Vagabonds of the Western World, the band had seen a marked improvement in their output and the album contained some early Lizzy essentials in “Mama Nature Said” “The Rocker” “Little Girl in Bloom” and the hit single, and one of their most famous tracks “Whiskey in a Jar” and Just when the band looked to be on their big breakthrough, uncharismatic guitarist Eric Bell bailed out leaving Phil Lynott the undisputed leader of the band. The remaining two band members Lynott and Downey, then engaged dual guitarists in American Scott Gorham and Scot Brian Robertson, this move would prove to be a masterstroke and gave the band the option of the dual guitar attack which would become synonymous with band, as it had already done with the Allman Brothers Band and Wishbone Ash to name just two. The dual guitar attack would of course go on to become a cornerstone of the future heavy metal movement as seen by bands such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, demonstrating just how influential Thin Lizzy would be. This concept of the dual power attack though, made their fourth release
Nightlife something of a surprise considering how subdued it was, but despite that
Nightlife remained their best album to date (that album and the previous are on my albums that missed the cut section…….. for 1973 and 1974) If
Nightlife felt subdued, then 1975’s
Fighting would address this slight in almost every aspect!
Phil Lynott- Bass/Vocals
Scott Gorham- Guitar
Brian Robertson- Guitar
Brian Downey- Drums
Production- Phil Lynott
Album
Rosalie- The album starts off to a punchy and energetic cover of the Bob Seger penned song and the band quickly make it their own.
For Those That Love to Live- Great drumming intro by Brian Downey before Phil Lynott slips in with his concise and soulful vocals, and the song contains some great interplay overall.
Suicide- An older song recorded when Eric Bell was in the band and a rolling rocker punctuated with great guitar work that dominates throughout.
Wild One- One of the best known tracks from the album and another one of the signature Phil Lynott tracks, that can found across the band’s classic period.
Fighting My Way Back- One of the lighter songs on the album and has the band very much playing within the confines of their own sound.
King’s Vengeance- A mid-paced heavier song, that shows the band mixing it up between acoustic guitar and some powerful heavy rocking at times.
Spirits Slips Away- A somewhat brooding start before flowing into a melodic main section, before slipping back into its gentle brooding feel again.
Silver Dollar- With a boogie feel this song was penned by Brian Robertson.
Freedom Song- With now with what seems like a trademark Thin Lizzy sound that has been around for years, this is a very strong latter album track.
Ballad of a Hard Man- As the name suggests, the album closes with a crunchy guitar based rocker, which would be carried over to
Jailbreak the following year.
Verdict
From the word go “Rosalie” the album opener, has an energetic rocking feel that is characteristic of the album as a whole and this hard edged power is pushed even higher on songs like “Suicide” and “Ballad of a Hard Man” which are prime examples of this harder feel. These songs though, are in contrast to the Phil Lynott penned “For Those About to Live” “Wild One” and “Freedom” which are typical soulful sounding Phil Lynott material, and these are songs that sound like a harder rocking Bruce Springsteen or Van Morrison at times, but with riffs that are distinctly Thin Lizzy. Then there are songs like the mournful sounding “Spirits Slips Away” another Phil Lynott delight and the latter album track “Freedom Song”, which almost sounds like a combination of some of the more soulful melodic earlier material on the album. Then there is “Fighting My Way Back” which is a song that is in contrast to a lot of the material on the album, as it has the band playing in a more controlled manner and serves as a great example of the band’s commercial aspirations….. at least to please the record label! The album really shines with its expected twin guitar attack between Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson and these two are practically over everything on the album anyway! But the undisputed star of the album has to be main man Phil Lynott, who I’ve purposefully held back on praising so far, but here is a frontman that was possibly one of the most unique of his generation. Here was an artist that had an uncanny grasping of being able to blend diverse musical styles into one melting pot and come out with a unique concoction and to that he added his poetic lyrics and ‘an outlaw with a broken heart voice’ he was really one of a kind! Now despite the praise that I’ve heaped on the album, the songs it should be said as a whole, do fall short of the album being labelled as a classic! The songs are there in essence, but a bit more songcraft could’ve taken the whole thing up a notch or two and for this reason alone, it’s the individual components of the band working in unison, that carry the whole thing through.
Fighting is an excellent album that saw a three-way marriage between the harmonizing guitar work of both Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson to that of drummer Brian Downey, with Phil Lynott’s cool rocking demeanour as the icing on the cake.
Fighting is pivotal in the band’s discography, as without it……..the following year’s
Jailbreak wouldn’t have been possible!