Unknown Soldier

Overview
It was around this time that Thin Lizzy became one of the most recognizable bands on both UK radio and TV, largely due to their melodic muscle sound and their main focal point in frontman Phil Lynott ‘The Outlaw With a Broken Heart’ kind of guy, who just happened to be blessed with a soulful liquor-throated drawl to boot as well! Their previous album Fighting which finished at no.5 on last year’s list had certainly been their best album to date, but still fell short of being labelled a classic, but their sixth album Jailbreak would rectify that shortfall! There are not leaps and bounds between the quality of both Fighting and Jailbreak, but with its tighter song structures and more polished feel, this is where Jailbreak does come into its own. Instead of Thin Lizzy producing the album themselves, producer John Alcock was drafted in and the band cut Jailbreak, a melodic muscle record full of sheen in all the right places and it was without doubt the album that shot Thin Lizzy up to the stars! Like a lot of classic albums the recording sessions did have their problems, certainly with certain members of the band who saw the record label’s obsession for a commercial sounding album frustrating at times. One such example had Vertigo hiring an outside keyboardist in Tim Hinkley to play the keyboard parts on one of the proposed singles “Running Back” and guitarist Brian Robertson’s opinion said it all after his own piano work had been erased from the song "I took enormous offence to the song changes. I couldn't understand why they'd pay this guy a fortune just for playing what he did. Listen to it and tell me it's not bollocks." In 2011 Brian Robertson would actually re-record this song the way he wanted it to be done originally! Jailbreak might not be a concept album, but the vast majority of its tracks tend to focus on the wanderings and misdemeanours of an outlaw type persona, certainly mirroring Phil Lynott in many ways, because let’s face it he told these type of stories better than anybody else! The second part of this double-header features the band’s seventh album Johnny the Fox also released this year, surely in an effort to boost the band’s huge popularity. It’s not as tight an album as Jailbreak but it’s still one of the band’s best and has much in common with Jailbreak.

Phil Lynott- Bass/Vocals
Scott Gorham- Guitar
Brian Robertson- Guitar
Brian Downey- Drums

Production- Tom Alcock

Album
Jailbreak- The song starts with a crunchy guitar intro and its sinister verse, which then links into the song's triumphant chorus. The topical sound effects section of the song, then helps to re-account a prison break which is the subject fare of the song. This song just happens to be one of the most recognizable songs in the whole Thin Lizzy discography. Angel from the Coast- An accomplished melodic track that has a plucky sound and some good guitar work throughout and it's one of the songs that Brian Robertson co-wrote as well. Running Back- With its poppy intro as discussed previously, the song was destined to be a single and basically this is where Phil Lynott pays homage to Van Morrison in the song’s style and execution. Romeo and the Lonely Girl- Following straight on from the previous song in terms of style, the song unsurprisingly accounts the story of a wayward Romeo and the song is punctuated by some nice guitar work. Warriors- With Scott Gorham co-writing with Phil Lynott here, this is the second hard focused track on the first side of the album and it bookends it perfectly, especially when Phil Lynott offers us his cool sounding voice section which is accompanied by some punchy guitar work. The Boys Are Back in Town- The band put out a string of famous and classic singles, but this one was the biggest and the band’s most famous song, and it was always highlighted by the trademark Lizzy twin-guitar assault. The song could unofficially be called the band’s very own title track. Fight or Fall- A charming later album track that sounds like b-side material rather than a single, but then again a number of bands in the 1970s had b-sides that sounded just as good as their a-sides. Cowboy Song- Co-written with drummer Brian Downey and it’s basically the wild west brought to life by Thin Lizzy. The song was a long-time concert favourite over the years as well. Emerald- A song about marching men, their plunder and other ill gotten gains, this is probably the heaviest song on the album and has the guitars of Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson at their most potent, simply stunning!

Verdict
Upon listening to Jailbreak, the album basically sounds like an album that has pulled out all the cream from the band’s previous releases, something that is usually only possible when a band is on the top of their game, which Thin Lizzy surely were at this time! The appeal of Jailbreak is that it’s quite simply a hard rock record aimed at wider audience, whilst still keeping the band’s existing fanbase happy, not always an easy thing to do, as many artists world probably tell you. By dissecting Jailbreak we can see how Thin Lizzy were able to achieve this feat. The muscle of the album was provided by the twin guitar attack of both Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson, which all seamlessly blends in with the rhythm section of both Phil Lynott and Brian Downey. The album opener and title track “Jailbreak” serves as the perfect example of this muscle approach by all the elements of the band and the triumphant melodic feel of that track, continues into the album's next track “Angel from the Coast”. The band then concentrate on up-tempo softer sounding tracks like “Running Back” “Romeo and the Lonely Girl” and its similar sounding “Cowboy Song” despite the fact that the “Cowboy Song” has heavier guitar interplay than the previous song, and these last three are songs that promote the band’s softer and commercial side. But it’s without doubt the album’s muscle bound numbers that really stand out, from the stunning title track to the band’s best known song “The Boys Are Back in Town” and then onto the excellent first side closer “Warriors” which as far as I’m concerned is one of the very best songs on the whole album, This song though is easily matched by the album closer “Emerald” probably the heaviest track on the whole album, where the guitars are allowed to run riot over much of the track making it a true classic in every sense! The album’s overall cohesiveness surely comes from Phil Lynott this time around, as he wrote the lion’s share of the album’s material, thus giving the other band members far less overall writing time in general. The resulting album gives us a pure hard rocker, with no flaws in both its song structure and execution. Jailbreak is basically melodic rock by gritty rockers who aren’t afraid to appeal to a wider audience.



Phil Lynott- Bass/Vocals
Scott Gorham- Guitar
Brian Robertson- Guitar
Brian Downey- Drums

Production- Tom Alcock

Album
Johnny- A powerful display by the band and the song basically sounds like a force of nature rolling in, the final guitar outro is almost legendary here. Rocky- As the name suggests this is well errr a rocky sounding song and follows on perfectly from the album opener. Borderline- A slow-burning track, which has more than a trace of southern rock about it and an obvious single choice from the album. Don’t Believe a Word- One of the band’s crowning achievements and the song is a delight on the ear, and unsurprisingly was a hit single for the band. Fool’s Gold- There is a storytelling introduction to the song, before the song picks up and maintains itself at a similar pace for the rest of the track. Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed- A kind of title track that is largely an unfocused effort that reminds me of earlier Thin Lizzy, it’s not terrible but it’s certainly not great either. Old Flame- A strong late album track, that has Phil Lynott’s writing style all over it. Massacre- The strongest track on the b-side of the album by far, with its infectious and jittery feel, another delight. Sweet Marie- A slower and melodic number, that probably suffers from being buried deep away on the b-side of the album to get too much notice. Boogie Woogie Dance- It’s heavy and not much else, a poor album closer!

Verdict
Much of Johnny the Fox would be written by Phil Lynott from his hospital bed, after having contracted hepatitis mid-way through the band’s “Jailbreak UK Tour” but luckily he had his acoustic guitar with him in hospital and was able to compose the songs for Johnny the Fox. Like its predecessor Jailbreak, Johnny the Fox would have its recording issues and according to producer John Alcock, the band didn’t select the best ten songs that they had at their disposal, also Phil Lynott had also decided to use a couple of extra musicians in the recording of the album, which didn’t go down well with the rest of the band, a certain Phil Collins (hell it’s true) featured on the album! Johnny the Fox as an album, might not be as tight and focused as Jailbreak was, but it has some tracks on its front part that are slightly heavier overall from the word go, if anybody doubts this just listen to the opening barrage of “Johnny” one of the band’s most powerful tacks and “Rocky” with its tasty guitar lick, two songs which firmly cement the bands heavy credentials. Things then as expected quieten down on the excellent and elegiac “Borderline” which easily could’ve been on “Jaiilbreak”, but the pick of the bunch is surely “Don’t Believe a Word” a song that most bands would die to be able to write, whereas Thin Lizzy make it seem just so easy and the band are then at their most infectious on the track “Massacre”. The album in relation to Jailbreak does have some aspects where it loses points and this dip occurs on its b-side in songs like “Fool’s Gold” which by and large has a steady tempo but doesn’t offer too much else, then there is the so-called title track “Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed” which is nowhere near good enough to be that and “Sweet Marie” was surely one slow track too many for the band, and finally the heavy album closer Boogie Woogie Dance, is a perfect example where the band could do much better! Johnny the Fox probably ranks somewhere near Fighting in quality, probably just a bit behind Fighting if I had to list them. Its main problem though, is that it came out on the shirt tails of Jailbreak and basically comes across as its weaker brother.

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