Most people know only one song or album from Irish rockers Thin
Lizzy. If you ask them to name a song, they’ll undoubtedly select
“The Boys Are Back In Town”; if they say they own one of their
albums, odds are it’s Thin Lizzy’s 1976 effort
Jailbreak.
But Phil Lynott and crew proved time and time again that they
were capable of rocking with the big boys, even if they weren’t
quite ready for superstardom. Exhibit “A”: their 1975 release
Fighting, which is just as entertaining an album as
Jailbreak, even if it takes a few listens to really absorb
everything about it.
This album was, in some ways, still an adjusting for the band.
Guitarist Scott Gorham had just joined one album prior, and he
still was fine-tuning the two-guitar attack with Brian Robertson
into the sound that would make the band well-known. Brian Downey’s
drums were already at that next level, but Lynott, for some strange
reason, decided to keep his bass work hidden in the mix. Maybe this
has been corrected with CD technology, but Lynott’s bass work would
have been better had it been more in front of the music.
Of all the songs on
Fighting, probably “Roaslie” is the one people know. A short
love song, “Rosalie” showed the greatness the band had to offer
while it demonstrated the need for the two-guitar attack to gel a
little more. Fortunately, this weakness is quickly corrected in the
album, as songs like “Suicide” and “Fighting My Way Back” both show
how well Gorham and Robertson’s guitars sounded when they blended
together.
Lynott’s storytelling qualities are evident throughout many of
the tracks on
Fighting. Songs like “King’s Vengeance,” “Freedom Song” and
“Suicide” all paint vivid pictures in the listener’s mind, helping
the songs take more of a root in you. It is a technique that works,
and works well.
There are one or two weak moments on
Fighting. I, for one, didn’t like the more experimental
nature of “Ballad Of A Hard Man,” a song that was anything but a
ballad. It just didn’t seem to fit with the overall mood of the
album… though it probably would have fit well on some other
album. The only other real negative is that you really have to pay
attention to
Fighting to be able to appreciate all its nuances. If you
only give it a casual listen while you diddle away at the computer
playing Pac-Man, then a lot of the special qualities of this album
are going to be lost on you.
All that said,
Fighting is not the easiest album to get through when you
give it total brain power. Sure, it’s a quick enough album, but
there’s just enough rust on the album to make it a more difficult
listen. Still, it’s an effort worth putting forth.
Why isn’t
Fighting considered a classic like
Jailbreak is? Who knows? But, with the expected release of
the Thin Lizzy box set later this year, maybe it will revive some
interest in both this album and the band.
