CD Odyssey Disc 1358: Thin Lizzy

Greetings gentle readers, and welcome to the final day of the Easter long weekend. I’m celebrating my complete inability to see other humans today by not using hair gel. I gotta save that stuff now that all the salons are closed.

Disc 1358 is…. Fighting

Artist: Thin Lizzy

Year of Release: 1975

What’s up with the Cover? The band looks like they are ready to fight. Weapons of choice include…a knife! ...a bat! …a pipe! And…crossed arms? I assume that guy with the crossed arms is a skilled enough pugilist that all he needs are his fists.

In any event, Thin Lizzy better hope they're not off to a gunfight. You know what they say, "never bring a knife, a bat, a pipe and crossed arms to a gun fight."

How I Came To Know It: I was introduced to most of Thin Lizzy’s back catalogue through my buddy, Spence. Spence even named his second daughter after the opening track on “Fighting”, “Rosalie”. I’m not often jealous of people who decided to have kids, but getting to name your kid after a song makes me mildly envious.

I’m not sure which way I would have gone if I’d had the chance. I like quite a few songs called “Annabelle” and that’s a good name. Or I could honour Blue Oyster Cult with “Vera Gemini” or “Debbie Denise”. Not great names but hey, Blue Oyster Cult. I like a songs about Joan Crawford and Joan of Arc (by Blue Oyster Cult and Leonard Cohen respectively) but it doesn’t go very well for either Joan, so probably not that….

Anyway, it doesn’t matter – I’m much happier not having kids. Maybe one of my friends will whimsically decide to let me name their next kid, but I don’t like my chances.

How It Stacks Up:  I have 10 Thin Lizzy albums. I’ll put “Fighting” in at #4, bumping both “Bad Reputation” and “Vagabonds of the Western World” down a spot in the process, and staying just a hair behind “Nightlife”. I view “Nightlife” and “Fighting” as equals, but that’s not the way “How it Stacks Up” works. Ask me next week and I may just switch the order depending on my mood.

Ratings: 4 stars

From 1974 through 1977 Thin Lizzy released one exceptional album after another – five in total. “I could happily pick among the five blindly and never be disappointed. Today we give “Fighting” the spotlight; the second released during that brilliant run, and Thin Lizzy’s fifth record overall.

The magic of Thin Lizzy starts with the brilliance of singer/bassist Phil Lynott. A born frontman oozing with aggression, sex appeal and a bottomless reservoir of cool. Lynott is the master of phrasing. On “Fighting” (which is much harder-edged record than the smoother-sounding “Nightlife” released the year prior) he gets to show a bit more snarl than usual giving him a slightly different sound, but no less amazing.

Lynott writes most (but not all) of the songs, but the other band members get in on the action to varying degrees. The opening track (“Rosalie” as noted above) is a cover of a Bob Seger song and is WAY better than the Bob Seger version. Sorry, Bob – you know I love ya). Thin Lizzy just gives the song the extra grit and groove that it needs.

And while Lynott’s vocal talents are on full display throughout, “Fighting” is also an album for anyone who loves the power and glory of the electric guitar. The twin talents of Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson do not disappoint. Whenever I see two lead guitars in a band I get nervous, but as with Judas Priest’s Glen Tipton and KK Downing, Gorham and Robertson are the perfect complement to one another. Both have amazing tone, and it feels like the guitar has just as many meaningful things to say as Lynott, no easy feat.

The best part of having two great guitar players is you don’t have to pick a favourite. Sometimes you get one, sometimes the other, and on the songs where they both play (“For Those Who Love to Live”, “Suicide”, “Wild One”) they elevate one another, giving the listener even more flavours and shades within a single song.

When things do go back to that smooth soul-rock of “Nightlife” like on “Spirit Slips Away” you get a brief reprieve from all those thunderous guitar riffs, but it comes right when you need it. A metaphorical chill out on the deck of a party before you return to rock and roll, refreshed and recharged.

After a little middle ground boogie woogie with “Silver Dollar” the album gathers its hard rock legs under it again with “Freedom Song”. There ain’t nothin’ more rock and roll than freedom and Scott Gorham’s guitar strikes the perfect balance for the concept: part ambling solo, and part low rumbling growl. Even though our song’s hero, Jack McDuff, gets hanged in the end, you are left with the uplifting feeling that freedom still wins. Jack dies free in mind and spirit, his last words exclaiming:

“I believe in the freedom song
Long live liberty!
I believe in the freedom song
Doesn't matter what you do to me”

The record ends with “Ballad of a Hard Man” which may be the record’s grittiest track, and this time it is Brian Robertson laying down some six-string truth (at least according to the liner notes). That struck me as odd, given the song was written by Gorham, but regardless of who is playing (and it did sound more like the slightly more hard-edged Robertson) it is a brilliant end to a brilliant record.

Best tracks: Rosalie, For Those Who Love to Live, Fighting My Way Back, Spirit Slips Away, Freedom Song, Ballad of a Hard Man