![]() ![]() The fast solo is probably the highlight but the track is far more than filler. ![]() ‘Romeo and The Lonely Girl’ has another bouncy jazzy riff and some interesting lyrics from Lynott although rhyming Romeo with “on his ownio” is maybe pushing it a bit. Robertson finally recorded his own original arrangement on his 2011 album “Diamonds and Dirt”. It was initially going to be the lead off single and it would surely have done quite well in the charts at the time. I’m firmly in Alcocks’s camp as the Tim Hinkley keyboard riff, which is not dis-similiar to Frankie Miller’s ‘Mailbox’, and Lynott’s lighter poppier vocal make the track. To say Robertson wasn’t happy is an understatement and he refused to play on the new arrangement. This was the song that caused all the trouble with Robertson as Alcock scrapped the bluesy version that Robertson had recorded and replaced him with Tim Hinkley on the keyboards and harmonica. The most infectious riff on the album follows in the shape of ‘Running Back’. The jazzy solo and riff actually reminds me of Trapeze and even bands like The Doobie Brothers in places. For me it is the best track on the album and is close to being their best ever. ‘Angel of the Coast’ has a funky almost jazz like riff and is another one of Lynott’s storytelling lyrical masterpieces. It also inspired the following years ‘Burning Sky’ by Bad Company. Straight out of the top drawer of Lizzy tunes it is one of those rock classics that you never tire of. The song itself is a typical menacing tough guy lyric from Lynott over a chugging twin guitar harmony with some nice wah wah effects from Robertson. When the opening notes burst through the headphones I felt the force and power thrust me back in the chair such is its ferocity. When I came to listen to this album for writing this review I had previously been listening to something a little tamer and had the left the volume up just a little too high. The album itself kicks off with the classic title track and with its powerful start it literally grabs your attention and throws it up against the wall like a scene from a bar room brawl. Guitarist Brian Robertson in particular was unhappy with the employing of session musicians to augment the sound and subsequently refused to play on the track ‘Running Back’. Whereas Lynott was quite open to these suggestions and keen to learn anything that could help him to become a better writer it didn’t sit well with all of the band. Initially Alcock wasn’t overly impressed with the material and whilst he accepted that it showed promise began suggesting ways in which the songs could be fine tuned, given a little more polish and made slightly more commercial. After another high profile tour, this time with Status Quo, the band went into the Ramport Studios in London to begin work on what was to become one of their most popular albums, “Jailbreak”, in December 1975. However with the need for some recorded output that could match their live reputation paramount former The Who producer John Alcock was brought in to produce their sixth album. The band had been unhappy with the production of the “Nightlife” album and Lynott had produced the follow up “Fighting” alone. To be fair “Fighting” had scrambled into the lower echelons of the chart, something which none of the previous albums had managed, but the singles had bombed and it was only the high profile touring and reputation they had as a live outfit that was keeping them in a bracket above the ordinary. So the pressure was on for Thin Lizzy to deliver a breakthrough top drawer album. The first two albums of the Scott Gorham/Brian Robertson era Thin Lizzy, “Night Life “(1974) and “Fighting “(1975), hadn’t exactly set the world on fire sales wise and certainly weren’t held in the regard they are now back then. ![]()
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