Artist: Thin Lizzy
Label: Mercury Records
Release: 1976
Running time: 35.51
Thin Lizzy’s big breakthrough with Jailbreak brings international fame, something the boys first got a serious taste of when Whiskey In The Jar happened to them. But if they naively let that opportunity slip through their fingers back then, this time they don’t repeat the mistake. After the short tour that followed the release of Jailbreak, Thin Lizzy hurry back into the studio in the fall of 1976. The incredible success of Jailbreak, which Phil and co. worked so hard for, lifts at least some of the pressure of the music industry off their shoulders, and flings the door wide open to their final transformation into dangerous rock & roll outlaws, determined to grind all their competition into dust. Judge for yourself whether they pull it off, but the fact remains that Lizzy have never sounded so raw. Johnny The Fox is proof of that.
Realistically, Johnny The Fox beats its famous predecessor in every way but one. Without its own Boys Are Back In Town, it can’t repeat that chart breakthrough, but with this album, as a result of their molting into wild rocker nomads, the band shakes off every last trace of tenderness, or friendliness, if you like. Of course, that doesn’t go for the lyrics, which are as pleasantly simple as ever and woven through with Lynott’s typical romanticism. Mostly these are melancholic songs, with strong, plainly expressed themes of hard working-class everyday life. One of them is Fools Gold, a story about a failed search for one’s own happiness, in which we can probably recognize Phil himself. Typically simple Thin Lizzy chords bring the story right up close to the listener, while Lynott carries on with his daydreaming on Old Flame.
Johnny The Fox actually hides two Johnnys, both tied up in dirty drug dealings. The first Johnny introduces himself as a kind of “sneaky” junkie who, over a lively, wickedly mean rhythm, shoots straight up into the head, no needless philosophizing. Simple and effective, Lizzy just don’t do it any other way. Johnny is doomed, no doubt about that, but things are going a lot better for Rocky, a rock & roll star who’s having the time of his life as an incorrigible womanizer. That’s rock & roll!! Thin Lizzy shook off the image of nice guys ages ago. Just listen to that rhythm, it rips apart whatever bit of good heart you have left. Borderline is proof that Lynott is more than capable of deep feeling. Here Phil throws open a window onto his wounded heart, while he himself, a lost soul in spite of all the circus around him, drowns his sorrow in alcohol. Speaking of heart trouble, we can’t (and mustn’t) pass over Don’t Believe A Word, with Lynott as a cold-blooded heartbreaker. The heartache gets an extra boost from Gorham’s ruthless solo, which, as usual, effectively “disarms” the album of Robertson’s excessive influence. Johnny, the fox this time, shows up again later as a funky, crafty dealer, with Robertson and Gorham each standing firmly by his side from their own corner. The cold-blooded Massacre is raging blues rock that reaches its true value with the help of Lynott’s dirty, whining delivery. The obvious looseness of this and similar blues rock numbers is sharpened further by Boogie Woogie Dance, where the guys finally cut loose and Lizzy shake out the last “bad ass” atoms of strength from themselves. Insane!!!
Johnny The Fox finally puts Thin Lizzy side by side with the greatest rock icons of all time, and secures Phil Lynott an eternal place among the most important artists of the 20th century. As for the guys themselves, the young men slowly give themselves over entirely to further conquests, which at the time were the only possible continuation of their success story. But things are never that simple, right?
Lineup
Phil Lynott: vocals/bass
Brian Robertson: guitar
Scott Gorham: guitar
Brian Downey: drums
Production
John Alcock
Track list
1.Johnny
2.Rocky
3.Borderline
4.Don’t Believe A Word
5.Fools Gold
6.Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed
7.Old Flame
8.Massacre
9.Sweet Marie
10.Boogie Woogie Dance
