Artist: Thin Lizzy
Label: Vertigo Records
Release: 1975
Length: 38.20
In 1975, things really started happening for Thin Lizzy. After a full year of touring, the lads released Fighting, their fifth album overall and the second since Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham joined the band.
Lizzy albums in general suffer from a chronic lack of the energy that’s so typical of their live shows. The same goes for Fighting, though it does present the band in a new, more confident light, something the more “punkish” cover convinces us of right from the start. The album covers a range of musical moods and styles, and sound-wise it’s a big step forward from its predecessor. Despite the clearly visible early-days feel of Phil’s songwriting, the album radiates a new sharpness, mostly thanks to the guitar duo, who sound completely relaxed for the first time. The lads are shaping their own style and sound, nicely showcased on Rosalie. It’s a danceable rock & roll number written by old hand Bob Seger. Rosalie instantly conjures up that early naivety and the urge to prove themselves that the Lizzy boys had. The lads are definitely in a “fighting” mood, as the title track Fighting My Way Back shows, where no prisoners are taken. Suicide is just as “merciless”, a riff soaked in dirty blues, where Lynott, with his nasty vocal approach, backed up by Brian and Scott trading equally “wicked” guitar solos, lets you know the lads mean business. Wild One is proof of Phil’s musical maturing, showing another, more emotional side of his writing, and once again we can’t get past the three-part guitar passages that pop up at intervals as if they wanted to call attention to themselves every now and then. Much the same, at least mood-wise, goes for the melancholic Spirit Slips Away, where we again witness the guitar “debates”. Both of these tracks speak above all of how well the two guys know and understand each other, sounding fresh and full of ideas. This new freshness, combined with Lynott’s tireless bass lines and simple lyrics, slowly reveals a new face of Thin Lizzy, a band that fully developed its potential on concert stages.
For Those Who Love To Live is a tale of the little guy’s fight against a corrupt society. It’s the story of fellow Irishman George Best, known for his pretty wild life off the football pitch. This song sounds sweet and almost comically simple, and goes down easy with even the most neutral listener. Freedom Song carries a similar message, and it too is graced by a simple melody full of emotion. Lynott continues his “working-class” fight for justice with Ballad Of A Hard Man, a proper dirty boogie hard rock number that owes a lot to its predecessor It’s Only Money. A punch to the head that forces you into some serious moving around. The complete opposite is the silly and totally unnecessary Silver Dollar, though it’s a nice indicator of the direction Thin Lizzy had been so happily heading in on their earlier albums.
Worth mentioning is also King’s Revenge, in my opinion one of the better songs on the album, whose more medieval-flavored story can be read much like the tracks mentioned above. The album as a whole shows a more rebellious, and just as homogeneous, atmosphere among the band members, which is why Fighting stands today as a milestone marking the beginning of their most successful era.
Lineup
Philip Lynott: vocals/bass
Brian Robertson: guitar/vocals
Scott Gorham: guitar
Brian Downey: drums
Production
Philip Lynott
Track list
1.Rosalie
2.For Those Who Love To Live
3.Suicide
4.Wild One
5.Fighting My Way Back
6.King’s Vengence
7.Spirit Slips Away
8.Silver Dollar
9.Freedom Song
10.Ballad Of A Hard Man
