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Rating: Probably, Thin Lizzy is the most underrated band in the great rock landscape of the seventies, overshadowed by the quadrumvirate Zeppelin/Purple/Sabbath/Uriah Heep that reigned supreme among the fans of Albion. Yet, this Irish group is of seminal importance for a certain type of music that, between the late '70s and the early '80s, would pave the way for bands like Iron Maiden and Angel Dust. They are almost certainly credited with the first use of twin guitars, the two lead guitars, which would characterize the productions of the aforementioned Maiden, just to give an example.
Led by the immortal Phil Lynott, bassist/singer with Brazilian origins, with Jailbreak they reach the pinnacle of their excellent production. The album opens with the title track characterized by a broken riff as simple as it is engaging, the classic three-chord masterpiece. Then comes "Angel From The Coast", which passes delightfully in its three-minute duration. Without infamy and without praise, "Running Back", which foreshadows the beautiful "Romeo And The Lonely Girl" where all of Lynott's romanticism emerges with his sad yet carefree tone; after "Warriors" comes the band's most famous piece, "The Boys Are Back In Town", I challenge anyone to admit they haven't heard it at least once! 4:27 of pure electricity with the twin guitars highlighted in the final part. After the nostalgic "Fight Or Fall" comes "Cowboy Song", where all Phil Lynott's passion for western movies and the figure of the American pioneers comes vigorously to the fore. Closing in grand style with the superb "Emerald" which deals with the theme of the Irish independence struggles with all its violence and tragedies; here too, apart from the great Lynott, it's the two lead guitars that take center stage with intertwining and decorations that recall the folk/Celtic tradition of Irish traditional music.
A great album for, let me say, A GREAT BAND, precise drumming, a pounding bass, two incendiary guitars, a smooth and nostalgic voice, ladies and gentlemen, THIN LIZZY!!!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Jailbreak (04:04)
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in this town
See me and the boys we don't like it
So were getting up and going down
Hiding low looking right to left
If you see us coming I think it's best
To move away do you hear what I say
From under my breath
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in the town
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
So don't you be around
Don't you be around
Tonight there's gonna be trouble
Some of us won't survive
See the boys and me mean business
Bustin' out dead or alive
I can hear the hound dogs on my trail
All hell breaks loose, alarm and sirens wail
Like the game if you lose
Go to jail
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in the town
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
So don't you be around
Tonight there's gonna trouble
I'm gonna find myself in
Tonight there's gonna trouble
So woman stay with a friend
You know it's safer
Breakout!
Tonight there's gonna be a breakout
Into the city zones
Don't you dare to try and stop us
No one could for long
Searchlight on my trail
Tonight's the night all systems fail
Hey you good lookin' female
Come here!
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in the town
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
So don't you be around
Tonight there's gonna be trouble
I'm gonna find myself in
Tonight there's gonna be trouble
So woman stay with a friend
02 Angel From the Coast (03:06)
The sacred heart is bleeding
Go tell the Holy Ghost
That the junkie is still cheating
To get the thing he needs the most
Lady Luck has me covered
Keeping her watchful eyes over me
The lovers are discovered
The charge is first degree
Angel, she's a killer
Just flown in from the coast
Makes the hit, it's a winner
Leaves you dead as the post
Sally took to playing poker
The joker is her favorite card
The drunk he can't stay sober
He says it's much too hard
Meantime something seedy
Was happening across the hall
Somebody seemed to be groaning
You could hear it through the wall
The cops they came like lightning
The bullets flew astray
The noise it was frightening
The crook he got away
05 Warriors (04:12)
I am the warrior
I serve the death machine
Losers or conquerors
All flash past on my silver screen
Death is no easy answer
For those who wish to know
Ask those who have been before you
What fate the future holds
It ain't pretty...
I am a messenger
The message here, you must know
I am the warrior
I deliver the fatal blow
So fate will have to wait
Till time can heal the scar
My heart is ruled by Venus
And my head by Mars
06 The Boys Are Back in Town (04:30)
Guess who just got back today
Them wild eyed boys, that'd been away
Haven't changed, that much to say
But man I still think them cats are crazy
They were asking if you were around
How you was, where you could be found
Told them you were living downtown
Driving all the old men crazy
The Boys are back in town (The boys are back in town)
(I Said) The boys are back in town
The boys are back in town
The boys are back in town (The boys are back in town)
The boys are back in town (The boys are back in town)
You know that chick who used to dance a lot?
Every night she'd be on the floor, shakin' what she's got
Man when I tell you she was cool she was redhot
I mean she was steamin'
And that time over at Johnny's place
When this chic got up and she slapped Johnny's face
Man we just fell about the place
If that chic don't wanna know forget 'er
The boys are back in town (The boys are back in town)
(I said) The boys are back in town
The boys are back in town
The boys are back in town (The boys are back in town)
The boys are back in town (The boys are back in town)
Spread the word around
Guess who's back in town
Just spread the word around
Friday night they'll be dressed to kill
Down at Dino's bar and grill
The drinks will flow and blood would spill
And if the boys wanna fight you better let 'em
That jukebox in the corner blasting out my favourite song
The nights are getting warmer it won't be long
Wont be long till the summer comes
Now that the boys are here again
The boys are back in town (the boys are back in town)
The boys are back in town (the boys are back in town)
The boys are back in town (the boys are back in town)
(Spread the word around)
The boys are back in town (The boys are back in town)
(The boys are back, the boys are back)
The boys are back in town again
They're hanging out at Dino's
The boys are back in town again
08 Cowboy Song (05:18)
I am just a cowboy lonesome on the trail
A starry night, a campfire light
The coyote call, the howling winds wail
So I ride out to the old sundown
I am just a cowboy lonesome on the trail
Lord, I'm just thinking about a certain female
The nights we spent together riding on the range
Looking back it seems so strange
Roll me over and turn me around
Let me keep spinning till I hit the ground
Roll me over and let me go
Riding in the rodeo
I was took in Texas I did not know her name
Lord, all these southern girls seem the same
Down below the border in a town in Mexico
I got my job busting broncs for the rodeo
Roll me over and turn me around
Let me keep spinning till I hit the ground
Roll me over and let me go
Running free with the buffalo
Roll me over, and I'll turn around
And I'll move my fingers, up and down
Up and down
It's okay amigo, just let me go
Ridin' here in the rodeo
Roll me over and turn me around
Let me keep spinnin' till I hit the ground
Roll me over and let me go
Ridin' here in the rodeo
Roll me over and set me free
A cowboy's life is the life for me.
09 Emerald (04:04)
Emerald (Lynott, Downey, Gorham, Robertson)
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Down from the glen came the marching men
With their shields and their swords
To fight the fight they believed to be right
Overthrow the overlords
To the town where there was plenty
They brought plunder, swords and flame
When they left the town was empty
Children would never play again
From their graves I heard the fallen
Above the battle cry
By that bridge near the border
There were many more to die
Then onward over the mountain
And outward towards the sea
They had come to claim the Emerald
Without it they could not leave
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