Thin Lizzy
Jailbreak

THE REVIEW

When we think of hard rock and the earliest wave of burgeoning heavy metal, we almost certainly think of Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin—undisputed legends of the genre. Yet there are milestones that have always remained in the shadows, albums that never achieved the success of those three bands; among these are Thin Lizzy. The Irish band, founded in 1969 by bassist and singer Phil Lynott, already had five studio albums under their belt by 1976; that same year, they released what was probably their album of artistic maturity: Jailbreak.

This record, at just 38 minutes long, opens in the most perfect way: a distorted power chord that immediately launches into the main riff; three chords, a mid-tempo 4/4 rhythm, and so much energy it feels like it could tear the world apart. “Jailbreak”, which gives its name to the album, instantly became a classic of the genre due to its directness, even though the enormous aura of the bands previously mentioned always kept groups like Thin Lizzy in the shadows—perhaps more because of their image and fame than through any real superiority in merit. Personally, I don’t believe certain bands are overhyped; that would be like denying a part of music history. However, I do believe that other albums by lesser-known bands, like this one, could easily stand on the same qualitative pedestal as Led Zeppelin II or Deep Purple In Rock. Of course, this claim comes after careful listening, not just to the first title track: what follows are tracks with a terrific hard-blues rock touch like “Angel From The Coast,” “Running Back,” and the melancholic “Romeo And The Lonely Girl.” The musical influences before us inevitably stem from rock and roll, from blues rock bands like Cream, all without denying the folk-rock touch that characterized the early Thin Lizzy records. Phil Lynott’s voice in these songs moves from crystal-clear moments to times when his gritty side takes over; his voice, even if not extremely wide in range, blends perfectly with their instrumental arrangements. “The Boys Are Back In Town,” the sixth track on the album, is probably the Irish band’s most successful single; with its riff, the distinctive bass line, and the iconic chorus, it can be considered one of the best tracks on the album. As we just mentioned, one of the strengths of this record lies in its guitar riffs, which, combined with the solos divided between the two guitarists—Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson—create a sound that is certainly aggressive, but never abandons melody. However, in many of these tracks, it’s the drums that serve as the central element holding everything together. Brian Downey, the drummer, while often playing in an essential and straightforward manner, possesses a highly precise touch and is able to move from the heaviness of hard & heavy songs like “Emerald” (the hardest track on the album) to very clean, refined sections such as the bridge in “Cowboy Song.” One only needs to listen closely to what initially seems to play a secondary role to recognize the masterful work he delivers on this album.

To conclude this analysis of Jailbreak, we can safely say that beyond being one of the best-known Thin Lizzy albums, it is also one of the most distinctive records of pure, uncompromising hard rock. Unlike bands like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, who immediately crossed over into emergent heavy metal territory, Thin Lizzy with this album remained firmly bound to the blues rock tradition of their influences. In the 1980s, however, the band would go on to experiment with much heavier and overtly heavy metal sounds, but that’s a story (perhaps) for another review.

Best tracks: “The Boys Are Back in Town,” “Emerald,” “Romeo And The Lonely Girl”