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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't Judge This Book By Its Cover, December 19, 2005
Thin Lizzy is extremely easy to overlook and therefore dismiss. As recently as two months ago, I only knew Thin Lizzy for "Jailbreak" and "The Boys Are Back In Town". Even the band's name itself is the punchline of many a joke about 1970s rock. Too bad. Those who laugh are missing out on the music of one of rock and roll's very best.
For whatever reason, the voluminous musical output of Thin Lizzy is fast disappearing from the public eye. This would be a major mistake, one that I myself am finally rectifying after many years. While there are several more Lizzy albums for me to explore, let me share my knowledge of "Fighting" with you, the Amazon reader/consumer.
Released in 1975, about six months before the band achieved massive success, "Fighting" is simply a straight-up, no-holds-barred, get-in-the-car-and-crank-the-jams album. This is a CD with no weaknesses, just ten rock classics that sadly border on obscurity.
Right now my favorite song is "Suicide", with its blistering, Irish-jig style guitar solos from Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson. However, last week my favorite tune was the soulful, heartfelt "Wild One", featuring the impassioned vocals of one of the all-time greats in Philip Lynott. Next week it will probably be another song, maybe their driving version of Bob Seger's "Rosalie". This album is that good.
I read comparisons of present-day rock bands like the Hold Steady to Thin Lizzy, and quite frankly that is the most ludicrous comparison in rock. Thin Lizzy rocked and they had a serious attitude, one borne of hard years on the back roads of Ireland honing their craft. The lyrics here are not your average Led Zep foppish tales of gothic doom and mountains. They're very personal and hard-earned. The years of obscurity while watching lesser bands make bigger names for themselves had to have angered Lynott. Not only that, but some lyrics make clear that perhaps Lynott regarded himself as one of his biggest adversaries. Yet the music has a total energy, almost celebrating the strength he had gained from his trials. You're not going to find this kind of soul-searching on any Eagles song.
No doubt they looked with scorn on some of those "lighter" sounds that were gaining fame and fortune during the time. You can hear it in "Ballad of a Hard Man", which really IS the best song on the album. Here, Lynott isn't just telling you about his pain -- he's showing you:
"I've been mixed up, cut up so sit down and shut up
'Cause I'm a hard man
I was hung up, strung out but I can't take no more junk
Even if you can"
Hard words, set over basic, pulsating, and unforgiving guitar riffs. Did Thin Lizzy blaze any new music trends with "Fighting"? No. But did they rock honestly and without pretense? Absolutely yes. Sure, they were trying to be rock stars, but on their own terms. Even if it meant keeping their fan base within a certain radius. If we're going to bring back some of rock's 70s music into the national consciousness, let's at least bring back the good stuff!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Has the most twin guitar attacks of all, December 24, 2005
I't's that twin guitar thing that Gorham and Robertson does. Iron Maiden has nothing on them. You will get them here. Perfect vibrato harmonies and all those killer leads from both guys. Awesome tempo changes.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant, intelligent rock album, great lyrics & melody, November 29, 2002
This apparently little known album is my favorite rock album. While "Live and Dangerous" is perhaps the best known Thin Lizzy album and the best rock album ever (failing that the best live album and/or the best double album), this album is every bit as inspired. There is not much overlap with Live and Dangerous either (just Rosalie & Suicide) and one is live -- so you should buy both albums (yes, really). Every song is a highlight with great, memorable lyrics: the Freedom Song (inspiring), Ballad of the Hard Man ("I've been beat up, cut-up, told 'sit down' and 'shut up' ... but I'm a hardman", "They've got a scheme to sell your dreams to silver screens and glossy magazines" - got to love it!), For those who love to live ("you gotta take a little bit of hate from those who love to live. Take that hate..."). For me, this is better than the other Lizzy albums, including the highly acclaimed Jailbreak album. Awesome harmony guitar work and wah-colored leads from Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham decorating Phil Lynotts unique and wonderful lyrics -- Thin Lizzy at their very best. Not forgetting the Brian Downey's distinctive and inventive use of unusual rhythm changes and Phil's pushed melodies and "lazy" vocals. Awesome.
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by Thin Lizzy 
