"Johnny The Fox" by THIN LIZZY. A Review Of Their 1976 Album Now Reissued and Remastered Onto A 2CD 'Deluxe Edition' In 2011.

"…Started Out Playing Hotel Bars…Now He’s Got The Talent To Take Him Far…"

"Johnny The Fox" is the second of three 'Deluxe Edition' 2CD sets released Monday 24 January 2011 in the UK (8 February 2011 in the USA) - the other two are 1976's "Jailbreak" and 1978's "Live And Dangerous" (2CD/1DVD).

Universal/Mercury 5332077 breaks down as follows...

PACKAGING:
The 3-way foldout digipak is the same design as most of Universal's 2010 DE doubles - the outer plastic wrap has now been replaced with a 'Deluxe Edition' bandana around the base of the set and you have to split it to get the package open - bit fiddly, but it's easier to access the discs and the booklet. The short "Vulture" story on the inner sleeve of the original LP is put under the see-through tray that houses Disc 1, while the 4 colour photos of the boys on the back sleeve are now spread across all 4 sides of the two inner flaps - and they look great.

Like "Jailbreak" (reviewed separately) there's a superbly detailed 20-page booklet with a very intensive essay on the album and the band's history - this time by NEIL JEFFRIES. It documents the hepatitis that nearly killed Phil and caused the upcoming US tour to be cancelled (it was felt it would finally break them huge). But the American arena's loss was music's gain because Lizzy were able instead to concentrate on more songwriting and again - for the second time in 1976 - they came up with the goods.

Niggles - like "Jailbreak" I'd have to say that the lack of alternate artwork or works-in-progress from Jim Fitzpatrick - the Dublin artist who's Celtic artwork was such an integral part of the band's image (and the album sleeve) - is a bit of a let down. The non-colour version of his front-cover artwork that was used on the inner sleeve is missing too. Also Universal could have used the original vinyl look on the CDs themselves - the UK 'Spaceship' Vertigo label design for Disc 1 with the USA Mercury label design on Disc 2 - minor points I know, but worth mentioning...

DISCS:
Disc 1 (36:05 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "Johnny The Fox", their 7th album released 16 October 1976 in the UK on Vertigo 9102 012 and November 1976 in the USA on Mercury SRM-1-1119 (it peaked at 11 in the UK and 52 in the USA). The booklet states it's been remastered by ANDY PEARCE and MATT WORTHAM in 2010 at Wired Masters Sound In London in the UK.

Disc 2 (38:13 minutes):
Tracks 1 and 2 are 'Remix' Versions of "Don't Believe A Word" (Remix One) and "Johnny". JOE ELLIOTT (of Def Leppard) along with SCOTT GORHAM, BRIAN DOWNEY (guitarist and drummer with the band) and RONAN McHUGH have remixed and re-recorded 'some' parts on these in "Joe's Garage" in Dublin. There's not enough room to detail here what's been done to what track and why, but Joe Elliott's notes explain in full on Pages 18 and 19.
Tracks 3 to 6 are "Don't Believe A Word", "Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed", "Fools Gold" and "Johnny" - all BBC Sessions recorded 11 October 1976 in London for The John Peel Show
[Note: Track 3 confusingly comes up on some CDs as "Don't Believe A Word - Remix Two" and not the "BBC Session". However, the DE rear artwork calls it a BBC Session.]
Tracks 7 and 9 are 'Instrumental Run Through' versions of "Fools Gold" and "Rocky"
Track 8 is an 'Instrumental Run Through & Extended' version of "Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed" featuring a false start and more dialogue at the end
Track 10 is an 'Instrumental Take With Lynott's Directions To The Band' version of "Massacre"
Track 11 is an 'Unreleased Scott Gorham Composition' called "Scott's Tune"

SOUND/EXTRAS:
Joe Elliott of Def Leppard comments in the liner notes that he thinks "Johnny The Fox" is even better than "Jailbreak" - I don't know about that - but he does have a point when you re-listen to the fab rock riffage of "Rocky" (lyrics above) and the bluesy feel of "Borderline" which is almost as good as "I'm Still In Love With You". There didn't seem to be anything Phil Lynott couldn't turn his knack for penning a winner to - both musically and lyrically. And the two boys - Scott Gorham and Brian "Robbo" Robertson - played their guitars off each other like they telepathically linked. It's a shame though that the writer credit on "Don't Believe A Word" is still only 'Lynott' when it was known then and more so now that it was 'both' Robertson and Downey who wrote it after the first aborted attempts. "Fool's Gold" sounds great too - big and chunky. There was (like most Irish songwriters) a Van Morrison desperately trying to get out of Phil Lynott and "Old Flame" and "Sweet Marie" (like "Running Back" on the "Jailbreak" LP) are his Van The Man moments - and I love them both. Soundwise, it's good, but if I'm honest, you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between this and the 1996 remaster - slightly better I'd say.

Like the "Jailbreak" bonus tracks on Disc 2, the extras here are far better than I thought they would be. In fact I'd go as far as saying that they may even be better than the album. First up are two fantastic 'Remixes'. They don't trump the originals - but man - are they good! The four John Peel BBC Sessions show just how unbelievably tight the band was - and how their material was sit-up-and-take-notice good. Downey's drums are huge too.

But the best is left to last - a set of incredibly personal in-the-studio outtakes. The run-through of "Fools Gold" cuts out the spoken 'Famine' intro and is just great riffing - fascinating stuff. "Johnny The Fox..." has a false start, studio dialogue and sounds like the band is rehearsing in your living room (incredibly personal) - and when the twin guitars kick in with that great riff at one minute in - it's a blast. The "Rocky" run through simply sounds like the finished backing track minus the vocals - but "Massacre" is more like it - rough and raw - with Phil's guide vocal barely audible. You can hear him instruct "now the chord...the riff fours times and stop..." The breakneck speed of "Scott's Tune" features Phil's bass upfront while Scott boogies like a madman - great stuff.

To sum up - a muscular remaster of the album, properly expanded packaging, shockingly good bonus tracks - and all at a reasonable price. I was afraid that this would be just a cheap cash-in one of their big albums, but it's not. Lizzy nuts will eat it alive...

Recommended like midnight in the big city...

PS: see also my reviews for the 2010 Extended Remasters of "Thin Lizzy" (1971), "Shades Of A Blue Orphanage" (1972) and the 2CD Deluxe Editions of "Vagabonds Of The Western World" (1973), "Jailbreak" and "Live And Dangerous".

“Jailbreak” by THIN LIZZY. A Review Of Their 1976 Breakthrough Album Now Reissued and Remastered Onto A 2011 2CD ‘Deluxe Edition’.

"…And I Come Running…Running Back To You Again…"

“Jailbreak” is the first of three 'Deluxe Edition' 2CD sets released Monday 24 January 2011 in the UK (8 February 2011 in the USA) - the other two are 1976’s “Johnny The Fox” and 1978’s “Live And Dangerous” (2CD/1DVD).

Universal/Mercury 5332052 breaks down as follows…

PACKAGING:
The 3-way foldout digipak is the same design as most of Universal’s 2010 DE doubles - the outer plastic wrap has now been replaced with a ‘Deluxe Edition’ bandana around the base of the set and you have to split it to get the package open – bit fiddly, but it easier to access the discs and the booklet.
Phil Lynott and Jim Fitzpatricks’ “Overmaster” concept story on the rear sleeve of the original LP is put on the first inner flap to the left, while the 4 colour photos of the boys on the back sleeve are now spread across the two inner flaps – and they look great.

There’s a superbly detailed 20-page booklet with a very intensive essay on the album and the band’s history by DEREK OLIVER. It refers back to interviews with Phil and Brian Robertson and the text is peppered with live photos and a collage of trade adverts and gold disc awards. To counter that though, I’d add that the lack of alternate artwork or works in progress from Jim Fitzpatrick – the Dublin artist who’s Celtic artwork was such an integral part of the band’s image – is a bit of a let down on the packaging front. Also they could have used the original vinyl look on the CDs themselves – the UK ‘Spaceship’ Vertigo label design for Disc 1 with the USA Mercury label design on Disc 2 - minor niggles, but worth mentioning…

DISCS:
Disc 1 (36:07 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 9 are the album “Jailbreak”, their 6th album released 14 March 1976 in the USA on Mercury SRM-1-1081 and 26 March 1976 in the UK on Vertigo 9102 008 (it peaked at 18 in the USA and 10 in the UK). ANDY PEARCE and MATT WORTHAM have remastered the first generation master tapes in 2010 at Wire Masters in the UK.

Disc 2 (51:35 minutes):
Tracks 1, 2 and 4 are ‘Remix’ Versions of “The Boys Are Back In Town”, “Jailbreak” and “Emerald”. JOE ELLIOTT (of Def Leppard) along with SCOTT GORHAM, BRIAN DOWNEY (guitarist and drummer with the band) and RONAN McHUGH have remixed and re-recorded ‘some’ parts on these in “Joe’s Garage” in Dublin. There’s isn’t enough room to detail here what’s been done to what track and why, but Elliott’s notes explain in full on Page 19.
Track 3 is an 'Alternate Vocal Remix' of “The Boys Are Back In Town” which features different verses in the latter half of the song
Tracks 5 to 8 are “Jailbreak”, “Emerald”, “Cowboy Song” and “Warriors” - all BBC Sessions recorded 12 February 1976 in London for The John Peel Show
Track 9 is an 'Extended Version' of “Fight Or Fall” (5:21 minutes)
Track 10 is a 'Previously Unreleased Studio Track' called “Blues Boy”
Track 11 is “Derby Blues” - an 'Early Live Version Of Cowboy Song' recorded at The Derby College Of Technology in the UK on the 2 November 1975.
NOTE - EXTRA TRACK DISC 2: the outer packaging lists only 10 tracks on Disc 2 - but there is 11 as documented above

SOUND/EXTRAS:
The remaster on Disc 1 is fantastic – bringing out Phil Alcock’s original production values on every track. There is hiss on some songs (like "Fight Or Fall"), but it’s minimal and hasn’t been ‘Protooled’ out of existence – presence and power haven’t been sacrificed - just amplified. Downey’s drumming is suddenly a force to be reckoned with too rather than being something that was muddled in the back of the mix somewhere. The rockers like “The Warrior” and “Emerald” now sound just HUGE (Gorham and Robertson’s solos still make the hairs stand up), while the more plaintive tunes are great too. You can hear Tim Hinckley’s keyboards on the lovely “Running Back” (lyrics above), the ultra-tight acoustic guitars on "Romeo And The Lonely Girl" and when the twin electric guitars kick-in on “Cowboy Song” after the lonesome harmonica intro – the effect is magical.

The extras are far better than I thought they would be – they really are. The ‘Remixes’ are very good, but don’t trump the originals. You can hear why the lyrics were changed in the ‘Alternate’ “Boys Are Back In Town” – and frankly how he improved it so much (what a perfect little song it is). The already polished versions of “Cowboy Song” and “The Warrior” in the BBC Session of February 1976 are absolutely extraordinary and beautifully captured by in-house Producer Tony Wilson – Lizzy were ‘so’ good – you can just ‘hear’ how the new material was on fire…

The extended “Fight Or Fall” features countrified slide guitars – it sounds like a Vagabond’s outtake or The Allman Brothers doing a loose jam – it’s fabulous and for me a genuine surprise. But then comes the real deal for starved fans - a new Lynott song called “Blues Boy” – and as its title suggests, it’s a slinky Blues riff. Musically it’s very similar to the opening slink of “Pretzel Logic” by Steely Dan but with guitars instead of keyboards. It’s just great and would have made a superb B-side. Chunky guitar work too…bit of dialogue at the end…what a treat!

To sum up – a superb remaster of the album, properly expanded packaging, genuine bonus tracks and all at a reasonable price. I was afraid that this would be just a cheap cash-in on their big album, but I’m over the moon with it.

Reading Joe Elliott’s page on the handling of the ‘remixes’, you sense his enthusiasm and especially his affection for this great band and it’s enigmatic front man. I saw Lizzy several times live in Dublin during those incredible years and they were an awesome thing to behold. This reissue has only reminded me of that. Praise indeed…

Recommended like a large neat whiskey in Dino’s Bar 'n' Grill…

PS: see also my reviews for the 2010 Extended Remasters of “Thin Lizzy” (1971), “Shades Of A Blue Orphanage” (1972) and the 2CD Deluxe Editions of “Vagabonds Of The Western World” (1973), “Johnny The Fox” and “Live And Dangerous”.