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2106 - THIN LIZZY - Fighting (Deluxe Edition), Disc Two (1975)

THIN LIZZY
''FIGHTING (DELUXE EDITION), DISC TWO''
1975
2012
ISLAND
99:34

DISC ONE
1/Rosalie
Bob Seger/2:58
2/For Those Who Love to Live
Brian Downey / Phil Lynott/3:09
3/Suicide
Phil Lynott/5:14
4/Wild One
Phil Lynott/4:19
5/Fighting My Way Back
Phil Lynott/3:13
6/King's Vengeance
Scott Gorham / Phil Lynott/4:08
7/Spirit Slips Away
Phil Lynott/4:42
8/Silver Dollar
Brian Robertson/3:29
9/Freedom Song
Scott Gorham / Phil Lynott/3:33
10/Ballad of a Hard Man
Scott Gorham/3:18

DISC TWO
1/Half Caste
Phil Lynott/3:38
2/Rosalie [US Album Mix]
Bob Seger/2:56
3/Half Caste [BBC Session]
Phil Lynott/3:52
4/Rosalie [BBC Session]
Bob Seger/3:15
5/Suicide [BBC Session]
Phil Lynott/5:18
6/Ballad of a Hard Man [False Starts and No Vocal]
Scott Graham/4:08
7/Try a Little Harder [Alternate Vocal]/4:07
8/Fighting My Way Back [Rough Mix with Alternate Vocal]/3:23
Phil Lynott/3:23
9/Song for Jesse [No Vocal]/2:13
10/Leaving Town [Acoustic, Bass & Drums - No Vocal]/4:51
11/Blues Boy
Brian Robertson/4:33
12/Leaving Town [Extended Take]/5:52
13/Spirit Slips Away [Extended Version - Take Four]/5:30
14/Wild One [No Vocal]/4:18
15/Bryan's Funky Fazer (Silver Dollar)
Brian Robertson/3:37

Roger Chapman /Vocals
Brian Downey /Drums, Percussion
Scott Gorham /Guitar
Phil Lynott /Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Bass), Producer, Vocals
Ian McLagan /Piano
Brian Robertson /Guitar, Vocals

REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
It's hard not to interpret the "fighting my way back" chorus of the title track on Thin Lizzy's fifth album as the band's way of bouncing back from the uncommonly subdued Night Life. If that record was smooth and relaxed, Fighting is a tense, coiled, vicious rock & roll album, as hard as Vagabonds's toughest moments but more accomplished, the sound of a band truly coming into its own. There are two key forces at work. First, there's the integration of guitarists Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson, who get to unleash furious playing on every track here. It's hard not to thrill at their harmonizing twin-lead interplay, which is enough to excuse the rather pedestrian nature of their original tunes here (Robertson penned the boogie "Silver Dollar," Gorham the closer "Ballad of a Hard Man"). That's especially true because of the other development here: the full flourishing of Phil Lynott as a rock & roll poet. Whether he's writing hard-charging rockers like "Wild One," jazzy Springsteen-isms of "For Those Who Love to Live" or combining both on "Freedom Song," his songs manage to be both mythic and commonplace, and when delivered by the vital, visceral lineup he has here, they're invigorating. Strangely enough, that leap forward as a writer is somewhat overshadowed by a triumph of the band, in how they completely steal Bob Seger's "Rosalie" turning it into their own anthem, but that again is a testament to the strength of this incarnation of Thin Lizzy, who truly begin their classic era with this dynamic LP.

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