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Jailbreak

by Thin Lizzy

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Jailbreak is surely Thin Lizzy's most exciting, tough, and touching album. Simultaneously barbarous and balletic, the 1976 set boasts the totally irresistible "The Boys Are Back in Town." But the rest of Jailbreak lives up to that highlight, especially the riotous title track ("Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak, somewhere in this town"--yeah well, the jail seems a likely place). If Phil Lynott's poetic pretensions sometimes get the better of things, most of the album shows off his effortless power and economy; if heavy rock has a tendency to wrestle each song to the ground, Lynott and company were uniquely capable of delivering the knockout punch, graceful as a boxer or bullfighter. Jailbreak is testament to such skills. --Taylor Parkes