Johnny the Fox (Deluxe Edition)

1976 was a big year for Thin Lizzy. Jailbreak consolidated the advances of Fighting with a huge hit in “The Boys Are Back In Town,” and Johnny The Fox extended the group’s conceptual range. The tale itself is muddled and not nearly as important as the overall tone but the fact that certain characters are brought in and out of the songs makes for a hard-rock Springsteen. The poet inside Philip Lynott’s soul may never have tamed his rock excesses but it helped bring a stunning lyricism to the hard rock genre. “Johnny,” “Borderline,” “Don’t Believe a Word,” even “Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed” have moments where the twin-guitars give way to Lynott’s soulful insights that are far beyond the Irish pubs where their music once felt so at home. The band would never cross over to America with the dominance of other hard-rock bands. However, tunes such as “Old Flame” or “Massacre” have their moments that go beyond the skywalking lead guitars and the moonshot bass. The Deluxe Edition includes modern remixes that refine, not alter, the sound. The BBC sessions prove their live mettle. The instrumental run-throughs let you hear the group’s dexterity and intricacies.