After Thin Lizzy's hit-and-miss early career, where they found 1973's freak success Whiskey In The Jar tricky to follow despite having songs as great as The Rocker, and suffered the departure of guitarist Eric Bell and the short tenure of his replacement Gary Moore, Phil Lynott expanded the band's line-up to two guitarists so he wouldn't get caught short again.
Once they settled on Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham, and got over their disappointment with 1974's Nightlife album, they delivered with the marvellous Fighting, their first to chart in the UK. Then in 1976 it all came together with two classics that belong in every record collection: Jailbreak, which included worldwide hit The Boys Are Back In Town, and Johnny The Fox, heralded by the robust Don't Believe A Word, which was very nearly as good.
1976 collects both albums, as well as brand new stereo mixes which are akin to The Beatles rejigs of recent years in that some might ask what exactly needed fixing, but there's no plan to delete the originals so what harm? They are welcomely buffed up and shiny, although hearing extra Lynott vocal asides on Jailbreak, some unnecessary saxophone on Running Back or more shouting on Don't Believe A Word is initially disconcerting for those with these songs tattooed on their souls.
The five-CD plus Blu-ray set is fleshed out with offcuts and radio sessions, all of which are, at the very least, interesting. A sparse demo of the great Running Back, and charming acoustic runs at Romeo And The Lonely Girl and a gorgeous Fight Or Fall, which highlights Lynott's much-missed voice and his songwriting skills and almost bests the familiar version, are deserving of special mention. The sensible among us for whom Lynott remains the coolest Irishman in history will also cherish a slightly woozy and hungover go at Borderline.
If your finger is still wavering over the purchase button, Emerald and Rosalie from the Cleveland gig on the final CD are ferocious and make this listener curse again his bad fortune for never having experienced Thin Lizzy live.
1976 is a worthy celebration of a remarkable year in the career of this remarkable band, and a nice package, as the actress probably said to the bass player.
