Jinx was the 1982 release from Irish guitar legend Rory Gallagher, his first in three years, first in the 80's, and as history would find, his last album for almost six years. The band here on Jinx is comprised of Gallagher on guitar & vocals, bassist Gerry McAvoy, keyboard player Bob Andrews, drummer Brendan O'Neill, and sax players Ray Beavis & Dick Parry.As with the few albums that came before it (Top Priority and Photo Finish), there's a great mix of fiery hard rock and smoldering blues to be found on Jinx, as the king of the beat up Stratocaster never fails to impress throughout the 11 songs on display here.
As the late guitarist tended to do throughout much of his mid/late 70's releases, this one kicks off with two blistering rockers, "Big Guns" and "Bourbon", further cementing Gallagher's then reputation as one of rock's most accomplished yet underrated players. "Double Vision" sees his searing blues-rock side come out, as this raunchy piece is filled with scorching slide licks as only Rory could deliver them. Other highlights include the rather jazzy title track, the Western tinged "Easy Come, Easy Go" (complete with a great Gallagher vocal), the acoustic bottleneck slide mastery that is "Nothin' But The Devil", the crunchy rocker "Loose Talk" (with its meaty riffs and wild sitar) and the sweaty, beer soaked blues of "Ride On Red, Ride On".
From top to bottom, Jinx is not quite as strong as some of the classic studio albums that came before it, and was no doubt signaling a decline in the recording career of Rory Gallagher, but it's still a spirited set of blues rock from one of the greatest guitar players of all time. As with all of Eagle Rock's reissues, this one comes with full info on the recording of the album and track details from Rory's brother Donal, and photos. Not quite as essential as some of his earlier releases, but still worth adding to your Rory Gallagher collection.
Track Listing
1. Big Guns 3:33
2. Bourbon 4:06
3. Double Vision 5:07
4. The Devil Made Me Do It 2:53
5. Signals 4:46
6. Jinxed 5:03
7. Easy Come Easy Go 5:48
8. Nothin' But The Devil 3:12
9. Ride On Red, Ride On 4:36
10. Lonely Mile 4:39
11. Loose Talk 4:09
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