Johnny The Fox

Description

Jailbreak was such a peak that it was inevitable that its follow-up would fall short in some fashion and Johnny the Fox, delivered the same year as its predecessor, did indeed pale in comparison. Whats interesting about Johnny the Fox is that its interesting, hardly a rote repetition of Jailbreak but instead an odd, fitfully successful evolution forward. All the same strengths are still here the band still sounds as thunderous as a force of nature, Phil Lynotts writing is still graced with elegant turns of phrase, his singing is still soulful and seductive but the group ramped up the inherent drama in Lynotts songs by pushing them toward an odd, half-baked concept album. There may be a story within Johnny the Fox characters are introduced and brought back, at the very least but its impossible to tell. If the album only had an undercooked narrative and immediate songs, such digressions would be excusable, but the music is also a bit elliptical in spots, sometimes sounding theatrical, sometimes relying on narration. None of this falls flat, but its never quite as gripping as Jailbreak or the best moments here, for that matter, because when Johnny the Fox is good, its great, as on the surging Dont Believe a Word or the elegiac Borderline. These are the reasons why Johnny the Fox is worth the extra effort, because it does pay off even if it isnt quite as good as what came immediately before or immediately afterward, for that matter. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine