''Top Priority'' is

Rory Gallagher William Rory Gallagher ( ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995) was an Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as "Ireland's first rock star", he is known for his virtuosic style of guitar playing and live performances. He has sometim ...

's eighth studio album and tenth album overall. It was his fourth and final studio album for

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British independent record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ell ...

both in the UK and USA. The album was the second with his revised

power trio A power trio is a rock band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit, leaving out a dedicated vocalist or an additional rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quart ...

band. Like the previous album ''

Photo-Finish A photo finish occurs in a sporting race when multiple competitors cross the finishing line at nearly the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to determine which of the competitors crossed the line first, a photo or video taken at the fini ...

'', ''Top Priority'' is a return to

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

. The ballads, acoustic and folk influences that were seen on albums such as ''

Calling Card ''Calling Card'' is the sixth studio album and eighth album overall by Irish singer and guitarist Rory Gallagher. Released in 1976, it marked the second of four albums he released on Chrysalis Records during the 1970s. The album was co-produced ...

'' are replaced by more conventional but powerful

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

. The album title reflects the pressure that Gallagher often felt regarding the business end of making music. After the release of ''Photo-Finish'' Gallagher's band had a successful tour of the United States that resulted in good press both in the states and at home. Chrysalis was eager to keep the momentum going and encouraged Rory to release another studio album quickly, telling him they would make it their "Top Priority" and actively promote it. To remind the executives of their promise Gallagher used the phrase for the album title. The song "Philby" was based on

Kim Philby Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby (1 January 191211 May 1988) was a British intelligence officer and a double agent for the Soviet Union. In 1963, he was revealed to be a member of the Cambridge Five, a spy ring that had divulged British secr ...

who was a famous

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

British double agent for the Soviets. The song is an example of Gallagher's fascination with men on the outside of society. For the guitar solo Gallagher utilized a Coral

electric sitar An electric sitar is a type of electric string instrument designed to mimic the sound of the sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instru ...

that he borrowed from

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is the co-founder, guitarist, keyboardist, second lead vocalist, principal songwriter and leader of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s an ...

to give a feeling of the Eastern Bloc.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Rory Gallagher. Side one #"Follow Me" – 4:40 #"Philby" – 3:51 #"Wayward Child" – 3:31 #"Key Chain" – 4:09 #"At the Depot" – 2:56 Side two #"Bad Penny" – 4:03 #"Just Hit Town" – 3:37 #"Off the Handle" – 5:36 #"Public Enemy No. 1" – 3:46 re-released CD bonus track #"Nothing But The Devil" (Capitol Radio broadcast - 18 March 1980) – 3:41 remastered CD bonus track #"Hell Cat" – 4:50 #"The Watcher" – 5:46

Personnel

*Rory Gallagher –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

dulcimer The term dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments. Hammered dulcimers The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

Gerry McAvoy John Gerard McAvoy (born 19 December 1951) is a Northern Irish blues rock bass guitarist. He played with blues rock musician Rory Gallagher between 1970 and 1991, and then with Nine Below Zero until 2011. Biography McAvoy was born in Belfas ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

* Ted McKenna –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

References

External links

Rory Gallagher's Official Site
1979 albums Rory Gallagher albums Albums produced by Rory Gallagher Buddah Records albums {{1970s-rock-album-stub