Photo-Finish  by Rory Gallagher

In 1978, after a two-year break from recording, Rory Gallagher returns with his seventh studio album, which is titled Photo-Finish, an album where hard rock predominantly leans towards the blues rock style, and this is evident right from the first song on the album, Shin Kicker.

The album was not initially recorded as we hear it. Its initial version was a production by Elliot Mazer and a recording made in San Francisco, which Gallagher did not like and decided to re-record. Meanwhile, the company was pressing for a new album. Immediately after Gallagher decided to go back into the studio – this time in Cologne – he had an accident with his thumb, which delayed the new recordings even further. The title Photo-Finish precisely represents the fact that the new album was ready on the day the deadline of Chrysalis Records expired (!)

In Photo-Finish, Gallagher does not use keyboards and returns to the power trio he had at the beginning of his career. The song that undoubtedly stood out from this particular album was Shadow Play.