Released - September 1971
Genre - Glam Rock
Producer - Tony Visconti
Selected Personnel - Marc Bolan (Vocals/Guitar); Mickey Finn (Congas/Bongos); Steve Currie (Bass); Bill Legend (Drums); Rick Wakeman (Keyboards); Ian McDonald (Saxophone)
Standout Track - Cosmic Dancer
Everybody already pretty much knows T. Rex. That, I think, was my justification for holding off for so long on actually giving them any of my attention. Certainly, in the early 70s T. Rex were one of the most successful singles bands around, and their big hits - "Ride A White Swan," "Get It On," "20th Century Boy," "Children Of The Revolution," etc etc, have become forever ingrained in the world's musical consciousness. From what I'd vaguely heard, T. Rex's albums never managed to equal the consistency of their singles, so they were never high on my list of things I had to get into. Even a couple of years ago, when David Bowie's work became a new point of obsession for me for over a year, T. Rex remained something I was only casually familiar with, despite how closely the careers of Bowie and T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan paralleled one another. But then earlier this year I read a book called Ziggyology, I think the fourth Bowie biography I'd read (made ever so slightly different by its decision to identify itself as a biography not of Bowie himself but of his fictional alter-ego Ziggy Stardust, tracing his cultural influences throughout history). Ziggyology articulated the friendship and rivalry between Bowie and Bolan in more interesting terms than I'd read elsewhere, and suddenly I felt a compulsion to do what I could to get more to grips with T. Rex's discography. Ultimately, the reputation they have of being more of a singles band than an albums band is entirely justified - their albums feature a couple of tent-pole singles that stand head and shoulders above the rest, and rarely manage to develop much of a coherent identity or consistency to them. But albums like Electric Warrior are of enormous cultural significance, and manage to have enough fun and deliver enough great party tunes to be worthy of inclusion.
Bolan had founded Tyrannosaurus Rex in 1967 and in its first years it had effectively been a solo project showcasing Bolan's acoustic guitar-based songs alongside the percussive skills of Steve Peregrin Took. Bolan had a mind full of Tolkien and middle-England fantasy, and early Tyrannosaurus Rex sat comfortably within the psychedelic folk of the era, consisting of ethereal tales of kings and fairies and castles that won them a cult following among the musical underground. As the 60s neared their end, Bolan met Bowie for the first time and it was immediately clear that the two of them were trying to head for the same endgame - both were vaultingly ambitious young men determined to take the world by storm, both with minds full of alien, fantastical imagery and a penchant for the whimsical and the psychedelic. Immediately, the race was on for one of them to become a sensation. Their music developed in parallel alongside one another over the next couple of years - at the same time that Bowie was first experimenting with electric instrumentation via his collaborations with Mick Ronson on The Man Who Sold The World, Bolan similarly made the switch to electric guitar and shortened the band's name to T. Rex, hoping to simplify the overtly intellectual style of the band up until then (this switch also concided with Took's departure from the band, something which presumably freed Bolan to move in whatever he direction he wanted). "Ride A White Swan" was the first sample of the new sound, still laden with the same druidic fantasy references but now enlivened by an infectious electric guitar riff. Bolan's subsequent appearance on Top of the Pops wearing glitter on his face gave birth to the early 70s sensation of glam rock - effectively a kind of modern revivalism of the spirit of late 50s rock and roll, performed with all possible pomp and theatricality and androgynous glamour. The world went wild for it and it seemed that Bolan had won the battle with his rival.
Electric Warrior was the second album released by the newly christened "T. Rex" and their first to follow their sudden nationwide success. As such, it will always be viewed as their most essential contribution, the album on which their legacy will always be tested. Coming to it as someone familiar only with T. Rex's big hits, it was actually something of a surprise to me - the band is generally remembered as being a heavy-hitting array of catchy, chugging guitar riffs and Bolan's orgasmic wails, but Electric Warrior is frequently a surprisingly subdued affair, though not necessarily to its disadvantage. There are songs like the eternal classic "Get It On," perhaps the definitive T. Rex song, and the similarly upbeat "Jeepster" that showcase the classic T. Rex sound, but the majority of the real standouts here are the more introverted, reflective songs. Album opener "Mambo Sun" is a brilliantly laid-back bit of scene-setting, as Bolan croons over the slowly chugging guitar riff and pulling back the curtain on the hazy fog of the mood of the album as a whole. It's followed by "Cosmic Dancer," a song with all the acoustic majesty and wide-eyed mysticism of the band's early days, and it's easily one of the best and most affecting songs Bolan ever recorded, made all the more stirring by its subtle string arrangements. Then there's "Girl," a similarly moving acoustic ballad that finishes with an engagingly weird wall of noise from a full horn section.
But the album never really showcases the full raucous party anthems they would go on to perfect with the likes of "20th Century Boy" or the brilliant "Metal Guru." In that way, it came as something of a disappointment to me - for an album that's been given the legacy of being the birth of glam rock, it's disappointingly restrained and rarely does much to really inject any energy into proceedings. There's also a lot of unnecessary filler on here - while most of the first half is decent to great, from "Planet Queen" onwards it really struggles to gather momentum, with "The Motivator" (pretty much a carbon copy of "Get It On" but without any of the energy and dynamism that makes that song so much fun) being a particular low-point, along with the tuneless tedium of "Rip Off." Certainly, Bolan could write a fantastic tune, and pulls off a few here, but he was no master of the album format. Still, the paying public weren't complaining, and Electric Warrior quickly rode the wave of "T. Rexstacy" to the number one spot. In the wake of its success, T. Rex would continue to release good material for another year or so before the success of another figure soon eclipsed them and rendered them obsolete. Though Bowie had lost the battle, he would be certain to win the war - taking inspiration from Bolan's success in making androgynous glamour popular, he began devising a conceptual way of taking this new musical movement to a whole new level and, via the masterpiece that is The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, it wouldn't be long before Bowie was on top once again.
Track Listing:
All songs written by Marc Bolan.
1. Mambo Sun
2. Cosmic Dancer
3. Jeepster
4. Monolith
5. Lean Woman Blues
6. Get It On
7. Planet Queen
8. Girl
9. The Motivator
10. Life's A Gas
11. Rip Off
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