T.Rex - Classics (2010) {5CD Box Set, Reissue} RE-UP

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This collection brings together the last five albums that Marc Bolan released before his untimely death in a car accident in September 1977.Bolan's creative powers were in a state of slow but steady decline when these recordings first saw the light of day during the middle and late seventies, but he remained a charismatic and distinctive performer nonetheless,and "Tanx" and "Zinc Alloy.." in particular still repay closer listening almost forty years after they were first released.
This slipcased 5 CD set features five original albums in CD-sized cardboard replicas of the original album covers.

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Tanx is the eighth album by British rock band T. Rex, released in 1973. Tanx was a hit in UK and Europe but it failed to emulate the success of The Slider in the U.S., reaching only #102 in the album charts. It was critically derided by journalists who said the darker, adult sound was a complete departure from the unique melodic rock and roll that made the band famous.
It predates punk in some ways, with largely darker and more aggressive songs, and shorter songs than the previous two T. Rex albums ("Electric Warrior" and "The Slider") with 9 of the songs less than three minutes long, akin to Bolan's previous albums under the name Tyrannosaurus Rex and the debut album under the abbreviated "T. Rex" name. "Tanx" is also the first album notably to incorporate elements of soul music, further explored in the following album, "Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow", and other subsequent T. Rex albums. Likewise, it's the beginning of Bolan's marked departure from the glam rock style which he originated and helped popularize, preceding contemporary David Bowie's departure from glam and move towards soul music with his album, "Young Americans", by nearly 2 years.

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Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow - A Creamed Cage in August is a studio album released by Marc Bolan & T.Rex in February 1974.
At the time, Marc Bolan's success in the UK was beginning to slip, as a result of two factors: his constant desire to "crack" the US market (which resulted in a lessened effort on the UK charts), and his desire to expand T.Rex's sound. This can be seen on 1973's Tanx, which included new guitar effects, chord changes, string arrangements and other studio "tricks" Bolan had not employed before.
He had been listening to a sizable amount of US soul and R&B, no doubt influenced by his new affair with a backup singer and clavinet player he had hired for his 1973 US tour - Gloria Jones. These new sounds, in retrospect, were a year and a half before David Bowie's pioneering "Young Americans" album, often credited with making the most successful transition from UK glam rock (which was losing popularity) to radio-friendly, soul-influenced pop/rock. However, as successful as Bolan was in combining his new influences with his old, the boogie/rockabilly sound at the core of the classic T.Rex sound can still be heard in the guitar work and the harmonies,in particular on the track "Nameless Wildness".
The songs reflect a darker mood than on Bolan's earlier releases, with lead track "Venus Loon" having quite grotesque subject matter. This was surely refective of Bolan's inner uncertainty about his status in the rock world now that he was no longer a teen idol. Other songs such as "Galaxy" and "Change" contain similar forebodings and dark imagery. The music, too, is ambitious and complex, containing some of Marc's most inventive extended guitar solos.
The album divided fans and critics into the two camps that would remain with him until his death - those that derided him as a washed-up teen idol, and those who believed he would eventually make a resurgence in popularity. At that moment, however, Zinc Alloy marked a downturn in his fortunes - the contemporaneous album single, "Teenage Dream", made it only to #13 in the UK charts. While that would be a success for most groups, Bolan had spent all of 1971-1973 enjoying constant Top Ten and Top Five UK hits, including four #1's.
T.Rex would not enjoy another Top 20 UK hit until "New York City", in the summer of 1975.

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Bolan's Zip Gun is a 1975 album by T. Rex. It did not chart in the United Kingdom, and Marc Bolan would not chart again successfully until 1976's Futuristic Dragon. The album was produced by Bolan, having dispensed with the services of previous producer Tony Visconti.
The album contains two contemporary single releases: "Light Of Love" (UK Chart position #22) and "Zip Gun Boogie", T.Rex's least successful release. Although the sound of the album was very stark and the lyrics very simple and direct, Bolan had tried to go beyond the rock format of the previous T.Rex sound and reflect his recent immersion in the US soul scene. His new partner Gloria Jones and other recent American friends, such as Gloria's brother Richard and backing singer Pat Hall, had helped influence Bolan's music, and he was experimenting with soul inflections all through this period at MRI Studios in Hollywood where the album was recorded.
Several of the songs had a very futuristic tone, especially "Space Boss", "Think Zinc" and "Golden Belt", Bolan being a great fan of science fiction. The band on this album also featured a twin-drum sound on some tracks, notably "Solid Baby", provided by Davy Lutton and Paul Fenton. Experimentation in sound was very much the order of the day on this album.

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Futuristic Dragon is a 1976 album by T.Rex. Preceded by two UK Top 40 hits, "New York City" (#15) and "Dreamy Lady" (#30), Futuristic Dragon was released in January, reaching #50. It was T. Rex's first album to register in the charts since Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow in 1974. The album features some unusually dense production from Bolan, with hints that he had been listening to old Phil Spector records, especially Chrome Sitar and Calling All Destroyers, which contained unusual musical embellishements such as sitar & other sonic sound effects. The album also contained a handful of songs which could have been singles, such as 'Jupiter Liar' and 'Sensation Boulevard'.
Live recordings of the successful tour T.Rex undertook that year in the UK (the first since the birth of his son Rolan Bolan, with Gloria Jones) show him to be returning to form from the cocaine addiction, (alleged) Napoleon complex, and weight gain which had plagued him since late 1973, when his star began to fall. In many of these (bootleg) recordings, often done by members of the audience, Bolan thanks the audience for coming, and admits that he did not know if they would. He was heartened by the response received on the two aforementioned hit singles, and set to work on a new album immediately.
One factor which also sparked Bolan's renewed interest in music was the emergence of punk. Photos from early 1977 show Bolan at a pub/restaurant with members of The Ramones. He toured in spring 1977 with The Damned, and on the Granada TV show "Marc", which he hosted, guests of his included The Boomtown Rats, The Jam, and Generation X.
The album is also notable for the sleeve illustration by artist George Underwood, who had first worked with Bolan on the 1968 Tyrannosaurus Rex album My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair… But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows.

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Dandy in the Underworld is the thirteenth and final studio album by British rock band T.Rex. It was released on March 11, 1977, and reached a chart peak in the UK of #26. It was the band's highest-charting album since 1974's Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow.
At the time of the album's release Marc Bolan and T.Rex were on a UK tour, supported by The Damned. The album and tour were notable for marking a return to form for the band. Dandy in the Underworld gathered the most consistently positive reviews for any T.Rex album in five years. Having fallen from critical and commercial favour the band had endured some fiercely hostile press but NME, who had been amongst the most negative, noted of the album: "very listenable, well arranged immaculately played."
The sessions had started in Los Angeles in August 1976 and carried on until the end of the year, in UK studios.
Dandy in the Underworld was launched at London's leading punk rock venue, The Roxy. Only the title track was released from the album as a single, in a remixed and re-recorded version with the 'offending' lyrics "Exalted companion of cocaine nights" being changed to "T.Rex nights". The track "Visions of Domino" was a re-recording of the previous single "Funky London Childhood". A final single, "Celebrate Summer" was released in August, ironically (as events turned out) being backed by a previous track from the Futuristic Dragon album, "Ride My Wheels".
The album was praised for the strength of the songwriting and Bolan's vocal performances. The title track was released as a single but failed to chart. "I Love to Boogie" and "The Soul of My Suit" did achieve chart placings in the UK.
After three commercially weak albums, Dandy in the Underworld was regarded by many T.Rex fans as a comeback for the band. However, it would prove to be the band's final album, as Marc Bolan was to die in a car crash in September 1977.

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