I began listening to T. Rex in late July 2022. I quit them after I finished up their two most acclaimed albums and thinking little of them.
T. Rex (1970): C-
Electric Warrior (1971): B
The Slider (1972): C+
T. Rex (1970):
Is this going to happen every time I try and expand my tastes? What makes British musicians so obsessed with fairies and wizards anyway? C-
Electric Warrior (1971):
I'm glad Marc Bolan has picked up an electric guitar, which he plays with startling success, but I'm still resistant to his vision. Sure, he's dumped the elvish fairytales but now his focus is mythologizing sex among the stars. Sex is vital topic in rock'n'roll; space is not. It was almost died out with psychedelic rock but androgenous glamsters just had to bring it back, didn't they? As with most overly sentimental ex-folkies, Bolan doesn't know how to use strings with subtility nor does he have any idea which songs to use them on. I can't believe he didn't put "Cosmic Dancer" to a groovier track. He's got plenty of them after all and it's great lyric--one that shows this direction ain't all that bad. The riff on "Life's a Gas" tempts me too but my psyche only has so much in common with the young women who bolstered this album to the number one selling album of the year. B
The Slider (1972):
The same criticisms from their last release still apply but this time I find harder to get past all the glamminess. On Electric Warrior, Bolan was establishing himself as a sex symbol and guitar hero, both of which I had little objection to because he still had a decent dedication to rock’n’roll. Now, he is fully submerged in glam and its excess, which results in a number of songs I can’t stand. Plus, all those backing vocals are terribly annoying and the album takes forever to finish. C+
