Release date: 03/16/1973
Label: EMI Records
Production: Tony Visconti
Length: 35:03
Genre: glam rock
Rating: 8.5/10
In 1973, with glam rock mania at its climax, Marc Bolan and his T. Rex were sitting at the artistic and commercial summit. He was lapping up stardom with a big spoon, and that meant wrestling with the nasty side of overblown fame too: trouble with booze, mind-altering substances and excess weight. At the same time it dawned on him that the glam rock heirs, led by David Bowie, were about to overtake him ‘on the right’, so he decided that the eighth T. Rex studio album, “Tanx”, would feature a radical change of style. He began drawing inspiration from American soul and funk, which were getting more and more popular at the time. Most of the material on “Tanx” was structured accordingly, even though he still kept part of the winning glam rock recipe that had marked its hugely successful predecessor “The Slider” (1972).
This time Bolan personally got involved in the production alongside his longtime buddy Tony Visconti, who wasn’t exactly thrilled about it, so their many years of very successful collaboration ended the following year. Visconti also played most of the symphonic arrangements on “Tanx”. This was when Bolan first started making some wrong calls that indirectly led to a (temporary) artistic and commercial decline for his famous band. The dumbest decision of all was definitely leaving the hugely successful hit singles “Children of Revolution” and “20th Century Boy” off “Tanx”. Had he decided otherwise, this album would surely be far more esteemed today and would have enjoyed a better commercial breakthrough. Stylistically, T. Rex still kept a glam rock foundation, to which they started adding some soul and funk influences. Saxophone and piano got more room in their music. Most of the piano was played by Elton John, although his contribution was long considered a closely guarded secret
The opener “Tenement Lady” successfully showcased the new T. Rex sound, fertilized with soul elements and lush symphonic arrangements. On “Rapids”, Bolan’s growing progress as a guitarist could be heard through a playful solo. The evergreen “Mister Mister” was one of the best moments on “Tanx”. The nostalgic, slightly funky “Broken Hearted Blues”, with its dreamy sax passages and Bolan’s elegant vocal performance, was one of the loveliest pieces in the T. Rex story. The boogie rocker “Shock Rock” was in many ways Bolan’s musical and lyrical tribute to Alice Cooper, who with his band was one of T. Rex’s stylistic fellow travelers at the time.
“Country Honey” was a short but cheeky little number with a big dose of eroticism. With the nostalgic art rock treat “Electric Slim and the Factory Hen”, ruled by mighty orchestral arrangements and a surreal lyric about a tomato paste factory, Bolan created one of his most mature pieces. “Mad Donna”, dedicated to the youngest T. Rex fan, was a pretty basic blues rocker. The boogie rocker “Born to Boogie” came off even less interesting, one of the early harbingers of the creative crisis that started to plague Bolan after he stopped working with Visconti.
With the ambient, laid-back “Life Is Strange”, Bolan and company drift back into funky waters. “The Street and Babe Shadow”, where Bolan heads out on another ‘evening hunt’, was one more short but likable excursion into soul with a cheeky sax solo. The nostalgic “Highway Knees” was another neat example of the stylistic transition between soul and glam rock. An even more successful soul experiment was “Left Hand Luke and the Beggar Boys”, soaked in solemn orchestral arrangements and packed with rich female vocal harmonies that only amped up the romantic atmosphere
A few words are also due for the two hit singles that didn’t make it onto the album but rank among the most recognizable T. Rex classics. Thanks to its socially engaged lyrics, mighty driving riff and rousing chorus, one of the best in the history of the glam rock scene, the epic anthem “Children of Revolution” was adopted long after Bolan’s death by metalheads, punks and alternative rockers alike. “20th Century Boy”, the definition of a T. Rex classic, with its combination of a punchy riff and a dance beat, was perhaps even the most beloved track in T. Rex history. The potent rockers “Solid Gold Easy Action” and “Jitterbug Love”, which successfully pushed the boundaries between glam rock, hard rock and boogie, also ranked among the better tracks that never found their way onto “Tanx”.
“Tanx” was the last classic T. Rex album, the one where Bolan hit his artistic and commercial peak. The influence of soul and funk gave their traditional glam rock sound a fresh coat of paint. In terms of exploring new sonic horizons, Bolan actually outpaced Bowie at the time, who only two years later, on “Young Americans” (1975), started dipping into soul with a ‘big spoon’. After “Tanx”, things went sharply downhill for Bolan and T. Rex for two years, and after two below-average albums it seemed he would slowly fade away and drown in total creative and personal lethargy, but in 1976 he unexpectedly managed to pick himself up, which sadly lasted only until his untimely death in 1977.
Review by: Peter Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Tenement Lady
2. Rapids
3. Mister Mister
4. Broken Hearted Blues
5. Shock Rock
6. Country Honey
7. Electric Slim and the Factory Hen
8. Mad Donna
9. Born to Boogie
10. Life Is Strange
11. The Street and Babe Shadow
12. Highway Knees
13. Left Hand Luke and the Beggar Boys
Bonus tracks on the 1994 CD version:
14. Children of the Revolution” 2:30
15. Jitterbug Love
16. Sunken Rags
17. Solid Gold Easy Action
18. Xmas Riff
19. 20th Century Boy
20. Free Angel
T. Rex:
Marc Bolan – vocals, guitar
Mickey Finn – congas, percussion, backing vocals
Steve Currie – bass guitar
Bill Legend – drums
Guest musicians:
Tony Visconti – mellotron, string arrangements, backing vocals, producer
Howard Casey – saxophone
Elton John – piano
