T-rex Full Album
Hebe Zuelke
The T. Rex discography consists of four "Tyrannosaurus Rex" and ten "T. Rex" studio albums (one of which was a revision of another album, with a different name and tracklisting, for release in different territories; and another of which was released posthumously), 11 live albums, 28 compilation albums, 21 box sets, one remix album, 18 extended plays, seven "Tyrannosaurus Rex" singles (of which one posthumously released) and 39 "T. Rex" singles (of which 13 were posthumously released, including several charting reissues).
T. Rex is a 1970 album by Marc Bolan's band T. Rex, the first under that name and the fifth since their debut as Tyrannosaurus Rex in 1968. It was released on 18 December by record labels Fly and Reprise. The album continued the shift begun by its predecessor from the band's previous folk style to a minimal rock sound,[1] with an even balance of electric and acoustic material.[2]
The duo's previous album A Beard of Stars had charted moderately well at number 21, selling around the same amount of copies as previous Tyrannosaurus Rex records, but frontman Marc Bolan felt frustrated at not being able to break out of cult status.[2] The new lineup with Finn toured extensively throughout the UK and Europe during 1970, acquainting audiences with their new electric sound, while recording a new album meant to capture the new style on tape. At the same time, Bolan's company signed with a new label, Fly Records. Just as a new single, "Ride a White Swan" was to see release in October 1970 Bolan decided to shorten the group's name to T. Rex, reflecting the change in style (as well as making it easier for people to pronounce).[2]
Although the album was credited to T. Rex, all the recordings (as well as the cover shot) were done when they were still known as Tyrannosaurus Rex, with the two-man lineup of singer/songwriter/guitarist Marc Bolan and percussionist Mickey Finn, while producer Tony Visconti played bass and recorder on a couple of tracks. Bolan had considered calling the album The Wizard or The Children of Rarn, before opting for a self-titled album.[2]
The album continued in the vein of the duo's previous effort A Beard of Stars, with an even further emphasis on an electric rock sound as well as the addition of strings, scored by Visconti, on several tracks.[3] Certain tracks like "The Time of Love is Now", "Suneye" and "Root of Star" were stylistically closer to the folk music of Tyrannosaurus Rex[2] but electric guitars and bass are fully integrated in tracks like "Jewel", "Childe", "Beltane Walk", "Diamond Meadows", "Is It Love", and "One Inch Rock", foreshadowing the style of the follow-up. As on previous albums, the lyrics were inspired in part by Tolkien,[4] including poetry about wizards, Druids, and a "Liquid Poetess in a buckskin dress". Journalist Tom Everett observed that Bolan was "clearly infatuated with mysticism, as well as the pure sounds of the English language",[5] although it would be the final time this subject matter would dominate his work. Elsewhere, "The Visit" details a UFO abduction while "Diamond Meadows" and "Suneye" are more conventional love songs that presage future ballads.
The album contained electric reworkings of two old Tyrannosaurus Rex songs, one of which, "The Wizard", was originally recorded as the A side of Bolan's (solo) first single in 1965.[2] The second was an electric version of the second Tyrannosaurus Rex single, "One Inch Rock", with an intro of scat-singing by Bolan and Finn, which the duo had been incorporating into live acoustic versions for some months prior to the album sessions. The remaining songs, however, were new material. "The Children Of Rarn" and its reprise, which opened and closed the UK album, were an incursion into symphonic rock which Bolan had wanted to develop into a full concept album which he was never able to complete; a 16-minute demo suite of its songs was taped in 1971. The B-side, a cover of "Summertime Blues", plus the intricate guitar instrumental outtake "Deep Summer" were also recorded during the sessions.[6]
Recording sessions began at Trident on May 14, 1970 with the rockers "Jewel" and "Is It Love", "Jewel" having already been premiered in concert;[6] this session set the stage for an electric pop/rock album. On Jun 1 the more tranquil "Diamond Meadows" and "The Visit" were taped along with "Ride A White Swan" (some sources list Jul 1 as the date for "Swan"). On Jun 16 the instrumental outtake "Deep Summer" was attempted but left unreleased. On Jun 24 Howard Kaylan of the duo Flo and Eddie attended the session for "Seagull Woman" to sing backup vocals for the first time on a T. Rex song (although his partner Mark Volman was also credited on the sleeve, session documentation does not confirm this).[6] The duo would go on to sing on many of the group's subsequent string of hits. "Summer Deep" and "The Time of Love Is Now" were recorded on Jun 26, while "Beltane Walk" and an early version of the "Hot Love" B-side "King of the Mountain Cometh" were attempted on Jul 1. Remakes of two older songs, "One Inch Rock" and "The Wizard" were recorded Jul 6 along with "The Children of Rarn". The final sessions on Aug 5 and 31 saw "Root of Star" committed to tape. Session notes for the recording of "Childe" and "Suneye" appear to be lost.[6]
The sleeve design was unusual, requiring a sideways look to unfold the full cover, or to have the artwork sideways to remove the LP. The cover pic was taken that summer by Pete Sanders at his parents' home in Selbridge. White pancake face makeup was worn by Marc and Mickey, while Bolan clutched his electric guitar to suit the new electric image he was trying to create.[2] A preface to the printed lyrics states "Dedicated To All Who Are And Will Be Forevermore."
In 2004, the album was remastered and reissued by A&M Records with 9 bonus tracks. In 2014 a two-disc deluxe edition was released by A&M in Europe with the first disc containing the remastered album along with non-LP tracks and a BBC radio session on disc one, with a plethora of demos and studio outtakes on disc two.
In his retrospective review, Mark Deming of AllMusic wrote, "T. Rex is the quiet before the storm of Electric Warrior, and it retains a loopy energy and easy charm that makes it one of Bolan's watershed works".[4]
Follow up album Zip-Gun would follow the same track, albeit a bit poppier and was my second introduction to the man. I love it almost equally if not for the fact that Zinc was where I popped my Rex cherry. Strangely, upon getting to the two biggest albums I was not nearly as excited by them as I was these two. My hope is that one day I will meet my kindred spirit who will gush with the same Rextacy over these albums as I do. Oh to dream.
i remember buying zinc in 74,i was 14,and remember on first play that nameless,was the only trex sounding track.i was pretty dissapointed at first,with the rest of the tracks.of course over time,i see it for what it was,a progression.I do however remember thinking at the time,why did,nt he cut out some of the album filler stuff,i.e spanish m and jive etc,call it venus loon,(which is the best track) instead of all the cream zinc stuff,and use the same cover shot.maybe it would have been better recieved.i would love here anyone else,s views.(by the way tanx is my all time great trex album.) stevie
Great to see many standing up for ZINC ALLOY! Always considered it the most criminally underrated Bolan work. He was aiming toward the soulful side before many of his peers including Bowie,who would strike gold with Young Americans a year and a half later. The album simply delivers on ALL fronts! The accepted wisdom of critics and some fans be damned!
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Into the Breach Advanced Edition Soundtrack, Transmissions from a Hidden World, Subnautica Below Zero Original Soundtrack, Photographs Soundtrack, T-Rex EP, Into the Breach Soundtrack, The Darkside Detective Soundtrack, Music Workbench, and 13 more. , and , . Purchasable with gift card Buy Digital Discography $74.20 USD or more (30% OFF) Send as Gift Share / Embed 1. The World 00:51 buy track 2. Giant Step 03:10 buy track 3. Serious Music is Serious 03:01 buy track 4. Electric Mountain 03:02 buy track 5. Artificial Fire 03:52 buy track 6. Mighty Surf Wizard Battle 02:51 buy track 7. Untitled 04:45 buy track 8. The Train Robbery 03:40 buy track 9. Love Story 03:36 buy track 10. Circus Circus 01:12 buy track 11. My Mind is Glowing 03:11 buy track 12. Tetrahedrons 02:11 buy track 13. Hades 02:52 buy track 14. A Robot Meets the Tree of Life 01:32 buy track 15. Corruption 03:34 buy track 16. Voltaic Fluctuations 03:00 buy track 17. Percussion in 6/8 02:03 buy track 18. Dismantled 02:29 buy track 19. Impulse 02:43 buy track about What's on this thing, you ask? How about electronica in 5/4 time? Got it. Circus organ rock? Yep. An orchestra imitating a moving train? It's in there. A track made entirely of percussion? You'll see it there. Questionable surf rock versus almost-chiptunes? What, you thought I'd forget? What about a track where Ben reads Mark Twain backwards over the sound of various airport interiors accompanied by strange synth sounds? Well, okay, that's a weird request, but it just so happens that I have that covered too.
Some tracks are relatively new. Some are quite old. Some were made on entirely different equipment than the others. It's a crazy mix of music I made from 2007-2011. You never know what you're going to get when you listen to this album! I guarantee it'll be fun though.
What's my favorite track? Love Story. It's the closest I've been to making Real Art.
The amazing cover art was drawn by immensely talented Beau Blyth (teknopants.com). $(".tralbum-about").last().bcTruncate(TruncateProfile.get("tralbum_about"), "more", "less"); credits released April 11, 2012 license all rights reserved tags Tags soundtrack chiptunes cinematic electronic video game music California Shopping cart subtotal USD taxes calculated at checkout Check out about Ben Prunty California