Bolan's Zip Gun [Original recording remastered]

Marc Bolan & T Rex | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 18, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B000001EQW
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #531,191 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Light of Love

2. Solid Baby

3. Precious Star

4. Token of My Love

5. Space Boss

6. Think Zinc

7. Till Dawn

8. Girl in the Thunderbolt Suit

9. I Really Love You Babe

10. Golden Belt

11. Zip Gun Boogie

12. Do You Wanna Dance [*]

13. Dock of the Bay [*]

Editorial Reviews

The phenomenally popular and influential T.Rex spearheaded the glam-rock movement, a genre owing everything to its quintessential superstar, Marc Bolan. Rivaled only by Bowie, whose own glam period followed in their flamboyant footsteps, Bolan and T.Rex created an incredible vibe and sound whose legacy lives. Driven by primal grooves, effortless hooks, trippy vocals, and deliciously fat guitar riffs, their music was both infused with hippie spirituality and raw sexuality-a rich, ripe, sonic delight both primitive and evolved. While their music defined an era, their irresistible grooves are timeless, and Bolan's later, more experimental tracks, marrying pop genius with creative expansion and proto-punk power, underscore his groundbreaking artistry. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars released from visconti, September 25, 2003

By 

Shmuel (Jerusalem Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bolan's Zip Gun (Audio CD)

This is one of my favourite TRex albums. I hesitated to by it at first because of the poor reviews it had picked up over the years. Its interesting how rock history is written. It seems people didn't want to attribute too much accolade to Bolan so they gave it to Visconti instead ergo Visconti leaves and Bolan falls. This idea continued to such an extent that the production of the comeback Dandy in the Underworld album was ascribed to Visconti who in fact had no dealings with Bolan after Zinc Alloy. Bolan was supposed to be short of ideas when he made this album. In fact he recorded two albums in this year (1974) this one and Futuristic Dragon and the previous year if he had included all the single A+B sides and unreleased material on Zinc Alloy it would have been a double album, hardly the output of someone short of ideas.

This album is Bolan's most varied and at the same time most commercial. Bolan resisted the path to heavy rock which was the commercial music of the early 70's. He parted company with Steve Took over this and after he parted company with Visconti he put out what could be termed an anti heavy rock album. I'll just run through the styles to wet your appetite.
Light of Love - pop , Solid Baby - rock , Precious Star - soul , Token of My Love - The sea of love a la Bolan , Space Boss - two drum rock , Think Zinc - glam a la glitter band , Till Dawn (my favourite) - sweet soul , Girl in the Thunderbolt Suit - glam a la Bolan , I really love you Babe - Bolan does Dylan , Golden Belt - funk , Zip Gun Boogie - boogie (of course).

Looking back it seems that it was Visconti who was in fact stuck for ideas, he went on to produce Thin Lizzy, not a bad band but not in Bolan's class. Bolan got married, cleaned up his life and broadened his musical horizons.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars oh my god., December 26, 2006

By 

whatevas "geeeze" (tijuana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bolan's Zip Gun (Dlx) (Audio CD)

wow. i can't believe my ears. marc, i know most people don't care for this one, but my dear lord. "i really love you, babe", those morricone harmonicas, the lead guitar, the backing vocals! at the very end, that single backing vocal, that distorted vocal of love. heart shattering stuff. i hope you still exist in some form and are still making music wherever you may be.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An underrated and misunderstood gem, April 3, 2005

By 

Josh Z. Bonder "a sound painter" (Toronto) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bolan's Zip Gun (Audio CD)

I've read many reviews for this album, though only one other is posted here. It seems to be consistently judged very harshly, possibly due to the fact that it totally negates most expectations of what a T.Rex album should be.

In fact, this might be my favourite T.Rex album, and I have all the official releases. It has a very unique sound and production value, and an overall sort of surreal romanticism which permeates most of the material. The simplicity of some of the songs is disarming at first, and this may also be what triggers bad reviews. Simple in this case is not necessarily a bad thing however, and all the tunes are quite catchy and memorable. This album has a characteristic sound and feel all its own within the T.Rex catalogue (though Zinc Alloy hinted at this direction), and to me, it stands out as one of the most unique and pleasurable albums upon repeated listening. There is a very upbeat, dancehall quality to much of the material, and a sort of sublime, deja vu tinge which pervades the rest.

I believe this album was years ahead of its time, and it's still my favourite T.Rex album to listen to. Bolan's most unique offering.