Tanx [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Marc Bolan & T Rex

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 28, 1997)
• Original Release Date: February 1973
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B000001EQU
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,055 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Third of Three Great T-Rex Albums, March 8, 2001

By	Robert English (Independence, OR USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Before Marc Bolan decended into self-satire, he had one more good album in him. This was it.

The band itself was sounding as good as ever, embellished with some cool-sounding saxophone and keyboards. Marc was the weak link here - he wasn't writing songs nearly as often or as well, due as much to the pressures of constant touring as to the drugs that he was taking.

Chemically altered, and under intense pressure to repeat his earlier success, it's no wonder many of Marc's songs on this album sound unfinished. "Tenement Lady", which begins the program, is two completely different songs stuck together with a short keyboard bridge. "Broken Hearted Blues", "Street and Babe Shadow", "Mad Donna", and the huge production-number "Left Hand Luke and the Beggar Boys", are one-riff tunes. They work, yes - extremely well - but this would be the last time. The albums that Marc recorded after this, with the vital exception of "Dandy in the Underworld" (1977), are not recommended.

Those who are just getting into T-Rex are well advised to check out "Electric Warrior" and "The Slider" first, and if you like those you'll love this one.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Grew on me., August 21, 2001

By	Mark Begley "Letterpressed.com" (Fresno, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

With each new T.Rex album I purchase there is always a certain expectation of how it will sound. Although a fan for years, the recent use of the extra track "20th Century Boy" for a Mitsubishi ad made me think this was another hard-glam-rocker like SLIDER. So I was disappointed at first listen. However, having played the CD when I'm doing other things (something that seems to allow CDs I don't think I care for really sink in), I've grown to appreciate the subtle differences of this album. It is, as Bolan stated long ago, T.Rex's "gospel" album, and quite a joy to listen to.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life is strange indeed, August 11, 2001

By	Richard J. Sieruga (Highland, California United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Tanx was one of the few T. REX albums that I disliked when I first put it on my turntable some 25 years ago. Like many fans of FM radio back then, I was treated to endless replays of Get it on, but never knew that Bolan had gone on to make other Lps. I had heard rumors that Bowie played sax on one of the tracks, and that Alice Cooper had sung backup on Shock Rock, and that led me to think that Tanx would be a more hard rocking effort. And so I was initially dissapointed in such melodic tracks like Broken Hearted Blues, Highway Knees, and Life is Strange. But after a few more listenings these tracks grew on me and have resonated with me all these years since. Bolan is a master at writing simple songs, some of which seem to have less than 25 words in them, and make them sound like lyrical classics. And the extra tracks on this collection are all top notch, from the rolling Sunken Rags, to the VERY glam Free Angel. Tanx is definatly not Electric Warrior, it is different in a way that shows Bolan's penchant for obscure almost fanciful twist of lyrics to paint pictures that are a little off kilter, just enough so that the pictures he paints in your mind will never be brought fully into focus. Thus the album never gets tired, the songs never become dated. This is as good now as it was back then, better considering the fluff that FM radio has given us these past five years or so. Along with Unicorn, this is Bolan at the top of his game and while it wasn't his greatest commercial sucess, it may well be his artistic peak.