Electric Warrior

Marc Bolan & T Rex

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1971
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002KP3
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #32,691 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Mambo Sun

2. Cosmic Dancer

3. Jeepster

4. Monolith

5. Lean Woman Blues

6. Bang a Gong (Get It On)

7. Planet Queen

8. Girl

9. Motivator

10. Life's a Gas

11. Rip Off

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

T. Rex's best album, Electric Warrior, distills the best elements of Marc Bolan's earlier acoustic period with a dynamic rock rhythm section--drummer Bill Legend and bassist Steve Currie--and lush arrangements by producer Tony Visconti. Featuring the classics "Bang a Gong (Get It On)," "Jeepster," and "Mambo Sun," Warrior ranges from the space-blues of "Lean Woman Blues" to the punk-jazz of "Rip Off," with a sound fleshed out by chamber strings and the falsetto harmonies of ex-Turtles and Mothers of Invention Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. (Zappa sideman Ian McDonald plays sax as well.) Touches such as the arcing cellos of "Cosmic Dancer" and the sexy rhythms of "Planet Queen" perfectly bring to life Bolan's imaginative world of "diamond star halos" and "shadowless horses." A must for any serious collector of British rock classics. --James Rotondi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do not allow Marc Bolan to be forgotten! Buy this album!, July 8, 2000

By	Rahshad Black (Moreno Valley, CA) - See all my reviews

In the early 70's rock landscape, few things had the power of pure glam-rock. David Bowie, Roxy Music, New York Dolls, and of course T Rex all gained popularity, sometimes underground, and more in England than the U.S., but are all worth a second listen. Bowie lives on, as does his musical legacy; Roxy Music gets their due from numerous band citing them as an influence; New York Dolls were a mere Rolling Stones clone in bad drag, and they still get more credit than Marc Bolan and T Rex. Unfourtunatly, his wandering lyrical ideas and softer-than-Ziggy glam pop didn't catch on this side of the Atlantic. "Mambo Sun", "Jeepster" and "Planet Queen" typify their moving, mid-tempo style that is both catchy and well orchestrated. Quicker, riffy songs like "The Motivator" and the hit "Bang a Gong (Get it On)" take this style a step further. A pleasant Beatles influence is found on "Girl" and "Rip Off" displays a nod to the Rolling Stones heavy rhythm style without sounding derviative. Overall, everything is made into a singular experience, with the aide of the behind-the-scenes glam superhero, producer Tony Visconti. This album is a classic, and should be rediscovered.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All Hail The Cadillac King!, April 22, 2003

By	"derblueangel" (Sri Lanka) - See all my reviews

Picture it: the year 2002 is winding down and a very bored 22 year old is still searching in vain for that one cd that will overwhelm her this year. You know what I mean, at least once a year you find that cd that you just cannot live without, that one you listen to with such ferocity that even your friends know most of the songs 'cause every mixed tape you give them includes this certain album's output. In years past it's been The X Ray Spex, Marianne Faithful, Joy Division, The Buzzcocks, The Smiths, The Cure, Iggy and The Stooges, Billie Holiday, Bikini Kill, The Slits, The Raincoats, The Clash, The Specials, Madness, The Sex Pistols, Le Tigre and...well, you can see that I'm not at a loss for bands to become devoted to. Which brings me back to the end of last year. The Faint was good, Ladytron was good, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Strokes, The Hives and everyone else of their ilk were good but...what's missing? I picked up the album Electric Warrior 'cause I had heard Bang A Gong a couple of days earlier on the radio and had always wanted to check out T Rex. Before I even got to the second track I must have played Mambo Sun about 10 times. Seriously, I had no expectations whatsoever of this album and I couldn't believe that the first song had grabbed me by the throat and threatend to throttle me within an inch of my life. In the days and weeks that followed Electric Warrior became part of my daily routine. Each day would start and end with selections from Electric Warrior. I have read some of the reviews that say this album sounds dated but I beg to differ. The weird imagery and inventive riffs make the album sound like something that sprang from a lo-fi indie label in the late 80's. I think that this album takes the hearer completely by surprise if they don't know what to expect. About a month after I started adoring Electric Warrior I went to visit my close friend who lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn which is a teaming with art students and young boho types. While sitting in a fairly hip little coffee shop just down the street from her house one of the baristas took out whatever ambient music had gone largely ignored by my ears and put in what I recognized as the first strains of Mambo Sun. I couldn't believe that my new favorite band was being played in a different state by someone close to my own age in a cool little coffee shop. I resolved to strike up a conversation with barista boy with great taste in music as the last strains of Cosmic Dancer faded into oblivion. Using a refill as an excuse I ambled up to the counter and thus discovered that the little beggar was also a recent T Rex convert who, through the same trick of fate as me only knew the band through Get It On and whos musical tastes had led him to his newest, greatest discovery which just happened to coincide with my own. No guff, this really happend and though I'm in no way inplying that purchasing this album is going to lead you to finding romance with a spikey haired coffee boy in Brooklyn I am saying that some other life altering stuff will come your way 'cause there's no way that you could listen to an album this good and not have it effect your life for the better. Ok, enough hearts and flowers go out and buy this and then buy The Slider. What more can I say? I love you Mark!-

Poly Styrene

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars UNIQUE, April 7, 2001

By	king of madness "jumpinjackflash07" (u.s.) - See all my reviews

Where do I start? This is still my favorite T-Rex album. Marc did something remarkable and very cool in the early '70's: fusing commercial-sounding guitar-riffs with a melancholy, sublime and highly poetic sentiment that was unmistakably his own. Just listen to that strange elfin voice, crooning such deep wistfulness on the slow tracks like "Cosmic Dancer". Listen to the bizarre campy feeling of "Rip Off", when he affects a growling sort of shout. If you're interested in glam-rock, you should know that Marc Bolan was a close friend of the "king" of glam-rock, David Bowie, and Bowie's song "Lady Stardust" was inspired by Marc, who sang his "songs of darkness and disgrace" most beautifully on Electric Warrior.

To complain about the commercial aspect of this album is to miss the point. The commercial-ness consists only in the deliberately campy guitar-riffs, which were balanced by Marc's beautiful croon and the excellent percussion section by Mickey Finn, to which were added the eerie background vocals. That's what glam-rock was about- the conjunction of lowness with stateliness.

My favorite song is "Life's a Gas": "I could have turned you into a priestess/ I could have burned your fate in the sand/ Bu-uut it a' really doesn't matter at all/ No it a' really doesn't matter at all/ Li-ife's a gas- hope it's gonna last!"