T. rex | ELECTRIC WARRIOR
By the time Electric Warrior was released T. Rex had already released five albums and achieved notable success in the UK. It was time for the group to set its sights on an American perspective and come in swinging. Thus, the album marks a turning point in the band’s sound moving away from their previously folk-oriented music and getting loose on a new kind of flamboyant blues rock & roll with a dash and sprinkle of flare. Eventually, this would come to be known as the beginning of the glam rock movement.
Mark Bolan swapped out his earlier fairytale-esque lyrics for a more hard and fast take on common rock cliches. The material here is less about wizards and unicorns and more about banging and illuminating rock myths. Smash single “Bang A Gong (Get It On)” extended this notion to its fullest extent, pumped to the brim with sex appeal and strut. It eventually became the group’s biggest selling single and their only top-ten US hit. It’s impossible not to feel your hips pulse to to the panned rhythm guitars in the verses and to become one with the snare hits in the chorus. These were the key moments in 70’s music that defined the era and the new progression of rock.
“Mambo Sun” and “Jeepster” are tight and flirtatious rock efforts while “Cosmic Dancer” and “Monolith” give the album a wider more gentle dimension to play with. “Lean Woman Blues” lets Bolan flirt with John Lennon style vocals while “Girl” gives Bowie the green light on his Honky Dory phase. Bolan grins invitingly on “The Motivator” and lets the super tight guitar work prick the skin at will.
“The Rip Off” evokes the sensation of stomping around shirtless in painted on jeans on a Sunday evening while the strings on “There Was A Time” churn in a brief moment of self-reflection. The second half of the album is even more sensual and cartoonish that the beginning, as songs like “Planet Queen” give a bare bones view of Bolan’s inhibitions while “Hot Love” pulls Elvis into the foreground to give future NYC punk legend Alan Vega his iconic “Uh huh’s” (see: Jukebox Baby).
The entire album is tightly coiled. It’s Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent, and Eddie Cochran remade for the future Bowie generation.Though the album seems simplistic in its chorus progressions and instrumentation, what’s happening beneath the surface would influence glam rock forever. This is punk, blues, and rock n roll made sweet and dirty.
Electric Warrior subconsciously stretched its tentacles into nearly every electric guitar band that followed. From R.E.M to Primal Scream, the imprint it made cannot be divorced from the fabric of all modern rock music. Triumphantly, the album reached number 1 on the UK charts, becoming the best selling album of 1971.
This cocktail captures the smooth and sexy swagger of the album’s rock n roll. It’s sweet, exciting, and spicy all at once.
