01. Get It On (4:26)
02. Ride A White Swan (2:14)
03. Mustang Ford (2:58)
04. Cat Black (the wizards hat) (2:52)
05. Jeepster (4:10)
06. A Beard Of Stars (1:39)
07. Debora (3:09)
08. Salamanda Palaganda (2:14)		play
09. Life's A Gas (2:24)		play
10. Juniper Suction (1:12)
11. Stacey Grove (1:58)
12. Warlord Of The Royal Crocodiles (2:11)
13. Cosmic Dancer (4:28)
14. Beltane Walk (2:21)
15. The Time Of Love Is Now (2:43)
16. The Wizard (8:52)
17. Summer Deep (1:45)
18. Blessed Wild Apple nGirl (2:38)
19. The Travelling Tragition (1:48)
20. Desdemona (2:26)

This lovely and latest in a long line of T.Rex compilations, is a strange and varied collection. Concentrating on material from the original Tyrannosaurus Rex albums up to the seminal 'Electric Warrior' breakthrough album, it contains both singles, album tracks and b-sides. The eight page booklet continues Spectrum's improved line of releases and features a nice essay by Malcolm Dome and some lovely period photos, album sleeve and sheet music illustrations. Apart from 'Desdemona' being incorrectly credited to T.Rex (it was of course, the legendary 'John's Children'), this is both a competent and fascinating set. Well packaged and compiled, it is worth every single penny of the (let's face it) bargain price. An absolute must for new and old fans alike! ---D. Turner, amazon.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett bayfiles

back

1. Hot Love 
2. Ride A White Swan 
3. Get It On 
4. Telegram Sam 
5. Metal Guru 
6. Chariot Choogle 
7. Lady 
8. Spaceball Ricochet 
9. Children Of The Revolution 
10. Solid Gold Easy Action 
11. Born To Boogie 
12. 20th Century Boy 
13. The Groover 
14. Truck On (Tyke) 
15. Teenage Dream 
16. Light Of Love
17. Zip Gun Boogie 
18. New York City 
19. Laser Love 
20. I Love To Boogie

With his Botticelli face and curls and whimsically glamorous image, Marc Bolan fronted T. Rex, a British group that generated a fan hysteria reminiscent of Beatlemania and produced 11 successive U.K. Top 10 hits between 1970 and 1974. Among these were "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" (#1), "Jeepster" (#2), and "Telegram Sam" (#1). But while T. Rex could not hardly duplicate its British success in America (where its sole major hit was the Top 10 smash "Bang a Gong") the group's heavy guitar sound has had an enduring influence and can be heard in songs such as Love and Rockets' "I'm Alive" and groups like the Soup Dragons.

T. Rex had its beginnings when the group —known as Tyrannosaurus Rex until the 1970 success of "Ride a White Swan" —was formed by Bolan in 1967 with Steve Peregrin (often misspelled Peregrine) Took. A well-known scene-making Mod in the early '60s, Bolan released two singles in the mid-'60s on Decca —"Hippy Gumbo" and "The Wizard" —which failed to establish him as a solo artist. But with the group John's Children, Bolan enjoyed two minor U.K. hits in 1967 —"Desdemona" and "Go Go Girl." One year later, Tyrannosaurus Rex recorded its debut album (produced by Tony Visconti), which blended acoustic textures with such instruments as the Chinese gong and talking drums and accented Bolan's lyrics —a blend of myth, fantasy, and magic (others might say utter nonsense). As a British flower-power band, Tyrannosaurus Rex earned a sizable underground following and toured the U.S. in 1969.

The band began to achieve widespread success by embracing a full-blown rock attack on albums like Electric Warrior (#32, 1971) (which, like many of the group's hits, included backing vocals by Flo and Eddie). The group's highest-charting U.S. release was The Slider (#17, 1972). During the height of T. Rex mania in 1973, Ringo Starr directed a documentary on the group's success, Born to Boogie. Bolan and the group were at the forefront of the glitter movement, which was far more influential and lasting in their homeland than in the U.S. T. Rex's popularity declined shortly thereafter, and Bolan declared the group extinct in 1975, leaving his wife and exiling himself to America. He returned to England in 1976 and began living with American singer Gloria Jones. Respected by followers of the then burgeoning new-wave scene, Bolan brought the Damned on tour with his newly re-formed T. Rex in 1977 as a support act.

But his solo career never took off in the U.S., partly because of his haphazard personal life. "I was living in a twilight world of drugs, booze, and kinky sex," he told ROLLING STONE. Bolan died in a crash on September 16, 1977, in a car driven by Jones. In 1980 Steve Took died from choking on a cherry while high on morphine. In 2001 Mickey Finn toured with his own "T-Rex." ---rollingstone.com/music/

download (mp3 @VBR kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett bayfiles

back

01. The Children Of Rarn – 0:52
02. Jewel – 2:46
03. The Visit – 1:54
04. Childe – 1:36
05. The Time Of Love Is Now – 2:41
06. Diamond Meadows – 1:58
07. Root Of Star – 2:31
08. Beltane Walk – 2:25
09. Is It Love? – 2:33
10. One Inch Rock – 2:25							play
11. Summer Deep – 1:42
12. Seagull Woman – 2:18
13. Suneye – 2:04
14. The Wizard – 8:50
15. The Children Of Rarn (Reprise) – 0:35
Bonuses:
16. Ride A White Swan (Single 'A' Side) - 2:28		play
17. Summertime Blues (Single 'B' Side) - 2:41
18. Poem - 0:33
19. The Visit (Take 4) - 1:56
20. Diamond Meadows (Take 6) - 1:55
21. One Inch Rock - 2:25
22. Seagull Woman - 2:19
23. The Wizard - 8:32
24. The Children Of Rarn - 0:40

- Marc Bolan - vocals, guitar, bass, organ
- Mickey Finn - bass, drums, pixiephone, vocals
+
- Tony Visconti - piano, string arrangements
- Howard Kaylan - background vocals
- Mark Volman - background vocals

This magical album for Marc Bolan and his newly christened band T. Rex is a wonderful timepiece from the 1970's. It is the perfect mix of Bolan's fanciful imagination, his lyrical poetry, and producer Tony Visconti's string arrangements. It would be the album that launched the T. Rex craze in Britain for the next three years.

The "T. Rex" album marked the transition from Bolan's gentle Tolkien inspired Tyrannosaurus Rex acoustic days to the Electric Warrior, the king of fashion conscious, mascara heavy Glam Rock. Many early fans were quite disappointed with the change, as their homegrown favorite had now become the darling of the teenage set. The single "Ride a White Swan" from this time (that should be included on this CD) paved the way for the T. Rex hit machine, and was a staple in Bolan's live set until his all-too-early death in 1977. It was a huge hit in the UK and has been covered numerous times since Bolan's death.

The album opens with the short intro "The Children Of Rarn," Bolan's own piece of mythology that bridges the divide between Tyrannosaurus Rex to T. Rex beautifully. Interestingly enough, Marc had created a whole 20 minute piece around this track ("The Children of Rarn Suite") that didn't see the light of day until Tony Visconti released a version back in 1978. It could have been a wonderful concept piece. The songs that follow on the album are simply beautiful works of poetry set to music. Highlights are "Jewel," "The Visit," "Summer Deep," and "Diamond Meadows" (most recently heard in the movie "Velvet Goldmine").

While each T. Rex album is near and dear to my heart, this probably isn't the best place to start if you're interested in Marc Bolan and his band. The album of choice for a starting point would be "Electric Warrior," followed by "The Slider," then this album. Once you're under Bolan's spell, you're hooked! ---James Choma, amazon.com

For years, Marc Bolan's legacy was inextricably linked with glam: boogie-rock riffs, colossal platforms, eyeliner, feather boas, and that goddamned top hat. After his death, in 1977, at just 29 years of age, Bolan was assured of the status of rock'n'roll saint; forever immortal, not growing old and (more) embarrassing. And, for the next generation of glam-rockers, hair-metal acts, and Brit-pop botherers, his specter loomed eternal: "Get it On" the kind of rock-staple anthem that influenced millions of bedroom superstars and garage-band gods.

But history is anything but a locked vault, and, in the 2000s, a funny thing happened. As hair-metal and swaggering hard-rock receded into middle-age, and Axl Rose —Bolan's wealthiest acolyte— labored away, comically, at one multi-multi-million-dollar albatross, Bolan began to influence a new generation in ways that would've once been unexpected.

Bolan's first four albums —1968's My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows, 1968's Prophets, Seers & Sages: The Angels of the Ages, 1969's Unicorn, and 1970's A Beard of Stars— weren't released as T.Rex, the band Bolan fronted in his era of ridiculous celebrity, but as Tyrannosaurus Rex. And Bolan wasn't some swaggering, cocksure rock-god wielding his phallic axe wildly, but an earnest hippy babbling Tolkienian poetry, pushing a platform of vegetarianism and Eastern mysticism, and strumming a beaten-up acoustic guitar. --- Anthony Carew, About.com Guide

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett bayfiles

back

01. Hot Rod Mama – 3:11
02. Scenescof – 1:39
03. Child Star – 2:49						play
04. Strange Orchestras – 1:45
05. Chateau In Virginia Waters – 2:37		play
06. Dwarfish Trumpet Blues – 2:45
07. Mustang Ford – 2:58
08. Afghan Woman – 1:57
09. Knight – 2:37
10. Graceful Fat Sheba – 1:27
11. Weilder Of Words – 3:17
12. Frowning Atahuallpa (My Inca Love) – 5:53

- Marc Bolan - vocals, guitar
- Steve "Peregrine" Took - vocals, bongos, Chinese gong, assorted percussion, pixiephone

My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows is the album that finds Bolan at his least self-conscious. Matching his his swooping, screeching voice and guitar-flaying playing to the zoned-out bongos of Steve Peregrine Took, it's a suitably freaky folk record, rich in tranced-out atmosphere.

Whilst the instrumentation is theoretically skeletal —just acoustic guitar and hand percussion— Bolan and producer Tony Visconti build evocative arrangements by multi-tracking Bolan's voice. On "Strange Orchestras" —the most Banhart-esque moment— Bolan's voice barks, squeals, hiccups, and carols all over itself; whereas, on "Dwarfish Trumpet Blues," the many layers of vocal work in harmony, building broad walls of wailing. "Child Star" finds the song —a tale of a self-destructive piano prodigy who dies on the cusp of adolescence— ebbing and flowing on tides of Bolan; his sinuous singing wildly swinging through meter and pitch.

But his voice —and the whole album— never sounds better than on "Frowning Atahuallpa (My Inca Love)," a triptych in which Bolan becomes possibly the first person to introduce Hare Krishna chants to Western secular music, climaxing a rollicking love-song with devotional Vaishnava mantras; before employing John Peel to read his unironic Kenneth-Grahame-on-acid woodland-storybook writings; then signing off with a minute-long title-track that laments the Fall of humans from mystical spirit-creatures to work-a-day, office-desk drudges. --- Anthony Carew, About.com Guide

The early T Rex albums are an interesting lot. While the full-blown electric sound that was to develop on later albums such as Electric Warrior had yet to appear on these records, T Rex's first five albums are all remarkably consistent and well worth picking up. The sound on this record (and its follow-ups) is stripped down and simple, but still very effective. Not much more than Marc Bolan's acoustic guitar, some percussion and a few added "psychedelic" effects here and there. But that's really all you need. Marc Bolan always had a way with writing catchy songs with ridiculous, wonderful lyrics, and My People Were Fair... doesn't stray away from that model. It blows my mind to think that this album was recorded over 35 years ago because it's aged remarkably well.

Contrary to what a previous reviewer has stated, Bolan's vocals are not terrible on this record. His voice is less developed here than it would be on the later T Rex recordings (I noticed more of a quaver in his voice), but he sounds far from being a "retarded kid making a pathetic attempt to sing". In fact, I think he sings quite fine here if you ask me. His voice is admittedly a bit of an acquired taste, but then again so is T Rex in the first place.

At times My People Were Fair... sounds remarkably similar to some of the "freak-folk" artists (Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom) who are currently all the indie rage. While this may not be the best entry point into T Rex's early work (A Beard of Stars is hands down the best from this period), it's still an excellent record. --- Justin L. Baumgartner, amazon.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett bayfiles

back

01. Deboraarobed – 3:31
02. Stacey Grove – 1:56
03. Wind Quartets – 2:54
04. Conesuala – 2:22
05. Trelawny Lawn – 1:44					play
06. Aznageel The Mage – 1:56
07. The Friends – 1:16
08. Salamanda Palaganda – 2:12
09. Our Wonderful Brownskin Man – 0:48
10. O Harley (The Saltimbaques) – 2:17
11. Eastern Spell – 1:38					play
12. The Travelling Tragition – 1:45
13. Juniper Suction – 1:10
14. Scenescof Dynasty – 4:06

- Marc Bolan - vocals, guitar
- Steve "Peregrine" Took - bongos, vocals, African drums, kazoo, pixiephone, Chinese gong

The most underrated of Tyrannosaurus Rex's four albums, Prophets, Seers & Sages was recorded just six months after their debut and adds little to the landscapes which that set mapped out. There is the same reliance on the jarring juxtaposition of rock rhythms in a folky discipline; the same abundance of obscure, private mythologies; the same skewed look at the latest studio dynamics, fed through the convoluted wringer of the duo's imagination -- the already classic pop of the opening "Deboraarobed" is further dignified by its segue into the same performance played backwards, a fairly groundbreaking move at a time when even the Beatles were still burying such experiments deep in the mix. But if the album itself found the duo rooted to the musical spot, still it delivered some of Marc Bolan's most resonant songs. The nostalgia-flavored "Stacey Grove" and the contrarily high-energy "Conesuela" were as peerless as any of Bolan's more feted compositions. Equally intriguing is the confidence which exudes from "Scenes of Dynasty," a successor of sorts to the last album's "Scenesof," but presented with just percussion and some strange vocal noises to accompany Bolan's singing -- at a time when "singing" was maybe not the term a lot of listeners would employ for his vocals. The excited "one-two-three-four" count-in only adds to the dislocation, of course. Finally, the owlishly contagious "Salamanda Palaganda" offers a first-hand peek into the very mechanics of Bolan's songwriting. Other composers stuck for a rhyme either reach for the thesaurus or abandon the lyric altogether. Bolan simply made one up, and in the process created a whole new language -- half nonsense, half mystery, but wholly intoxicating. Just like the rest of the album, in fact. ---DaveThompson, allmusic.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett bayfiles

back