I didn't say I thought electric warrior was dispensable in 1971 for me..; I said that in the seventies TRex was in the general opinion considered has a "minor league" group and electric warrior was never mentioned as a "great record of the seventies" in the seventies... T Rex had big success in 1972-1973 but that success was a little bit dismissed as "teenage success" in the vogue of glam rock (slide, mud, sweet, dare I say even Bowie in his ziggy incarnation ?) , something for the young rock fan but not very interesting for the more educated rock ears of then..And my point is only : if I listen to that record now in 2017, I feel it sounds so modern and so fresh that it have its place in the pantheon of the great classic rock era...I wanted to point out that it's sometimes difficult to judge the lasting value of a record...
I still think the great British movie 'Billy Elliot' (out of 2000) with the music of T. Rex playing a very important rule, is part of the artistic come back of the music of T. Rex (and if you've not watched it, check that movie!):
The "problem" was that Marc in a way killed his reputation between 1972-74 because he was perceived as teenie idol and singles artist. Bowie - for example - managed to embrace both; teenie and more mature audiences, singles and album buyers but Bolan jumped right into the fame game. And eventually annoyed and estranged everybody. Then he died quite early when he was just about to rebuild his reputation and his backcatalogue fell to people who didn't always treat it with the proper care and respect it deserved. Resulting in a flood of shoddy releases. I mean it took until the 90's till the first well curated T.Rex releases came out, with bonus tracks and essays. Giving people a chance to discover Marc as artist and proper musician.
Maybe my EW re-issue is a 2014 and not a 2012 - is there a difference? All I know is it's pretty flat and lifeless sounding.
Thanks for that JP, As mentioned - the drums sound a little muffled. Otherwise it sounds pretty good, certainly not flat and lifeless sounding. Among the multitude of reissues on Discogs, there's three 2012 versions. So the 2014 may be a different remaster? I'm not a big T Rex fan, but love this album. I'm content with the 2014 version and am just curious about how it compares with other versions.
Well mine is a EU version, GZ pressing and for some reason on the A&M label - they've recreated the 'photo' on one side of the label as per the original Fly LP, but it's the opposite way around to the original where the 'photo' label is side two and the 'text' label with the fly logo is side one - on this re-issue the 'text' side is just a black label with the track list for both sides. Compared to all my other versions it pales in comparison - but if you have nothing to compare it to, then I guess you would be none the wiser and it's going to sound 'ok'.
Can't find any indication that it's a GZ pressing, but other than that my version matches up with your 2012 reissue. Oh well, would obviously prefer to own a better version, but am not too bothered. I did borrow my mate's original Fly LP, but that was many years ago when I had a lesser set-up. I can remember it sounding bloody good though. Thanks again
Just got this pressing. This is a great sounding record. Everything thing just jumps out of the speakers. The horn on Girl just sounds great. Hell everythng sounds great.
This thing is just as great as you guys said it was. Absolutely marvelous, not to my surprise though. It punches you right in the gut man, this release is no joke. Couldn't be happier honestly, it's a perfect reissue with great packaging to match. I need the Slider to get this treatment, it deserves it truly. I'd take Tanx too
Also, I think Life's A Gas is my favorite song, it makes me think that, despite of the great rockin'/groovin songs on the album, there's a lot of darkness haunting Marc. It's harder to hear that darkness (maybe insecurities or doubt) in The Slider. EW is very special in that way, in Marc's discography. It feels like an album where the artist is fulfilling his destiny, much in the way that Dylan's or Miles first electric album was. Unlike those two, it feels like there's an emotional weight in Marc's shoulders as he's doing it. Maybe I'm just getting things and overanalyzing. Either way, it sounds amazing in this probably one of the best sounding records in my collection right now
One last thing that I've known previous to this release, but after hearing the reissue must be said. Marc's guitar playing is phenomenal. He's very underrated, and while is lead work(especially on monolith) is great, his his rhythm playing as a force to reckon with and id put it right up there with Richards
This version of the record is not for sale in Europe. You can import it from a USA on-line retailer that ships to Europe, like Barnes & Noble. This is a reality of the twisted maze of rights holders in the music business, which doesn't always have a single global licence for all artists or labels. The "ROCKTOBER" project is part of Rhino USA Records, which reissues labels controlled by the Warner Music Group. In Europe, the catalog of artists on A&M records are owned by Universal Music Group. That's why there are different versions: This T-Rex album in the EU label is on A&M records: (part of Universal Music Group) T. Rex - Electric Warrior In North America is on Reprise (part of Warner Music Group) T. Rex - Electric Warrior
I have relistened to electric warrior quite a few time reading this thread in the last few weeks and that's what occurred me the most...the greatness , the freshness , of this record and the fantastic quality of his production (visconti was a marvelous producer that could put his signature sound on a record, electric warrior seems to be a twin brother of the ziggy stardust record sonically speaking, same room atmosphere, same way of letting the drums sound) and all those qualities tend to occult the fact that Marc Bolan was a fantastic rhythm player and also shows exquisite use of whah on some of the songs...It's incredible how Bolan can make a simple boogie riff to be so flashy...
Say 6 or 7 copies at Easy Street in Seattle today in case any North Westerners are looking. Picked up T Rex's Abbey Road while I was there
My copy came from Bull Moose today. I just finished listening. This sounds great, like my modest system got an upgrade. I don't buy a lot of vinyl, but this might be my favorite re-issue since You-Know-Who's 2014 mono box set.
Playing the Demon pressing of The Slider now. Its quiet and flat, and sounds pretty good, but nowhere near as good as the KG Electric Warrior. First time listening to this album, I'm enjoying it, but so far I like Electric Warrior better. Not sure how I missed these guys all these years...
And the sound – those arrangements are so new at that point in time. Warrior grooves. For a band who had just made 'T.Rex' (a pared down electric rock-folk album) it was a leap. And with regards Bowie, I think this - Warrior arrived fully-formed in Sept '71. And Bowie released his folk-rock album – Hunk Dory – in Dec '71, with Ziggy – his response to Warrior coming 7 months later in June '72. So Marc Bolan and Tony Visconti were already nearly one year ahead of Bowie and Ken Scott at that point. And then T.Rex released the fully electrified The Slider in July '72. And Aladdin Sane - Bowie's answer to Slider was still another 8 months away. Bolan/Visconti were effectively a year ahead of Bowie during that whole period, with Bowie playing catch-up.