01	Tenement Lady						02:55
	02	Rapids						02:49
	03	Mister Mister						03:30
	04	Broken-Hearted Blues						02:03
	05	Shock Rock						01:43
	06	Country Honey						01:47
	07	Electric Slim & The Factory Hen						03:06
	08	Mad Donna						02:15
	09	Born To Boogie						02:04
	10	Life Is Strange						02:30
	11	The Street & Babe Shadow						02:17
	12	Highway Knees						02:34
	13	Left Hand Luke & The Beggar Boys						05:22
	14	Children Of The Revolution						02:30
	15	Jitterbug Love						02:59
	16	Sunken Rags						02:54
	17	Solid Gold Easy Action						02:20
	18	Xmas Message						00:11
	19	20th Century Boy						03:41
	20	Free Angel						02:12

Tanx
Date of Release Feb 1973

By 1973's Tanx, the T. Rex hit-making machine was beginning to show some wear and tear, but Marc Bolan still had more than a few winners up his sleeve. It was also admirable that Bolan was attempting to broaden the T. Rex sound - soulful backup singers and horns are heard throughout, a full two years before David Bowie used the same formula for his mega-seller Young Americans. However, Tanx did not contain any instantly recognizable hits, as their past couple of releases had, and the performances were not quite as vibrant, due to non-stop touring and drug use. Despite an era of transition looming on the horizon for the band, tracks such as "Rapids," "Highway Knees," "The Street & Babe Shadow," and "Born to Boogie" contain the expected classic T. Rex sound. The leadoff track, "Tenement Lady," is an interesting Beatle-esque epic, while "Shock Rock" criticizes the early-'70s glam scene, which T. Rex played a prominent role in creating. Other highlights include one of Bolan's most gorgeous and heartfelt ballads, "Broken Hearted Blues," as well as the brief, explosive rocker "Country Honey." Tanx marked the close of what many consider T. Rex's golden era; unfortunately, the band members would drift off one by one soon after, until Bolan was the only one remaining by the mid-'70s. Like the 1997 Polygram CD reissue of The Slider, the 1997 version of Tanx contains seven extra bonus tracks, including such non-album hits as "Children of the Revolution" and "20th Century Boy." - Greg Prato

1. Tenement Lady (Bolan) - 2:56
2. Rapids (Bolan) - 2:46
3. Mister Mister (Bolan) - 3:31
4. Broken-Hearted Blues (Bolan) - 2:02
5. Shock Rock (Bolan) - 1:42
6. Country Honey (Bolan) - 1:47
7. Electric Slim and the Factory Hen (Bolan) - 3:02
8. Mad Donna (Bolan) - 2:16
9. Born to Boogie (Bolan) - 2:05
10. Life Is Strange (Bolan) - 2:30
11. The Street and Babe Shadow (Bolan) - 2:18
12. Highway Knees (Bolan) - 2:35
13. Left Hand Luke and the Beggar Boys (Bolan) - 5:16
14. Children of the Revolution [*] (Bolan) - 2:29
15. Jitterbug Love [*] (Bolan) - 2:55
16. Sunken Rage [*] (Bolan) - 2:52
17. Solid Gold Easy Action [*] (Bolan) - 2:20
18. Xmas Message [*] (Bolan) - 0:12
19. 20th Century Boy [*] (Bolan) - 3:39
20. Free Angel [*] (Bolan) - 2:12

Marc Bolan - Guitar, Composer, Vocals
Tony Visconti - Producer
Chris Welch - Liner Notes
Mark Paytress - Liner Notes

CD Relativity 8254
1972 LP EMI 5002
1991 CD Relativity 8254
1992 CD Castle MAR504
1995 CD Edsel 391
1997 CD Mercury 534356
2001 CD Repertoire 4892



Born to Boogie
Composed By Marc Bolan

AMG REVIEW: Though it provided the title to Marc Bolan's spectacular 1972 movie extravaganza, "Born to Boogie" is an example of the singer pointedly looking a gift horse in the mouth. It was one of his finest rock & rollers, a perennial live favorite, and, more than any other song in his post- Slider arsenal, the one cut which could have effortlessly returned him to the top of the chart. So what did he do? He buried it away on side two of his weakest album yet, 1973's Tanx, and didn't even consider letting it loose as a single. With a lead guitar that rings like a siren and a vocal which looks straight back to the wide-open phrasing of his Electric Warrior heyday, "Born to Boogie" has a bright-eyed pop naпvetй which even the near-duetting R&B backing vocals cannot derail; it was proof that Bolan was at his best when he was at his simplest - and the only person who didn't recognize that fact was Bolan himself. - Dave Thompson



Children of the Revolution
Composed By Marc Bolan

AMG REVIEW: Anybody searching for the moment when Marc Bolan's hitherto ironclad grip on the hearts and minds of his audience began to slip needs look no further than "Children of the Revolution," a fall 1972 single which not only stalled at number two on the chart, it also suggested that his once intuitive understanding of pop dynamics was beginning to falter. Recorded in August 1972, a none-too-convincing "revolution in the streets"-type lyric is pinned to a none-too-original heavy metal melody, and while the record itself certainly packed a visceral punch - that lumbering two-chord intro is worth its weight in gold - it was more style than substance at a time when Bolan's manifold challengers were painstakingly searching for the slightest chink in his armor. Dig deep, however, and "Children of the Revolution" offers several valuable insights into Bolan's future intentions, not least of all the distinctly R&B-inflected backing vocals, which float behind the song's hard-rocking immediacy. Furthermore, when a Bolan revival began gathering pace in the U.K. in the early '90s, it was "Children of the Revolution" which lay behind it, powering a Levi's TV commercial. However, the much-vaunted discovery of a 12-minute version of the song, featured on the Bump'n'Grind compilation, is of interest to completists only, offering nothing more than a slightly less-than-disheveled jam session. - Dave Thompson



Solid Gold Easy Action
Composed By Marc Bolan

AMG REVIEW: The follow-up to the comparatively underachieving "Children of the Revolution" single, in December 1972 "Solid Gold Easy Action" was written in France during sessions for T. Rex's next album, Tanx. Generally regarded as having been very hastily conceived, and slammed out as a single only when it became apparent that "Children of the Revolution" was not destined for the number one slot, it was based around a rhythm Bolan overheard drummer Bill Legend and bassist Steve Currie jamming in the studio one day. According to Legend, "he came along, asked us to play it again, scribbled down some words and, in ten minutes, we had "'Solid Gold Easy Action.'" In some ways, these scratch beginnings show; the lyric isn't one of Bolan's best, although one must marvel at a mind which can describe life as being "easy as picking foxes from a tree," while the repeated heys which do duty as a chorus are at least as contagious as any Gary Glitter opus. Such joys were not, however, enough to send "Solid Gold Easy Action" to the top of the chart. Like its predecessor, it closed at number two. - Dave Thompson



20th Century Boy
Composed By Marc Bolan

AMG REVIEW: Never should a tune have been so obviously a number one smash and yet fail to achieve that spot. Peaking at number three in the U.K. behind Slade and, dare it be said, the Osmonds, "20th Century Boy" would be the last T. Rex single to place so strongly, but as an unintentional farewell to the rarified air of chart heights, it couldn't have been better. With a blast of blocked chords on his guitar to start things off, along with a yelp, before moving into the song's killer, in-your-face riff, Marc Bolan and producer Tony Visconti pulled out all the stops on this one, with great effect. Four wailing backing vocalists, a catchy handclap rhythm leading into the main groove, and more came together here - even Mickey Finn's percussion could be heard a bit above Bill Legend's drums. Bolan's singing is fine enough on the verses, but when he hits the chorus it's all over, a challenge to his woman because he's the "20th century boy/I want to be your toy!" Honking horns add to the effect, but it's when Howie Casey's sax goes completely off at the end while Bolan adds in a bit of spoken-word jive in the mix that it all hits with a last bang. A stone-cold rock and roll classic, no matter how one slices it - it's no wonder Todd Haynes featured a rip-roaring performance of it, done by Placebo, in his glam rock tribute film Velvet Goldmine. - Ned Raggett