T. Rex and the album ‘Electric Warrior’

With the pending induction of the band T. Rex into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, let’s listen and look into the most relevant T. Rex album with the lineup that, in my opinion, should be the one recognized at induction into the Rock Hall. Take a listen with me to the musical styling of Marc Bolan, Mickey Finn, Steve Currie and Bill Legend on the album Electric Warrior.

(The album cover for Electric Warrior by T. Rex).

The 1971 album Electric Warrior, a fascinating example of glam rock with its highest degree of popularity coming in the United Kingdom, begins with Mambo Sun that plays with a bluesy riff and oddly fascinating and odd lyrics that owes something to the sound of Eddie Cochran, among others.

Cosmic Dancer thematically takes the listener from dancing the mambo to dancing right from birth through his pre-teens. Played with trippy chord progressions perfect for the title, the listening pleasure screams joy at the experience.

Opening the song Jeepster with the drum beat setting the timing was beautiful and so sweet. The lyrics suggest the young kid declaring his love in the most finding your way through love way possible.

(Left to right are T. Rex members Bill Legend, Marc Bolan, Mickey Finn and Steve Currie. This lineup made the album Electric Warrior).

Monolith declares itself royalty lyrically and almost religiously to my ear with a sound heavy with tambourines, drums, and backing vocals reminiscent of a choir. The almost squawky effect of the bass and guitar lines speaks to a very strong glam sensibility through the song.

Lean Woman Blues closes out what was the opening side of the Electric Warrior album, previewing a sensibility of lyrics echoed by Queen with the song Fat Bottom Girls from 1978, in that women of a certain body type holds an interest for the performers.

Bang a Gong (Get It On) opens the second side of Electric Warrior as perhaps the best known T. Rex song in the United States while also being a chart topper in the United Kingdom. The words bang a gong were added for the US audience to avoid confusion with the song Get It On by the band Chase.

(The single Get It On, alternatively called Bang A Gong (Get It On), as released in support of the album Electric Warrior by T. Rex).

Planet Queen builds lyrically from the dancing of Cosmic Dancer into an almost a fantastic image of love in outer space with dragons. The point of being out of site being all right in the pursuit of love is the exploration of growing up if I’ve ever heard it.

Girl takes a step beyond Planet Queen into a spiritual plane seeking to engage in the feeling, the mystery and the experience of love. Perhaps aiming for the most mature messaging on the album, the horns add something beyond the remainder of the songs on the album.

The sound of The Motivator is a mellow continuation of the song Girl on Electric Warrior. The gender ambiguity that is a part of glam rock shows itself clearly in here as it feels to me like a overarching question is for the listener to understand his/her motivation in love.

Life’s A Gas reintroduces the unusual and weird notion of loving a girl like a planet. Certainly a love of a large magnitude, the notion of a spiritual or physical love almost feels like it doesn’t matter to the song’s narrator because the whole notion of what love is or could be feels too mysterious to understand rationally.

The song Rip Off closes the album Electric Warrior with what feels like a statement declaring that love is one big insult that means nothing. The feelings of what love might add, as explored through much of the album before this song, seems like the train flies off the rails because we’ve been rejected, or fooled into an experience with a partner of an unanticipated gender. The experience then feels, well, like the song title.

Matt – Wednesday, March 4, 2020