Tanx

Tanx
Studio album by T. Rex
Released	March 16, 1973
Recorded	October-December, 1972 Strawberry Studios, Paris; EMI Toshiba Studios, Tokyo; AIR Studios, London
Genre	Glam rock, rock and roll
Length	35:03
Label	EMI / T.Rex Wax Co (UK) BLN 5002 Reprise (US)
Producer	Tony Visconti
T. Rex chronology
The Slider (1972) Tanx (1973) Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow (1974)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Pitchfork Media	(8.3/10)
PopMatters
Rolling Stone	(favorable)

Tanx is the eighth album by British rock band T. Rex, released in 1973. Tanx was a hit in UK and Europe but it failed to emulate the success of The Slider in the U.S., reaching only #102 in the album charts. It was critically derided by journalists who said the darker, adult sound was a complete departure from the unique melodic rock and roll that made the band famous.^{[citation needed]}

It predates punk in some ways, with largely darker and more aggressive songs, and shorter songs than the previous two T. Rex albums (Electric Warrior and The Slider) with 9 of the songs less than three minutes long (by comparison, "Get It On" was 4:24), akin to Bolan's previous albums under the name Tyrannosaurus Rex and the debut album under the abbreviated "T. Rex" name (all of which had no more than 2 songs over three minutes per album). Tanx is also the first album notably to incorporate elements of soul music, further explored in the following album, Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow, and other subsequent T. Rex albums. Likewise, it's the beginning of Bolan's marked departure from the glam rock style which he originated and helped popularize, preceding contemporary David Bowie's departure from glam and move towards soul music with his album, Young Americans, by nearly 2 years.

The song "Born to Boogie" was actually not featured in the 1972 Ringo Starr produced film, also called Born to Boogie. Curiously, the popular single "20th Century Boy" was not included on the album.

The album is also widely known to be the last of T. Rex's string of successes since Electric Warrior; their next album Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow would prove to be a financial failure and put Bolan's musical career in jeopardy until 1976. It's also T. Rex's last album released under Reprise Records in the US, as Light of Love, released under Casablanca Records, would be the last of their albums released in the US.

Reissues

Tanx was remastered for CD by Edsel Records in 1994 as part of their extensive T. Rex reissue campaign. A number of bonus tracks were added (see below). A companion release, entitled Left Hand Luke (The Alternate Tanx), was released in 1995 which contained alternative versions, studio rough mixes and demos of the main album and bonus tracks. A combined album digipak (MEDCD716) was released in 2002.

In 2003, further recordings from the Tanx sessions were released by Thunderwing Productions Limited (TPL), the owners of several original ¼”, 1” and 2” Master Tape recordings of Marc Bolan & T.Rex. These tracks were released as The Tanx Recordings.

Track listing

All songs composed by Marc Bolan.

1. "Tenement Lady" – 2:55
2. "Rapids" – 2:48
3. "Mister Mister" – 3:29
4. "Broken Hearted Blues" – 2:02
5. "Shock Rock" – 1:43
6. "Country Honey" – 1:47
7. "Electric Slim and the Factory Hen" – 3:03
8. "Mad Donna" – 2:16
9. "Born to Boogie" – 2:04
10. "Life is Strange" – 2:30
11. "The Street and Babe Shadow" – 2:18
12. "Highway Knees" – 2:34
13. "Left Hand Luke and the Beggar Boys" – 5:18

1994 CD reissue (Edsel EDCD391)

14. "Children of the Revolution" – 2:30
15. "Jitterbug Love" – 2:59
16. "Sunken Rags" – 2:54
17. "Solid Gold Easy Action" – 2:20
18. "Xmas Riff" – 0:11
19. "20th Century Boy" – 3:41
20. "Free Angel" – 2:12

Left Hand Luke (The Alternate Tanx) (Edesl EDCD 410)

1. "Tenement Lady / Darling" - 2:49
2. "Rapids" - 1:59
3. "Mister Mister" - 2:49
4. "Broken Hearted Blues" - 2:08
5. "Country Honey" - 1:50
6. "Mad Donna" - 2:19
7. "Born to Boogie" - 2:09
8. "Life is Strange" - 1:47
9. "The Street and Babe Shadow" - 2:20
10. "Highway Knees" - 2:32
11. "Left Hand Luke" - 5:17
12. "Children of the Revolution" - 1:04
13. "Solid Gold Easy Action" - 2:13
14. "Free Angel" - 2:14
15. "Mister Mister" (Acoustic and Bass Demo) - 3:32
16. "Broken Hearted Blues" (Acoustic and Bass Demo) - 2:08
17. "The Street and the Babe Shadow" - 2:14
18. "Tenement Lady" (Acoustic and Bass Demo) - 1:35
19. "Tenement Lady" (Acoustic Demo) - 1:53
20. "Broken Hearted Blues" (Acoustic Demo) - 1:50
21. "Mad Donna" (Different Lyrics / Acoustic Demo) - 1:45
22. "The Street and the Babe Shadow" (Acoustic Demo) - 2:36
23. "Left Hand Luke" (Acoustic Demo) - 1:58

The Tanx Recordings (TPL.CD.03)

1. "Tenement Lady" - 3:18
2. "Darling" - 1:46
3. "Rapids" - 4:39
4. "Mister Mister" - 3:31
5. "Broken Hearted Blues" - 2:16
6. "Shock Rock" - 2:36
7. "Country Honey" - 2:06
8. "Electric Slim & the Factory Hen" - 3:16
9. "Mad Donna" - 4:10
10. "Born to Boogie" - 2:10
11. "Life is Strange" - 2:39
12. "The Street & Babe Shadow" - 2:17
13. "Highway Knees" - 2:35
14. "Left Hand Luke" - 5:26
15. "Children of the Revolution" - 3:32
16. "Jitterbug Love" - 3:59
17. "Solid Gold Easy Action" - 3:31
18. "20th Century Boy" - 3:57
19. "Free Angel" - 2:21

Personnel

• Marc Bolan - vocals, guitar
• Mickey Finn - conga, hand percussion, vocals
• Steve Currie - bass
• Bill Legend - drums
• Tony Visconti - mellotron, string arrangements
• Howard Casey - saxophone

External links

• Demon Music Group / Edsel Records
• Thunderwing Productions Ltd