The Slider Review

07/13/2005 4:23 AM, AMG


T. Rex's two best albums, Electric Warrior and The Slider, were combined on one cassette by Warner Brothers/Reprise in the early '70s. While they are both great albums, this isn't necessarily the way to hear them, especially since The Slider was reissued with many bonus tracks. Nevertheless, the music itself is good. Kicking off with the fat guitars of "Mambo Sun," Electric Warrior winds through all of Marc Bolan's obsessions, from sleazy teenage rock & roll to spacy mysticism. "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" was the well-deserved hit, full of lust and flamboyance, but it's by no means the only good thing here. With the trashy blues stomps of "Jeepster" and "Lean Woman Blues" sitting next to the space-age rock of "Monolith" and "Planet Queen," Electric Warrior has nothing but teenage kicks; it's glam rock at its absolute best. Without question, the definitive, classic T. Rex. The Slider was the peak of T. Rex-mania, both in Britain, where "Telegram Sam" and "Metal Guru" were number one hits, and in America, where it was the group's highest-charting album record, without the benefit of a Top 40 hit. It's easy to see why the album was such a success. Although it doesn't offer anything new -- it's the same trashy glam-rock and pseudo-mystical folk of Electric Warrior -- the songs were at a consistent high quality, with each cut offering a killer riff or hook. "Baby Strange," Buick Makane" and "Ballroom of Mars" rank among Marc Bolan's classics, but even silly filler like "Baby Boomerang" and "Chariot Choogle" are performed with so much style that he doesn't come across as a fool. The Slider, in many ways, is the peak of Bolan's career, and he rarely ever came close to matching his achievements here again. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide