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"Met a woman she's spouting prose, She's got luggage eyes and a roman nose ."
    One Inch Rock - Marc Bolan.

T.Rex - T.Rex.

List of Reviewers

=== Review by MarcO ===

This was the third Bolan album I ever bought. The cover photo is one of the best pics of Marc. He looks so innocent.

The album contains some classic tracks. The Children of Rarn was the first taster we got of this would be classic.

Is it love is amazing considering the very short lyric, very unlike our master indeed. Great track though, I love it.

Jewel, one of Marcs early ventures into electric boogie land is brilliant, the live version on video is a classic.

One inch Rock needs no comment from me, a Boley timeless gem.

The wizard, imo. is not as good as the original, I just love that 60s backbeat, Id be interested to read some of our more musically learned tillers review on this one though.

Seagull Woman is another short lyric, but once again Marcs haunting melody more than makes up for that, yup, he was a genius, but we know that don't we.

Suneye is an early attempt at what Marc became a past master at, verse, chorus verse chorus etc., then it goes off on a tangent to add another dimension to the song, something that only Macca' has come close to perfecting.

The time of Love is Now, is a fave of mine, Marcs vibrato working overtime here, he sings it superbly. More lyrical than most of the others, ahead of its time this one, pen in a release date of 2050 for this one.

The Visit. Oh so beautiful, Marcs Space oddity, gives me goosebumps when I listen to it. I always picture a scene from something like Mad Max when I hear it.

Beltane Walk is the direction Marc was heading in for the heady 70s. Couldn't have been a single though, too above anyone other than a Tiller.

Root of Star. A poem put to music, simple and very special.

Childe. Strange one this, difficult to review, I like it, a lot.

Diamond Meadows. I saved the best till last. I expect this is the fave track for lots of you. Hard to think Marc had this hard nose image from his friends when he wrote such beautiful lyrics. But, he was untouched by the trappings of fame then.

The one special thing about having Marcs music on Disc is that time stands still on a round piece of vinyl with a hole in it. In fact, not only does time stand still, it also has the power to take us back there too. The next time you put Marc on the turntable, try to picture him, his frame of mind etc., at the time of recording.

Album Rating 10 - 10

MarcO.

=== Review by Jim-Jam ===

I wouldn't say that it "saved" my life, it "changed" me as a person.

Lets go back to when I was 11 yrs old in 1971. My sisters collage friend came to visit her at our house. I was well into music at this age in my life, (pops used to play Beatles , Stones etc.) So, this collage girl brought THIS Lp with her...wow, just by gazing at the cover got me interested...never heard of 'em, who were T-Rex ?? I had just laid my eyes on the cutest, prettiest guy I had ever seen. Fuck, why couldn't I look like that. Even the actual Lp, WOW, again, this was the 1st time I had cast my eyes on the FLY logo. All this imigary blew me away and I hadn't even heard the band....yet.

Little did I know that very soon my whole life was gonna be changed by this cute handsome guy called Marc Bolan. I knew as soon as the stylus/knitting needle hit the grooves I was in a complete trance..engulfed, mesmerised (and all the other words I cannot find) by this voice who sang about elves and wizards and seagulls etc. Opened up a new world for me as far as words were concerned. <g> I had to get this Lp for myself. (Little did I know that this was going to lead onto something huge for me).

I remember, my parents were turned on as well (they were both hip). Christmas time was drawing near. We always spent Christmas Day with my gran and grandad. How I wanted to get this Lp. (being only 11 yrs old, they thought I was too young to get into buying LPs). My gran ALWAYS brought me a brilliant present for Christmas. (my parents were poor as well...I even had FREE school dinners). Hadnt a clue what was inside this square shaped present. Lo and behold.....T-REX LP......AAARRGGHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW.....this was thre best present I had ever heard....and my gran brought it for me....that Christams day, my uncle got out the "record player" and my WHOLE family HAD to listen to this LP by Marc. I had to make them realise just how Marc was gonna be important to me and special throughout my life. ...and they were making comments on the Lp and Marcs long hair <g>

(PS...the next Lp I saw in the record shop was A beard of Stars by Tyrannosaurus Rex. I had to make a choice...was this the same band as T-REX.....???? I took a gamble. My life was dedicated to Marc and T-Rex.....and yer know what ???? My parents LET me buy it......and I was STILL only aged 11. (The Slider I brought in Bognor Regis...aged 12.. yes, I know, ...psss, it was a Sunday School outing <bg>.

So Rick and Rarn people, yes, this is MY FIRST write up on Bolan lps. Why.....'cos this REALLY TOUCHED MY SOUL.

Jimboooooooo

=== Review by Rob ===

What does the Brown Album mean to me?

Escape.

It's the perfect example of what music was created for in the first place; to go to other places, experience moods, feelings and new scenarios. When one looks at music from the perspective of the listener, it's obvious that it's not there to fill anyone's coffers, broaden anyone's egos or to pat anyone's back. It's there to move people, and 'Trex' does.

What I find incredible is the fact that this album was produced by a man desiring the world's ear, and yet the album sounds so 'earthy' and uncommercial; not really the thing you'd expect to catapult you into superstardom. And that's what I like about this album. There's no pretence, no bullshit. It's straight forward beautiful, touching, moving, evocative music.

If ever life gets me down, I always go to this album and put it on. It's a great stress reliever. It has a wonderful knack of putting everything in perspective and putting your feet firmly back on the ground. From the opening pixie-organ chord of children of rarn, you know you're beginning a beautiful, enchanting merry-go-round of an adventure. The songs sound simple, yet when broken down to their composite parts, you realise how much depth and complexity there is within them. Take 'The Visit' for instance. I can find myself time after time being drawn into this track and finding more and more within it, everytime. Yet it's nothing more than a simple acoustic track upon first listen.

There's too much within Trex to discuss here, and you guys know it anyway so I won't bore you with my impressions of each tune. I just want to say that, to me, Trex was the album in which the heart of the band was truly exposed. I never tire or bore of this album and upon each hearing I gain more from it. Whether I'm feeling high, low, disjointed or whole when I listen to it, it gives me something truly tangible to take away.

Trex is probably the album from the boys to which I feel most attached. Electric Warrior hit the spot with regards to rhythm, but Trex was definately the most heartfelt and soulful.

Rob

=== Review by Simes ===

So what does T. Rex "T. Rex" mean to me?

Where to start?

I shall slip the CD into drive d:\, defragment me mind and let loose the kaleidoscope of memories, sounds, smells, touches, emotions that hearing this album nowadays provokes and reminds me of.....

But we have to set the period, as I came into this album after "Electric Warrior".....It was Christmas 1972 and getting "The Slider" and the Music For Pleasure "Ride A White Swan" compilation for prezzies, I was cock a hoop getting TWO Bolan goodies to hopefully satiate my months of anticipation. I was a ten year old pre-teenage boychild being bombarded with the electric truckin" blast of "The Slider" and simultaneously being astounded that the gentle and simplistic but somehow still incredibly evocative tasters in the shape of the b-sides of "Hot Love" and "Get It On" were pre-empted with the (to me) hitherto unheard gems such as "Consuela", "Catblack....", "Stacey Grove" et cetera.

So, getting to the point, me best mate at the time who was not such a Bolanhead, but more along for the ride, he got "T. Rex" from his parents. Christmas Day, he came round the house with it, I totally freaked out at the cover and he proclaimed it was a bit crap. So out of the brown, cube-shaped inner dust cover with the Fly-in-the-cube logo on I gazed at the label, just so sexy to see T.REX, the track listing, then T.REX at the bottom of the list. My sister (who was still in Nottingham, the other had just emigrated to Australia) had intstructed me in the handling of records, so when me mate pawed at it with his grubby digits I was aghast, plucking it to rescue from his aforementioned mucky mitts, I turned it over appreciatively as he said "Look how long that track is!" ("The Wizard") . I was a bit miffed as I thought I had the longest one at that tender age in the shape of "Elemental Child" on the MfP compilation. Hmmmm, pangs of jealousy kicked in and I wanted to kick his head in, he wasn"t really into Marc, he would torment me with anti-Marc name calling, so why did he have this LP and not me? I didn"t really know the ugly emotion of jealousy till then and have fought it ever since if it rears its ugly head. I accepted that he had two working parents where as my recently bereaved Dad was the only wage earner in our house, so I was incredibly lucky to have two Bolan albums and surely with a birthday in March, I may be able to get this LP.......we had a chain of supermarkets in the UK called "Mac Fisheries" and they had a stint of selling LP"s that were a bit out of date, in the Nottingham branch they had a revolving display unit loaded with "T.Rex" and I used to stare at it with longing puppy dog eyes. Anyhow, I digress again.

So, back to Christmas Day 1972, we decided that we"d play my LP"s at my place and his at his, (how territorial!) so we went over the road and into his sister"s bedroom (she had had a proper, two speaker stereo in bright orange! for Xmas) and begged her to for a moment stop playing her singles and let us blast the Bolan out. She acquiesced for "Just the one time each side or else" and we sat transfixed. "It"s young and gold and silvery old......" crikey, I felt like I was a seeker of space upon hearing that, reading the vivid yellow words striking out from the matt brown flap of the album sleeve.....that was just the start, that thin band of recorded sound that faded slightly the bumped into a chugging bass and bongo roller coaster "She bathes in thunder, the elves are under herrrrrrr", visions of a majestic priestess who"walks the wind and has a panther of silver fur" with the fuzzed out guitar solo, the distant harmonies in the background until the almost orgasmic fuzztronic climax which left me gasping for air....and this only the second track!

Still staring at each other in amazement, the electric blast recoiled immediately into a the soothing strumming of "The Visit", giving a feeling of something that was here one minute and gone the next. Chug chug chug 'I want to give every childe the chance to dance......' a clapalongamarc that beefed up towards the end with the almost military drums, scrawled out into an echoey thing that became one of me all time Marc faves, "The Time Of Love Is Now". The hopeful title that was sung in a semi-mournful style and the up and down bass line ".....And your days of love are always in a dream, you knowww" with the delicious understated flute, I felt transported and mellow, long before the days of drug use. It was all so simplistic, yet intricate and complicated at the same time. At the end of the track I felt empty, like I wanted it to go on forever. The low spoken "Diamond Meadowssssss" intro to the light strings which evoked a serene Delius-esque "Summer Night On The River" feeling. The whole stream of gentle, Something Special Is Happening To Me thoughts continued with "A Root Of Star" the twisty guitar licks that lay over the top of a mystical, Eastern feeling, "A shield of bronze, a thousand gongs"........then blam, back into the Bolan Boogie of "Beltane Walk" which me mate, getting more bored with the gossamer vibe of the preceeding tracks immediately regained his interest, proclaimed it "the best so far" as it "wasn't so boring as the others" although I wanted more of the songs I had been hearing that sent me spinning elsewhere off this planet.

Blaaaaaaaannnnnnnng! It ended so over we turned it, AAAaaaaaawwwwww! a-One-Two-Three-Four! and the fuzzed out rocking of "Is It Love" assailed our ears. Remember, my first Bolan experience was "Hot Love" and I never got "Ride A White Swan" on 45 till finding it in a second hand shop in 1974, so it was a first hearing for me. Rockin"! After the break of turning the record over, my peaceful mood was broken again until the diddley bap bap pa bap pa bap doo te doo of "One Inch Rock" which was different from the one on the MfP compilation, further confusion and an urgency to find out why this was different. Must get out the "Disco 45" T.Rex Special! The lyrics were light and flowing, "Go inside the place is a mess she said "My name's 'The Liquid Poetess' "..... "ask her name, she said "Germaine"" ... the boogie faded out into "Summer Deep", another awesome track, featuring I think since hearing it all those years ago at the age of 10, to now as an almost 36 year old (14 days and a-countin"!!), some of Marc"s most beautiful guitar playing and emotive, deeply insight lyrics..."The truth is like a stranger" and the words of advice "Be like you could all my friends say" with the soaring, distantly echoing harmonies adding credence to the knowledgeable words. I needed to hear that song again, so up came the needle and back to the start. I recall a feeling that something was important. With "Seagull Woman" Marc managed in an "Albatross"-type ability, to evoke and capture the essence of the sea, of rolling waves, cliff tops, of soaring above the waters. Me mate David proclaimed this his very favourite so far, but I was still sold on "Summer Deep". "Lithon the black, the rider of stars, Tyrannosaurus Rex the eater of cars" a blurred meeting of ancient and modern, who or what was Lithon The Black.....I had imaginings of a knight in black armour, a bit of a baddie, this probably came from a visit to Canterbury Cathedral the previous year, where I was fascinated with the tomb (or whatever it was) of the Black Prince, something which frightened me but simultaneously excited my nine year old imagination, so thinking back now, the images seem to tie in. All a bit spooky.

The gongbashing-introed, epic, grandiose indulgence of "The Wizard" came along, broke into a wailing strumalong which David called "a bit of a row" but sent me tingling all over until the spiralling chord changes and vibrant strings that sounded like tooting locomotive whistles crashed over me and left me in a state of ecstacy. I could SEE the Wizard in my head, I remember the impression that just as you were about to touch him, he went. "He wore-a-black-a-velvet-gloves" and the jumbled duo vocals until the gasp of "Well I said aaaaaahhhhhahhhhhhh" and the sombre lament "he was my friend, he"ll be yours too". Images of darkend woods and forests, a group of people sitting around a big bonfire, holding hands mouring the leaving of this all-knowing and insightful person.

The return of the short lived "The Children Of Rarn" appeared as a final but somehow unfinished, open-ended ending, if there is such a thing, so the logical option was play the whole album again.......

Years later, in 1991, my Dad died. I was working at HMV in Nottingham. I had ordered copies of this CD on Japanese import for me and also the shop. I had a week off work to sort things out and the day before the funeral I went into the shop to pick up a CD I had ordered, a collection of The Platters, as "Harbour Lights" was my Mam & Dad"s "song" and I was going to have that played at his funeral. The vinyl I had was a bit scratched, so I decided to get it on disc. Anyway, in the stockroom, amidst all of the supportive talk and friendship, one of my workmates and said "Your Bolan CD"s come in, Simes" and handed me the shrinkwrapped disc of "T.Rex". That night, long after midnight and long after John had gone to bed, I sat at the table with my headphones on, a bottle of red wine and a fat joint, listened to "T. Rex" twice and cried my fucking eyes out.

Thanks for listening, Till-Cats!
Lurve y'all!
Simes

=== Review by Zoom ===

TRex. This one never go wrong. Tyranno's superstitious no longer plays big role here: finish sentence, making a sheet-music. Pop song indeed. In addition, electric guitar senza drums brought distinctive sound design and production.

No reason but I don't read rock literature. Only rock books I have: Carpenters-The Untold Story, Please Kill Me, both are unread, dusted and became furniture. Anyway, I really don't know how the books of TRex analyzing Marc's music. However, after seeing this electric Mediterranean super musicians other night (Sussan Deyhim & Richard Horowitz. Good to check out when they are in your town. They are really happening right now.), all Tyrannos upto this album were all about feed backs of Mediterranean music: Morocconian, Greek, and Palestinian. Not only the inspiration of strings and bongos ensemble, notably Marc's fondness to Phrygien Mode--in this album all first five songs are.

What makes TRex TRex. In this regard good to compare with same genre yet counter part to Marc, it would be....Syd Barrett. Observe that Marc avoids ternary form. His songs do not have chunk of bridge, never make a big cadence in middle of song. Exposition then flows. It is Mediterranean exotic style. This tendency went all way up to his careers, even after he bit soul music.

I was going to write about Pop-ness of this album but after lightening PREHISTORIC and YOU SCARE ME TO DEATH (hey rSta, are we going to review them?), Marc was writing perfect pop 'sheet' music already. So, it might be irrelevant to bring up on TRex-Brown review. I love 'Summer Deep', 'Seagull Woman' and 'Suneye'. Perfect pop!
z

=== Review by Zoom (part 2) ===

I'm spinning these day. how do you feel first in this snowy morning got go to work.

Phregian mode - Jesus Zoom, that's bit technical. I remember looking at a sheet music book for Bowie's Low where it had for the melody part of Subterraneans "ad-lib in Dorian mode". I assumed it meant play the sax out of tune (sorry David).

Phrygien mode: root, -2, -3, P4, P5, -6, -7
characteristic notes are -2nd and -3rd

On your keyboard, play white keys, stress E and F then it sounds E phrygien. See? sounds like Jewel. (btw, if you emphasise on D, F, G, and C, they'll sound D dorien).

On your guitar, the phrygien chord progression _key in C_ will be:
C-, Dflt, Eflt, F-, G-[flt5], Aflt, Bflt-.
Don't stress on F-, it'll sound F minor key (i.e. C- to F- is F minor cadence)

tasty huh? Portwine? No, no, it'll enervate you.

notably Marc's fondness to Phrygien Mode--in this album all first five songs are.

_Correction_

Jewel:
E phrygien mode blues
The Visit:
Eflt minor (Eflt eolien), however, Marc tends to emphasis on 2nd to -3rd. This half tone makes ot sounds exotic; sounds like the phrygien's root to -2nd.
Childe:
G Lydien Dominant 7 mode: G, A, B, C#, D, E, F(natural)
See the F[alt5] chords sounds good to you.
The Time of Love is Now:
It's Eflt eolien mode (Eflt minor), however, when A- comes the mode modulates to E harmonic major (i.e. ionian flat6th) mode: E, F#, G#, A, B, C(natural), D#
Marc likes exotic scales, even in plain minor key he often 2nd to -3rd, half tone slide, resolution hence it brings richer sonority. It is apparent that he had influence from Morocconian and Balkan music. Even in plain major key: listen 'Debora', it is straight out from Morocco south-east breeze.

Very curious such Mediterranean sway on British artist. As you know French (especially after middle class emerged; bourgeois) was nuts on them, left tremendous impact on the art scene in 19th century. Anyway, our hero was way-way ahead of trend, you know? Well, hippies pursued Sitar jestingly for peace movement. Yet Marc was indeed the pioneer of adapting this exotic mode/ensemble into rock music successfully. Hmm..., in terms of trend/awareness to the World Music in the popular society, we had to wait until 90's, then boomed with these club scenes. Nowadays even Madonna is on (yes, Modonna. Did any one get her new CD? I bought hers first time. Because of it's produced by William Orbit, there are much buzz going on net whom usually don't bother on the mainstreams.)

Marc, mediterranean mode with your lyrics, couldn't have gone wrong.

z

=== Review by Cliff ===

The T.Rex album is a bit of a strange one. I never think of it as a transitional album. In reality it marks the end of an era. Zoom was right. Marc wasn't using standard song structures. He was still experimenting. After this album and establishing the T.Rex formula, Marc rarely experimented with song structure again. Song arrangements changed, but not the chord structures. The funny wierd chords Marc used to stick in to a song, like on 'Is It Love' began to disappear.

I love 'T.Rex'. It's sound is that of two guys really getting into the sound, experimenting with it and seeing where it takes them. There was no need to worry about what the bass player and drummer were gonna do. As one American critic (Ira Robbins ?) noted, when T.Rex expanded to a quartet a lot of the flexibility that was open to a duo went.

Speak soon, providing the bloody Czech system doesn't go down again.

Cliff

=== Review by timot ===

hi tillitots,
when i got this lp was april 78,i use to see it regular in the record shops finking what a pair of handsome bastards they were and when i grow up ill look like that.....wrong,at young 17 i woke up stiff and pole vaulted out of my bed and got my ass into gear,so i brought the lp.

Was i saft all those years of pure waste,i wished i got it sooner,as most of the tillers know my favourite lp is tanx,But over the last decade and a half its been the most played album i own.......yes .

I played this over and over again for months ,even up to my wedding day oct 78,when i got itched you know what went through my grey matter,the wizard,yea of all fings,i was shitless and quacking with my fuzz ball of an hair dou.....thinking of that made it easier to concentrate on standing up and not fainting plus i did not hear what that guy was saying to me at the regestary orifice.

Well a few months went by and we got a flat in smethwick on the 8th floor,twas a 23 floorer.....ant ways gerrin back too our lp this was a concentrated period of my life early 79,son born and i was a lone t.rex fan belting out the music to drowned out the raster blaster from next door,but i only had a cheap 20 whats per cannel jap crap player....i played this lp every day ,litrally i did....the electric guitar realy attracted me,as from the hippy bongo's music i had heard earlier <but as i said in a letter i did not get the early albums till late afterwards just heard from those cheep ones from the 70's ,,,,the best of thing> summer deep and seagull woman was pure sex,is it love that was a broom job twanging on invisible strings and singing like i just got castrated........?.i love light up your face with all the love within you from the timeof love is now.....diamond meadows the strings behind the music i love them.xxx

Jewel,thats a gem but i heard it from another lp......but the visit was so beauitiful and all the lyrics to this album was a joy too learn,sun eye and beltane walk thumbs up to them.....one inch rock now this version was new to me and boy did i play it till me ears bled <j> sore?

Childe was a plesure too,the children of rarn was the brain twister,hearing that at that time vinsconti was doing the double album and read in it some thing about doing a finnished vesion wich i got a few months later,it all fell into place

Beside all other lp's i must say this is the most enjoyed one ive ever played,from the lyrics to the sound,it will be always one of me favorite lp's to listern to when i grow to be an old bag,if i get there that is.......the most impressive thing about this lp is not just the mug shots on the front and all the beauty that went in to making of it,it is that the dedication.........

Dedicated to all who are and who will be forever more..... that felt like me,im dedicated but never got to learn about the man until i came up here as you know,and in recent months i gathered more Bolan material than ever......

be fore i go a friend of mine as this lp,differrnt to mine,now his opens up into a poster and he as the fly on it as mine was a blank one.....so i told him in the politist of my blunt manner if he pegs it before me can i have it in his will.

timot

=== Review by DaveR ===

Tillers,

One of the downsides of waiting till the end of the month is that there are very few new things one can say about an album because it's all been said already. I should really not procrastinate so much. So I'll do a quick and dirty Dave review before the month is gone altogether.

T.Rex was (to the best of my memory which you already know is quite bad) the 2nd or 3rd Bolan album ever added to my collection (I probably have said that about all the LPs) and to this day it is my 2nd favorite Bolan LP of all times.

I believe Cliff said in a mail a few days ago that it "marks the end of an era" and those are my sentiments exactly. In my mind the T.Rex album was much more a last Tyrannosaurus Rex album than a first T.Rex album. (I have this image in my mind of those heads on Easter Island (?) hat look out to the sea. But the one I'm imagining looks both ways - one to the future and one to the past - that's what this album is like).

- Forgive me as I resort to lifting the following section from somebodies WEB page. I'll apologize to him later. -

It was the last album in which Marc would so unselfishly share the limelight of an album cover with a fellow musician. It was the last album in which the band was basically Marc with primarily a single backup musician (there were exceptions - Tony played on some songs and Flo and Eddie sang backup on one). And it was the last album in which a majority of the songs, though now heavily laden with electric guitars, were essentially written as acoustical numbers. Indeed, more than half of the songs on the album had been copyrighted nearly two years earlier as potentials for the earlier Tyrannosaurus Rex albums. For example, the album contained remakes of Marc's first single "The Wizard" and the second Tyrannosaurus Rex single "One-Inch Rock".

But perhaps more important than all of that, the first T.REX album contained some of the last songs which were so heavily based on Marc's passion for folklore and fantasy. In fact, it contained one of the only references on any T.Rex album to what would become for many hard core Bolan fans a dream unfulfilled. That dream was a musical science fiction story that Marc planned to write and promised to eventually make into a TV film. Hardly an interview would go by without Marc shifting the subject towards a discussion of this magnificent project he had planned in the recesses of his mind. The film was to have been about a civilization that existed prior to the age of the dinosaur. The story would naturally have a very Tolkien flavor to it and the story lines would reflect many of Marc's beliefs about the meaning of life. The members of this ancient civilization were to be called "The Children of Rarn".

Marc had recorded many rough cuts on tape with Tony Visconti at the controls. Tony kept the tapes in storage and would for many years urge Marc to follow through with the project. But by then, Marc had moved beyond that sound and was reluctant to go back. It would not be until several years after Marc's death that Tony would brush off the tapes and allow them to be released, complete with string arrangements that he had added. Sadly, in Marc's lifetime the magical land of Rarn would remain an untold story except for this one brief but shining moment on the first T.Rex album.

And that about sums up this album for me. I could listen to it endlessly.

- DaveR

=== Review by MarkMcL ===

Funny how the day comes slow.

Side one: don't know why but this always make me feel sad. It must be all those strings. It hit me so bad when I first bought it that I tried playing side one, track by track, in reverse order - not easy with vinyl. No good, it still left me feeling melancholy; thank goodness for side two. When he sings "Truly I do love you" he sounds *so* sad. "Where to take their tears so there's no disgrace" at least has hints of hope. The sadness hits in real bad with 'The Time of Love is Now' - "and your days of love are always in a dream you know". 'Diamond meadows' is so wistful, so full of "If only..." it oozes unrequited love.

Side two: turns a corner. 'Is it love?' seems at first in the same zone but more positive. Then the joy of 'One Inch Rock' - my choice for all time favourite track. Followed by the long and glorious summer of 'Summer Deep' and 'Seagull Woman'. "One day we change from children into people" is one of his best lines and even if "one day she went" she obviously left behind golden memories. A brief relapse into melancholia for 'Suneye' but then 'The Wizard' which takes me back to seeing Marc live at an open air concert where he did a *long* version of this. So I guess I fade out with a positive vibe.

MarkMcL

PS I knew nothing at all about The Children of Rarn (any version) until last year when I learnt about Tony's version and then Joel's through Slider and Til Dawn. Such ignorance :-/

=== Review by Gerry ===

Your "T.Rex" review draws a lot of parallels with my own experiences. I too heard it for the first time at a mates house. I remember the very resolute look on both the faces of Marc and Mickey, those pale blue funny material trousers, and the extremely clean finger nails. My friend advised me it was a sign that he was on drugs!! Absolute proof!

Having only heard the singles I was very impressed with the pronunciation and phrasing of songs like Jewel, and the enlightened sounding tone of expression. The different energy of each song was almost spiritual, and no two had the same energy, the same source, but each had a life of its own.

At the beginning of Diamond Meadows my friend Kevin said listen, (it was an old box type record player) I did, and asked what he had said. Again Kevin was full of wisdom "Turn it down a little bit". One Inch Rock I knew from the b-side Deborah re-release, and this version was just so full of motion and abandon.

I remember the songs about love, the feelings and emotions etc. were things I was too young to really grasp, but the fantasy provided by the lyrics and that voice was for me. It needed no explanation, I knew exactly what he Ws on about, or at least the visions it produced let me believe that. And I still do, because I still have a cinema in full wide-screen-Dolby-surround-holographic behind my eyelids.

Gerry (*)

=== Review by David Do ===

OK guys here's my T.Rex Brown album review.

  • The Children of Rarn is deliciously lingering foreplay before the real action starts.
  • Jewel is raunchy bump and grind, a hot sizzling, pumping frenzy, bathed in thunder, from start to finish.
  • The Visit is a one night stand. Is she human or an alien nympho ? don't know, don't care, don't even know her name, but Truly I do love you!
  • Child....WOW that riff, gets me every time, makes me tingle. It's like been spanked hard, not too hard, but hard enough. The time for love is now.....sure is !
  • Diamond Meadows, this is your very first time, outside, on a hot summers afternoon - carefree and unforgettable..... Hey! lets do it like we're friends.
  • Root of Star, this is so simple and spontanious,like when you feel you can read someone's mind, and you both know you want it and you want it NOW....right here ...right now!
  • Beltane Walk.. Oh my god.. the equivilent of a 6" stiletto heel in you groin...take me now.. take me hard. Is it love - gorgeous - sex on a stick, we're gonna rock rock rock with love , then we're gonna slide!!!
  • One inch Rock..the liquid poetess is gonna seduce you, take you back to her shack, tie you to her bed and ball ya all night long.
  • Summer Deep.."his lady is a lioness"...she'll wrap her legs round you so so tight and sink her claws into your back ...owwww.
  • The Seagull woman has got to be an angel..to get it on with an angel.. kinky or what!!
  • Suneye.."love you, oh girl I do love you" the corruption of the innocent by lithon the black.
  • The wizard..a frantic climax.. group sex at the end of a alcohol fuelled hot sweaty thumpin' party, this is the whips and chains.
  • T.Rex "T.Rex.... a monster strap-on of an album.
David Do.

=== Review by Michel ===

The last chapter...

How was it possible to improve such a perfect time in musical history? I already had Unicorn, Beard Of Stars and a newly found copy of Prophets, Seers and Sages. I was so much into these that everytime I was visiting my favorite record shop - Phantasmagoria on park Avenue in Montreal - the owner was suggesting new strange titles to me. This is how I discovered John and Beverly Martyn, Seals and Croft, Pentangle, Incredible String Band, Amazing Blondel, Forest... One day, as I came in, he picks up an imported copy of T.Rex (brown album) from under the counter: "I have kept this for you", he said.

I couldn't believe it - life was still possible after Beard Of Stars...

T.Rex represents the perfect balance between acoustic and electric music, roll and roll in its very essence with melodies and lyrics rooted in Beltane. Tony Visconti had the perfect control of every single sound produced on this album.

Actually, as I'm listening to this CD while writing, I realize Marc was actually in an absolutely free state of mind when he recorded T.Rex and although Electric Warrior was the main album to launch his international career, Marc had to pay the price of freedom to stick to more 'corporate' style of composing, being 'gounded' with straight drum beats and rhythmic patterns - a more conventional approach. Of course, this is the biased opinion of a Tyrannosaurus Rex fan above all other work.

I guess the main reason being that you can do such albums only once as they are of unique mystical origin. Marc couldn't do Unicorn twice, nor Beard Of Stars, nor T.Rex...

So the T. Rex (brown album) is the last chapter of the magical book of Tyrannosaurus Rex. After this album, rock became more important and although Marc did excel in doing so, he couldn't surpass the simple perfection of the brown album for he wasn't yet in the whirlwind of fame and fortune and his mind could work without being tied to the strict parameters of corporate rock and roll and hit parade needs.

Of course, EW, Slider and Tanx do form a perfect and unsurpassed trilogy in the history of pop music only Marc could have penned. But they belong to another book, another time.

But nowhere else in rock music do we find such a peculiar and magical mixture of fantasy and rock and roll. Try to find another song like the Wizard by any other artist.... Definitely, Marc wasn't of this world - as he was just a visitor - and although he really tried very hard to be a 'normal' rocker, he could never completely hide his true origins.

Thanks for reading my babbling...

Michel
"We are the seekers of space - OM"

And as for the deep and profound emotions in which my soul had to drown each and every time I was listening to these songs, please do read again Simes' wonderful review for it is the perfect example of the eternal link between souls of a same origin...

=== Review by Stewart ===

I can't really remember the first time i heard it ,but i think it was around 1973 or 1974.I do remember it was after hearing The Slider,Unicorn,Beard of Stars,EW.

My first thought's was it sounded kind of thin,not been the Power rock album of Slider and EW and not the same as Unicorn and Beard of Stars which hold you to listen to them with there shear magic.

The Brown Album was one of kind and had it's own mood,Tony's string's really make the album sound the way it does,an almost Classical sound,but yet so simple, so sweet.I think Marc did this album mainly by himself and really cry's out for Steve Took's vocal's and other bit's.

Marc play's some really lovely guitar and you can hear him start to get that T.Rex sound.I think he play's some of his best work on this album,just Love that Les Paul sound,the only thing that is missing is a strong Deep bass guitar sound [i'm sure it's not Marc playing but Tony,would loved to of heard Steve Currie play bass on this album].

I also think that the Wizard is so good and took so much work that it really scared Marc from going futher with his Beltane work.The Wizard is by far the Highlight of the album,i could on and on about this track ,but you just have to listen to it once to hear that Marc put's his soul in it.

Like his earlyer album's i like to listen to it with headphones on,but i can listen to it cranked up on the speaker's and it sound's so good. I think Marc could of contiuned with this style of music for some time,but then he knew his time with us was limited.

Well there you have it my thought's on yet another great album of Marc's,as i had posted before i'm still learning about this album and after 20plus years of listening to it, i find it's an album of LOVE.

,,,,,,,,,,,,Romany Stew

=== Review by Alice ===

Hey Tillers,

Can you guys believe it? Two , count 'em two, reviews from me in less than a week. I can't believe it myself but I just happened to pull out the tape of the T.Rex album that David made for me and as I was listening to it , I thought to myself why not write my review on this one now. It is as good a time as any right? Well anyways here goes...

I thought Unicorn was a shock to the system , but this one takes the cake. This album really blew me away on the first run through. I couldn't believe my ears. I was loving it from beginning to end. There must be something about this album because I didn't even like EW on my first go at it. Like I said it took me a few years to like all of EW, but this particular album has something really unique about it. I mean I know that each time I listen to it , I am only gonna love it more and more. IMO well over half of the songs ooze sexual desire , satisfaction , and passion . And for some reason I kinda like that.

The way Marc sings is much different than what I am used to. His voice just eminates and fills the room with a type of mystic atmosphere. I didn't even need to consult my lyric folder to see what he was saying. Marc sang with such clarity that looking at the lyrics would have been of no use to me.

My favourites were "Jewel", "One Inch Rock", and "Is It Love". The whole album was quite upbeat . Most of it you could actually dance to. Another thing I would like to mention is that this is one album that I can actually sit back and imagine Marc performing these songs.

Well everyone that's my review and I hope you all enjoyed it. I think I am gonna go and rewind the tape and have another listen now.

~Till next time,

Moma Alice

=== Review by Pierre ===

Hi Tillers & Dawnettes,

I'm very late for this one, it is not an easy think for non-english members. The cd is in the comp', let's go
  • ( The Giddy ) Children of Rarn : beautiful beginning. We knew quite soon that it was part of something meant to be a concept album. We had to wait long before being able to listen to the whole piece. a pity.
  • Jewel : this version is far better than the lives one. Sorry not one of my favorites. beautiful guitars here. I love the way the two first albums wore small but cute guitar parts
  • The Visit : Truely I love you. Outta sight !
  • Childe : I love the end, not so much th main part.
  • The time of love is now : Is it ? beautiful song, love the bass line.
  • Diamond meadows : Thank you Tony for the beautiful violins. Hey let's do it like we're friends ! I love this one.
  • Root of Star : what guitar parts !
  • Beltane walk : give me little love ! love it !
  • Is it love ? yes it is !
  • One inch rock : I love every version of this song . This one's not the most rocking but wonderful vocal parts.
  • Summer deep : be like you could all my friends they say !
  • Seagull woman : one day we change from children into people ! I think a part of each of Tillers did not ! and that's a gas !
  • Suneye : Tyrannosaurus Rex the eater of cars !
  • The Wizard : oh this one is crazy ! ( I mean it in the most positive way ) One of my all time favorites. I miss the words to say it, climax, frantic, ....
  • The Children of Rarn : see chapter one
A beautiful album I didn't love at the first listening when I was into The Slider or Tanx, but I learned to love it later.

Thanks mates

Pierre

=== Review by Melinda ===

Well, okay since a song by song is out, let me say before I start on the album in general, 'Root of Star' makes me think of my very Irish mother-in-law, and the dittys she sang to my Sarah, when she was here on this earth.

The brown album was my middle album so to speak. I had EW & Slider, and another I'm not sure, Shame on me but it was mother nature really, I was starting to get very interested in boys and still am, (okay men). So this is what happened and why I insist on supporting my local record store:

When I started my search for more Bolan, I went to a record store that deals in used vinyl ( and cd's, tapes, ect.) going through the T-Rex section there it was, I had no idea what exactly what is was ( I had only heard pieces of the early Marc) my Elf Marc as I call it.I bought it and the '72 interview album for $12.98 each. As I was paying for my purchases, the owner (Ron) was speaking to the young man that was behind the counter, everyone stopped for a moment, I asked if there was anything wrong (I know my check was good). Ron looks at me at sz that there is a descrepency in pricing on one of the albums.

I said I'd pay the correct price, Ron said no that's okay, we discussed it a little further I finally agreed to pay the price marked. We finished the transaction and before I left I asked him what the correct price was??

He said you don't want to know, but that is a collectors item, pointing to the Brown Album,it's a promotional LP and it has no front cover, (well I did notice that it seemed a little plain for Bolan). So my Brown Album is white on one side,

It will always be my favorite, it was my first real introduction to the Elf Marc that I had been searching so long for. And it began a wonderful friendship with Ron, who now refers to me as that Bolan girl (how sweet) he tells me about seeing Marc in concert in '75. He has a wonderful poster of Marc that is heavy posterboard (not paper) only $250.00, I think we ended that talk something to effect that he'll leave it to me in his will.

So in one afternoon I became a very proud owner of the brown album and I made a new friend.

And I learned that it's okay to begin in the middle at work toward either end. My husband has been telling me that for years (silly me).

Melinda Mae (be in elfland)
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