Tanx

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Tanx
T. Rex studio album

Publication
(s)

1973

Label (s) Ariola (D), EMI / T.Rex on Wax (UK), Reprise (US)

Format (s)

LP

Genre (s)

Glam rock

Title (number)

13

running time

34 min 41 s

occupation

production

Tony Visconti

Studio (s)

Chateau d'Herouville, Paris Rosenberg Studios, Copenhagen

chronology
The Slider
(1972) 		Tanx Zinc Alloy & the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow
(1974)

Tanx is the fourth official album by the British glam rock band T. Rex , released in March 1973 .

album

Tanx is the last LP that was recorded in the classic band line-up, consisting of Marc Bolan (voc, g), Mickey Finn (perc, bvoc), Steve Currie (bg) and Bill Legend (dr), and on the Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman can be heard as a background singer. Tony Visconti also took over the production of all tracks on a T. Rex LP for the last time. The album also marks the beginning of the group's most commercially successful two and a half year period.

The album was recorded in 1972 in the Chateau d'Herouville, Paris and in the Rosenberg Studios in Copenhagen. Some critics are already hearing signs of fatigue on Tanx and even producer Tony Visconti admits that he and the group were obviously repeating themselves. At that time, the band was often on tour, Bolan wrote new songs in hotel rooms between performances and there was little time to work on them.

In contrast to the two previous albums, there are no hit singles on Tanx . The song Born to Boogie , which is not included in the Ringo Starr concert film of the same name , was released at the end of 1972 together with a Xmas riff spoken by Bolan as the B-side of the single Solid Gold - Easy Action (2nd place UK, 6th place D) . This is, like the hit single 20th Century Boy , released at the same time as the album , which reached number 3 on the official UK singles chart and was also a top ten hit in Germany, and its B-side Free Angel included as bonus tracks on later CD releases. The same goes for the single Children of the Revolution / Jitterbug Love / Sunken Rags , which took second place in the UK charts and fourth place in Germany (excluding Sunken Rags ). The album title Mad Donna appeared in Germany almost a year later as the B-side of Teenage Dream .

The album came in the LP charts to number 4 in the UK and was the highest ranked LP of the group in Germany at number 3.

Cover

On the black and white cover photo, Marc Bolan - dressed in a futuristic glamor suit and feather boa - can be seen sitting in a provocative pose behind a toy tank and its cannon barrel pointing upwards. Peter Howe took the photo. The original editions also contained a black and white folding poster Bolans from the same photo session.

Track list

All titles are written by Marc Bolan.

  1. Tenement Lady - 2:54
  2. Rapids - 2:48
  3. Mister Mister - 3:30
  4. Broken Hearted Blues - 2:01
  5. Shock Rock - 1:40
  6. Country Honey - 1:46
  7. Electric Slim and the Factory Hen - 3:06
  8. Mad Donna - 2:15
  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 - 5:15

Tanx / Deluxe Edition

  • In addition to the original title list, disk 1 also contains 7 titles from single A and B sides:
  1. Children of the Revolution
  2. Jitterbug Love
  3. Sunken Rags
  4. Solid Gold - Easy Action
  5. Xmas reef
  6. 20th Century Boy
  7. Free Angel
  • Disk 2 contains 23 alternate versions of various titles from Disk 1

all titles written by Marc Bolan

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tanx Review at allmusic.com (English)
  2. ↑ a b Official Tony Visconti website; see under T. Rex / Tanx ( Memento from 7 July 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ rexmania.com, tour dates
  4. ↑ a b c everyhit.com, search mask (enter "T Rex" without a dot; Category: Single)
  5. ↑ a b c Taurus-Press, Hit-Bilanz, Deutsche Chart Singles 1956-1980, ISBN 3-922542-24-7
  6. ↑ everyhit.com, search mask (enter "T Rex" without a dot; Category: Album)
  7. ^ Taurus-Press, Hit-Bilanz, Deutsche Chart LP's 1962-1986, ISBN 3-922542-29-8

Web links