Are the T.Rex reissues worth it?

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I was in the store looking at the Slider reissue and was wary of its $23 price tag. Would it be worth the hefty price?

― sturve, Thursday, 22 December 2005 21:26 (twenty years ago)

yes.

― u saved me (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 22 December 2005 21:31 (twenty years ago)

Yes, Telegram Sam and Metal Guru - classic.
I didn't know I had that much moneey in my record shelf.

― Lisa Lipstick, Thursday, 22 December 2005 21:52 (twenty years ago)

I've only heard the reissue of slider and never the original pressing but it's amazing.

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 22 December 2005 22:08 (twenty years ago)

you could probably get an OG vinyl copy for less than $23... but you know, CDs and shit.

― Special Agent Gene Krupa (orion), Friday, 23 December 2005 02:33 (twenty years ago)

Reissue of The Slider is worth it. The reissue of Electric Warrior (different label) is worth it. Reissue of Tanx is worth it.

Other ones, maybe not so much unless you're a serious Bolan fan. And even then, Futuristic Dragon doesn't really inspire anything but depression.

Zinc Alloy..., on the other hand, is unfairly maligned, I think. Not "classic" T.Rex by any means, but it's not a bad album at all.

― vartman (novaheat), Friday, 23 December 2005 02:34 (twenty years ago)

if ever there were a band tailor-made for a cheap, short best-of it's this one

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Friday, 23 December 2005 02:47 (twenty years ago)

Bah humbug, Matos.

(Or: prove your point by indicating what you'd place on that short, cheap, best-of CD?)

― remy (x Jeremy), Friday, 23 December 2005 02:57 (twenty years ago)

cosmic dancer.

― Special Agent Gene Krupa (orion), Friday, 23 December 2005 03:03 (twenty years ago)

(the only t. rex song i couldn't live without.)

― Special Agent Gene Krupa (orion), Friday, 23 December 2005 03:03 (twenty years ago)

There was a cheap short best of in the late '80s (what was it called, T. Rextasy or something) that actually did work pretty well as an album.

I don't know. Bolan had already done a lot BEFORE T. Rex. He wrote some great songs for John's Children and had four albums out doing Tyrannosaurus Rex - the first two being pretty damn strong hippie folk albums and leading up to what is undoubtedly his masterpiece: Unicorn. (And Beard of Stars was the only slightly lesser follow-up. Equivalent to what Four Sail is to Forever Changes.)

So T. Rex had a run of three albums. Even Tanx seemed to indicate a bit of a decline. You look at a band like that and think "a cheap short best of" might work.

"Short" might be an exaggeration, though. I could see a kicking eighteen track T. Rex best of spanning all the way up to the great Dandy in the Underworld and the last single (?) ("Celebrate Summer" - which I've never heard).

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 23 December 2005 03:23 (twenty years ago)

Fair enough… and having actually pulled up the track-listings for Tanx and Zinc Alloy I can see how eminently cullable they are; I think they've been inflated out of proportion by my adolescent appreciation for all things Bolan.

― remy (x Jeremy), Friday, 23 December 2005 03:35 (twenty years ago)

(that said… I'd be hard pressed to cut anything from Slider).

― remy (x Jeremy), Friday, 23 December 2005 03:36 (twenty years ago)

Howcum that FIRST proper T. Rex album never gets any recognition? Is it no good? Is it like Bleach to The Slider's Nevermind? I'm truly curious.

Don't think I've ever actually even seen a copy for sale in any store. (Admittedly, I've never spent much time browsing the T.Rex section of the bins.) I think "Jewel" is the only track that regularly appears on compilations.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Friday, 23 December 2005 08:45 (twenty years ago)

I really like Zip Gun and Futuristic Dragon. Great poprecords. The second half of Zip Gun in particular is fantastic. "´Til Dawn"! "Golden Belt"!

― dr. dogood, Friday, 23 December 2005 14:36 (twenty years ago)

I got four T.Rex discs in the mail the other day - The Slider, Zinc Alloy..., Dandy In The Underworld and a singles comp (A and B sides), each a two-CD set. I put the singles comp into my iPod, but it probably won't stay for long. The others are going straight to the used CD store.

― pdf (Phil Freeman), Friday, 23 December 2005 15:49 (twenty years ago)

(x-post) I should get Zip Gun, then - never heard it. Not really a fan of Zinc Alloy, but Dandy in the Underworld is my favorite T. Rex record!

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 23 December 2005 17:42 (twenty years ago)

Zip Gun has as its lead off track a good pop number, "Light of Love," which I'd rate as one of T. Rex's best later tunes.

About a decade ago Mercury's Chronicles imprint reissued all of T. Rex's post-Electric Warriors albums -- one disc, a few bonus tracks, original LP artwork reproduced. They were excellent and quite affordable at around $12 each, from what I remember. Those have been out of print for almost as long, sad to say.

― James, Friday, 23 December 2005 18:23 (twenty years ago)

i haven't heard Slider yet, but i like Cosmic Dancer, Mambo Sun and Life's a Gas alot.

― DR. O. RLY? (eman), Friday, 23 December 2005 18:26 (twenty years ago)

i'm presuming the question may have more to do with whether or not you need an extra disc of outtakes on The Slider?

― imbidimts, Friday, 23 December 2005 18:31 (twenty years ago)

That's what I was thinking. Is there a two LP version of it out? I hate those. LP records are artworks, not mere collections of data. With compact discs, this kind of thing makes more sense, I guess.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 23 December 2005 18:36 (twenty years ago)

Late-era T-Rex gets dissed quite a bit. But there really are alot of good tracks on those releases. My faves that stand up to early singles (top 5 from each):

*Zinc Alloy And the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow*
Sound Pit
Galaxy
Nameless Wildness
Teenage Dream
The Avenegers (Superbad)

*Bolan's Zip Gun*
Light of Love
Solid Baby
Precious Star
Til Dawn
Do You Wanna Dance (reissue)

*Futuristic Dragon*
Chrome Sitar
All Alone
NYC
My Little Baby
Dreamy Lady (the video is AMAZING)

*Dandy In the Underworld*
Dandy in the Underworld
Crimson Moon
I Love to Boogie
The Soul of My Suit
Teen Riot Structure

I think Futuristic Dragon is the closest he ever came (including Tanx) to recapture the early 70s T-Rex glory. The second half has some weird psychedelic disco stuff but i've taken a liking to it and the first half has 4 or 5 songs that could easily fit on a greatest hits.

― Adam Bruneau (oliver8bit), Friday, 23 December 2005 18:42 (twenty years ago)

I wouldn't throw down that much money, especially if you have the record already. The alternate tracks are often early mixes, which granted are cool, but aren't entirely different from the album. I got the Slider Alternate and it was mostly the album minus some string overdubs. If you're hungering from alternate stuff there are dozens of other releases like the Unchained series and all that.

― Adam Bruneau (oliver8bit), Friday, 23 December 2005 18:45 (twenty years ago)

I can't narrow my five Dandy in the Underworld picks down. "Pain and Love" really has to be heard, but I don't know if I'd pick it as one out of five from the album for some best of or something. I think I'd want "I'm a Fool for You, Girl" on there and maybe "Universe" - otherwise, I like your picks, Adam.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 23 December 2005 19:07 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, definitely "Universe" and "I'm a Fool for You, Girl" over "Crimson Moon" and "I Love to Boogie," Adam, though those tracks are great, too. "I Love to Boogie" would just be fuel for the hataz ("all his songs sound the same"). You don't want to give 'em fuel. You can't argue with "Universe" and "I'm a Fool for You, Girl."

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 23 December 2005 19:55 (twenty years ago)

And "Jason B. Sad" is sublime.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 23 December 2005 20:08 (twenty years ago)

t. rex haters never cease to amaze me

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, 23 December 2005 20:47 (twenty years ago)

i mean, it's like hating on popsicles or something

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, 23 December 2005 20:52 (twenty years ago)

fifteen years pass...

I danced myself right out the womb

― No Particular Place to POLL (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 August 2021 02:45 (four years ago)

Why the fuck didn't I post on this thread. Anyway of course they are.

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 13 August 2021 02:51 (four years ago)

There was a cheap short best of in the late '80s (what was it called, T. Rextasy or something) that actually did work pretty well as an album.

I just got this on vinyl and it's really nice. Also the first proper appearances of "Hot Love", the uncut "Raw Ramp", "Solid Gold Easy Action", and "20th Century Boy" on an American album.

― “Heroin” (ft. Bobby Gillespie) (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 13 August 2021 03:08 (four years ago)

I recently found a 4LP (PicDiscs) box of all the singles, from Deborah all the way to Crimson Moon, including b-sides.

It got the wrong version of "One Inch Rock" and it missed the "super funk christmas" bit from the intro of "Born To Boogie", but apart from that, its definitely something! Oh, and it includes the "Big Carrot" and the Gloria/Marc duet single.

― Mark G, Friday, 13 August 2021 12:53 (four years ago)

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