TYRANNOSAURUS REX (NOT T. REX)

Before Marc Bolan began the glam-rock outfit 'T Rex' he made a couple of psychedelic folk records, this one being the most famous. Bolan proves to be a great songwriter, though most of our attention is sucked up by the bizarre vocal performance of Bolan. His strange-sounding, blurry and shaky vocal performance style is unique, but also a bit too omni-present. Every note is sung with vibrato, most vocal lines are dubbed and the effect is perhaps a bit too psychedelic. I do think he must have influence later psychedelic folk singers like Roger Wooton of Comus.

Behind the layer of bizarre vocals the beautiful melodies are plentiful and the songs are quite original. Sometimes I can't help to think the album also has something 'French' to it - whatever that may mean. The amount of great ideas is not a problem, but mixing them into well finished songs is a different thing - though some might argue the unpredictability adds to the psychedelic effect of the album. The sound of the album is great with the volume up high, but somehow the dreamy sound remains a bit confusing. Another psychedelic trick on the listener? The addition of a short spoken-word fairy tale on side two has no function at all. Still, the amount of great melodies keeps adding up and almost every song has some catchy part that may light up in your mind days later.

Conclusion. There aren't that many psychedelic folk records and I think this record can become a favorite if given the time to ripe. It is crazy and damn catchy. I'm giving it the warm three-and-a- halve stars because of its originality.

What surprises listeners, even familiar with T-rex, is Marc Bolans trembling voice which of course is very rare. He does a good job here but the songs are silly and have a feeling of unseriousity. It feels like the music was high on drugs and it didn't affect the music positively. This two man project by Marc Bolan (vocals, guitars) and Steve Peregrine Took(backing vocals, drums, pixie phone, percussion) is acoustic and seems to be inspired by blues and folk musik(but not so much) but mostly it feels like a negative side of the hippie movement. I use to like T-Rex but this felt so uninspired and annoying. Sure It was original, perhaps I'm just unused to it but it screams out low ambitions. The wonderful long album title and the great cover do not alone make this a good album. I like Bolans voice but here It was immoderate.

This 33 minutes was actually a long time because there were many short and similar songs, and the majority wasn't pleasant. If you just want a sample of this I recommend you the tracks "Knight", "Dwarfish Trumpet Blues" or "Grateful Fat Sheba" which have more feelings and sharpeness. They're less dopey too. Odd and peculiar but I won't listen again, I don't have to.

Highly recommended !

Wanting to trivialize Tyrannosaurus Rex is a band that sounds strange Folk for hippies. This is because the use of acoustic guitar, bongos and toy instruments, combined with chaotic songs made ​​it all very spontaneous, if not wild. From this point of view the songs that they could not be original and still very beautiful, although I did not win as they should (but I admit to be wonderful and magic songs). Also because Marc Bolan is an excellent guitarist.

The use of electric guitar does not change things much. The songs are less spontaneous, chaotic, however. T-Rex is not anymore a Folk band but a Glam Rock band. It, however, remains a magical and original band.

In a general view, however, "The Collection" is just an interesting compilation, with great songs. But nothing that deserves to make it rise to levels of excellence.

12 ? Best Song: I can't tell, in a good way

I'm certainly appreciative of his passing from generic hippie folk to psychedelic hippie folk rock. It's a change that adds immeasurable depth! What am I blabbering on about, you ask? Well, this is the man's fourth album, proper (as opposed to all those scantily clad, sexually explicit 'improper' albums he released under the subtle moniker: T.sex) and it's a culmination of all that psyche rock bubblebobble and the swarming folkiedolkie movement. But let's stop for a second to discuss the album title. How exactly does one grow a beard of stars? Is it something you make in Sunday school arts and crafts? I'd think God would have a might beard of stars. Apparently everybody's doing the 'Woodland Bop'. It's the first truly metamorphosed song. The tunes are of the same basic ideal ? intricate, but simplistic drug-folk, but now there are sharp, distorted electric guitars punctuating the album like Hendrix's hands into a groupie's pants.

This might just be the quintessential Bolan record to obtain if you get any. Not because the material's quality is so high (it's pretty damn high), but because this showcases fully both sides of his ever balancing music. It's the midst of the scale, where later in Electric Warrior he'd excommunicate it completely. At this point the high pitched goat bleat is still in full order, trimmed back only for a more polished and smoothly flowing sound. He's getting better and better and expressing himself in vocals, and the songwriting is becoming more unpredictable.

Along with the electric rocking comes the ever sincere, ever annoying, but aptly utilized congo drumming, which slickens 'Pavilions of Sun'. I don't care for the record as much as Unicorn(though they don't sound much alike), but the consistency is rather striking. It's an excellent album with one foot in the past and one in the future, much more than a transition to me.

10 ? Best Song: It's return of the mystical gout.

I meant to say goat. Goatboy likes hur hur hur. I'd like to call this sophomore record a transitional one, but it doesn't transition from or to anything at all. Well, it's all the same, generally ? these space folk albums are. That's a rather abrasive and narrow generalization, and I accept that. I see it as an improvement, however, and am willing to concede that there are some very pretty moments in the mixture presented. 'Wind Quartet', for all its silliness lyrically, has a very engaging vocal hook added in there.

The songwriting leans toward more overt catchiness. That's the improvement I noticed. It's still mountain forest magic mumbo jumbo, but it's classy mountain forest magic mumbo jumbo. The vile stench of this material is the lack of a distinct personality between each tune. They all bleed into one and make for a violently difficult listen (and thrice as difficult assessment). 'Stacey Grove' has a nice building vocal segment. What the hell am I supposed to write about this? It's all a simple, aimless acoustic strum with Marc singing one of a small handful of simple melodies punctuated by meaningless lyrics and his vibrato bleat. I like it, but it certainly is frustrating.

10 ? Best Song: Embrace goatboy!

I probably won't like it, indeed. So sayeth my emotive stance. Hey. This is my reviews page for Marc Bolan, Tyrannosaurus Rex, T.Rex, and Johnny Rotten. Johnny Rotten's my cohost. See, here he is: Bloody catholics!

See that? He's antiestablishment, so vote me in as best whatever the polls are or you'll never get one of those woefully funny snippets again. My People is an acoustic folk hippie album full of psychedelic atmospheres and Marc's singing is reminiscent of a bleating mystic mountain goat. I dig that singing style. It really adds to the diverse vocal overdubbing in the swift and bopping 'Child Star'. This is one of those later-era 1960's albums that valued psychic experimentation over musical themes, which is okay. I didn't expect an album named 'My People were fair and had sky in their hair but now they're content to wear stars on their brow'. Isn't that the longest album title in the history of man? 'Chateau in Virginia Waters' is a nice, flowing melodic one-keyer. By that I mean it doesn't exactly go anywhere from the starting point. Me, I prefer progress in my music. As difficult as the album is to listen to when coming from the man's 1970's output, it's equally as easy to listen to it due to how quietly and calmly inoffensive it happens to be. 'My Inca Love', while being right repetitive, is the one track with a swift and noticeable swell in it. My issue with it is how the songs all sound strikingly similar, and have the same basic progression (not really any). This is second rate spaced-out folk, but it's all a candycanes ride when you take it on a sunny afternoon. Embrace the Goatboy at your own discretion.