19 tracks · 51 min
Tanx is the eighth album by British rock band T. Rex, released in 1973. Tanx was a hit in UK and Europe but it failed to emulate the success of The Slider in the U.S., reaching only #102 in the album charts. It was critically derided by journalists who said the darker, adult sound was a complete departure from the unique melodic rock and roll that made the band famous. It predates punk in some ways, with largely darker and more aggressive songs, and shorter songs than the previous two T. Rex albums (Electric Warrior and The Slider) with 9 of the songs less than three minutes long (by comparison, "Get It On" was 4:24), akin to Bolan's previous albums under the name Tyrannosaurus Rex and the debut album under the abbreviated "T. Rex" name (all of which had no more than 2 songs over three minutes per album). Tanx is also the first album notably to incorporate elements of soul music, further explored in the following album, Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow, and other subsequent T. Rex albums. Likewise, it's the beginning of Bolan's marked departure from the glam rock style which he originated and helped popularize, preceding contemporary David Bowie's departure from glam a…
