One of the great delights of doing this gig, and I say gig because it makes me feel better about this little vanity project, is that I have a hobby that I can drink while I do. An even greater delight is discovering great music that I had never heard of before. Such was the case when I listened to Electric Warrior for the first time. I have never heard of T. Rex, and although some of the songs had traces of familiarity, it didn't hinder the feeling of newness, novelty, and awe.
You start off with "Mambo Sun," which rushes at you with its insistence on being grooved along with. Its accessibility and catchiness set the tone for the rest of the album.
Somehow T. Rex is able to concoct juicy, delicious, hooky music without compromising its musical integrity. It's pop music, but it's good pop music. Recently, a friend and I had a discussion about our mutual adoration for the KISS song "Forever." During this conversation, we both agreed that when it comes down to it, we love music that sounds good. We're not necessarily looking too deeply at things like technical accomplishment, we just appreciate any music that is able to make us feel something. With Electric Warrior, you get that feeling, nearly all the way through. Whether you feel like dancing ("Mambo Sun"), singing ("Bang A Gong [Get It On]"), or smoking a lot of drugs ("Planet Queen"), you're going to feel a near constant something while listening to this album.
Rating: 4.4 stars
Tomorrow: The Kingdom
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