The Electric Boogie: 1971

This is a truly mammoth set of Bolan magic. There are 5 CDs in all - Two are home demo recordings: one set of demos from Spring & one set from Autumn of 1971, two CDs cover the 1971 Summer tour & one CD (titled "The Electric Boogie") is a mix of studio out takes & interviews - plus you get a DVD (a mix of promo & live performances)- alot of the stuff on this collection was, according to the blurb in the accompanying booklet, stolen from Marc's home after his death but was returned to the family, hence this release.The home demos are a truly fascinating (& hugely enjoyable!) insight into how Marc crafted, constructed, changed & rearranged the songs that would eventually come to form, arguably, his greatest album, "Electric Warrior" & let you hear how some of the songs might have sounded - "Jeepster" in particular !These demo discs are just superb, featuring (on the Spring Demo CD), to reiterate, what sound like the "blueprints" for "Electric Warrior" as well as some tracks (on the Autumn demo disc)which would end up on "The Slider". There are also some unreleased tracks (on the Spring demo disc) which have a style & sound which would not have been out of place on the "Beard Of Stars" or "T.Rex" albums.The "Electric Boogie" disc has some marvellous studio outtakes of which a personal favourite is "T.Rex Jam" which is unlike anything else I have ever heard by T.Rex - you could almost be listening to a Hendrix or Zeppelin giving it both barrels, Marc really lets rip on the guitar & Steve Currie's bass is phenomenal.The only (slight)disappointment for me, is the two part interview on this disc (where Marc is discussing the release of "Electric Warrior" in America), in which Marc sadly demonstrates his tendency, at times, to talk himself up & make some fairly spurious claims, some of which makes him sound a little (& sometimes, very) lax with the truth.Those moments aside, the interview does give you an idea of how much Marc really wanted to crack America & helps understand how much it might have hurt, that he didn't.The live discs are pretty strong & feature "Electric Warrior" & "Slider" tracks, plus gems like "Elemental Child" (but some of the live tracks have previously appeared on the "T.Rex - In Concert" LP, some years ago - the one where Marc is drunk & forgets the words to "Debora" & also, I think are duplicated on the "Total T.Rex 1971- 1972" box set)I have an inkling (although I'm not 100% sure, that the fan club might therefore,have released some of the stuff in this collection, in the past, in different guises - I'm sure someone will be able to confirm or otherwise).All in all though, an absolute must for the Bolan fanatic. A really excellent box set,with 5 marvellous CDs a "bonus" DVD, a lovely insert booklet & couple of photos to boot.I would suggest more a set for the Bolan completist / collector than the "enthusiast" but hey, give it a shot - it's fantastic !

Fantastic album, never tire of listening to it. Die hard Marc Bolan/T Rex fans can't be without this in their collection

nice collection of electric warrior era material

brilliant collectors item

Great album.

am glad l found this album. .