release date: Jan. 28, 1973
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Tony Visconti
label: EMI Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Tenement Lady" - 2. "Rapids" - 9. "Born to Boogie" (4 / 5)
8th studio album by T. Rex follows only 6 months after The Slider (Jul. 1973) and it's at first glance the continued journey with the same quartet and the same producer, although, it has become evident that the fast production tempo has consequences on quality. Tanx was a general success in Europe, and particularly in the UK where the album peaked as number #4 on the albums chart list just as the 1972 predecessor, but musically the album is widely considered a clear step down for Marc Bolan. Except from the two exceptional tracks "Tenement Lady" and "Born to Boogie" the album doesn't contain the 'usual' pack of great tracks.
The biggest issue about the album is that it mostly sounds like a copy of former hits and a mix of heavy inspiration from David Bowie and Lou Reed. The originality appears to be missing, and it's nearly only Okay glam rock and boogie. Some tracks appear like new attempts to move away from the style of his two previous albums with a stronger blues or rock & roll style with slower arrangements adding strings and backing vocals as you'll hear on Lou Reed's Transformer (1972), e.g. the tracks "Mister Mister", "Broken Hearted Blues", "Electric Slim & the Factory Hen" and "Left Hand Luke".
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars, Rolling Stone review without rating ]
