Marc had seemingly gone into decline, both commercially and artistically. It's now, apparently, written in stone that 'Bolan's Zip Gun' is crap. Such was its bad reception, Marc himself believed it too. Well, he did after the event. Beforehand, he had confidence in his new songs. As well he might, there are some wonderful moments here. Fashion is bunk. Being out of fashion during a particular year, thus having your reputation tarnished forever, fashion or not - really isn't on. It just isn't cricket. Yet, this album is full of delightful moments. It's full of Marc Bolan, who retained his basic essence, whatever his producer or backing band. True, 'Solid Baby' has stupid lyrics, quite frankly - yet, it's a huge amount of fun. It is what it is. 'Token Of My Love', a misguided mix of blues and soul, is less fun. In fact, it's one of the worst songs Marc ever put to tape, but this song is just three and a half minutes of this album as a whole. It's no crime, just a song that didn't quite work out ok. Ok? Good!'Think Zinc' showcases a whole load of things. Marc was forever searching for a new sound at this juncture. He was hoping and praying that one of his experiments, of which 'Think Zinc' is one, would be noticed and take off. None of them were noticed, sadly. At least, not at the time. 'Think Zinc' is suitably groovy and metallic. It does for me. True, on the otherhand, 'Zip Gun Boogie' was possibly his most base and obvious single yet, yet.... you can't win them all, can you?
The opening 'Light Of Love' does disco sooner than Marc needed to do Disco. He was into that soul groove sooner than he needed to be. 'Light Of Love' appeared as a single, and was somewhat wasted upon the audiences of the time. Sadly so, because it's a very groovy track. Very catchy and simple. 'Precious Star' is just deliriously wonderful, I can listen to it all day. Wailing backing vocals, nice hand-claps, simple melodies that reach to you, amongst attention to detail. Such a thing as hand-claps can be attention to detail, in an otherwise uninteresting song. 'Precious Star' is so very charming. 'Girl In The Thunderbolt Suit' takes a soul approach, doesn't quite work. 'Till Dawn' is a true highlight, a song better than nearly all of 'The Slider', and not recognized as such purely because T.Rex were about as fashionable as the plague, circa the mid seventies. Still, we overcome such things years later. Don't we?
Tracklist for Bolan's Zip Gun:
1. Light Of Love
2. Solid Baby
3. Precious Star
4. Token Of My Love
5. Space Boss
6. Think Zinc
7. Till Dawn
8. Girl In The Thunderbolt Suit
9. I Really Love You Babe
10. Golden Belt
11. Zip Gun Boogie
12. Do You Wanna Dance?
13. Dock Of The Bay
The opening 'Light Of Love' does disco sooner than Marc needed to do Disco. He was into that soul groove sooner than he needed to be. 'Light Of Love' appeared as a single, and was somewhat wasted upon the audiences of the time. Sadly so, because it's a very groovy track. Very catchy and simple. 'Precious Star' is just deliriously wonderful, I can listen to it all day. Wailing backing vocals, nice hand-claps, simple melodies that reach to you, amongst attention to detail. Such a thing as hand-claps can be attention to detail, in an otherwise uninteresting song. 'Precious Star' is so very charming. 'Girl In The Thunderbolt Suit' takes a soul approach, doesn't quite work. 'Till Dawn' is a true highlight, a song better than nearly all of 'The Slider', and not recognized as such purely because T.Rex were about as fashionable as the plague, circa the mid seventies. Still, we overcome such things years later. Don't we?
Tracklist for Bolan's Zip Gun:
1. Light Of Love
2. Solid Baby
3. Precious Star
4. Token Of My Love
5. Space Boss
6. Think Zinc
7. Till Dawn
8. Girl In The Thunderbolt Suit
9. I Really Love You Babe
10. Golden Belt
11. Zip Gun Boogie
12. Do You Wanna Dance?
13. Dock Of The Bay
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