Why is T. Rex’s Electric Warrior on my best 1,000 albums ever list?
Bang a gong. Get it on.
What does T. Rex’s Electric Warrior mean to me? What does it make me feel? Why is it exciting or compelling?
There’s something singular and great about T. Rex’s sound: restrained, slinky, dirty, glam-y rock n’ roll. They don’t need to shout or turn the amps up to 11 to express their attitude.
They are attitude.
And the more I listen to Electric Warrior, I think about how it nicely spans the waning psychedelic rock era with a dirty, sexy, proto-punk sound that would influence a generation of bands and artists to come.
“Bang a Gong (Get It On)” is a great example, and easily T. Rex’s best known song today. The lyrics speak to the band’s overall aesthetic:
Well, you’re dirty and sweet
Clad in black, don’t look back and I love you
You’re dirty and sweet, oh yeah
In the mid-1980s, The Power Station reignited enthusiasm for T. Rex with a popular cover of “Bang a Gong (Get It On)” (see: The Power Station, #887 of best 1,000 albums ever). It’s custom made to get glammed up, ‘80s style, and The Power Station is the right band at the right time to oblige.
“Mambo Sun” has a very similar vibe to “Bang a Gong,” and again you can feel how singular T. Rex’s sound is in its highly unique pacing and quiet and restrained rock n’ roll vibe, which importantly is still suffused with swag for days.
“Cosmic Dancer” has an epic, early David Bowie vibe, replete with strings and howling background vocals.
Some stats & info about T. Rex’s Electric Warrior
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, British Bands, Album Rock, Glam Rock, Proto-Punk, Hard Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #188
- All Music’s rating – 5 out of 5 stars
- When was Electric Warrior released? 1971
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #709 out of 1,000
T. Rex’s Electric Warrior on Spotify
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.