Nominated by: GK
Music club: Wander to Wozza's
Playlist addition: Ballrooms of Mars, Telegram Sam
I bought this one on release back in the early seventies. It was my first T Rex album. Up to that point, i.e. 1970 - 1971, I had been buying T Rex singles pretty regularly. Hot Love, Jeepster and Bang a Gong (Get It On) were early purchases when I was 12 - 13. Singles cost a little over a dollar so they were accessible, whereas albums took a bit of saving up for so I had to be picky. For that reason I didn't buy Electric Warrior until after The Slider.
Kevy's definition of a 5 star classic is that every track has to be brilliant, no exceptions. The Slider fits that criteria and then some.
It would be fair to say that I know this album inside out, having owned it for 50 years, and played it a lot - especially back in those early days of collecting when I only had twenty or so albums in the collection. Putting it on this week took me back in time and place - to my teenage bedroom at 18 Korma Ave.
The crisp production by Tony Visconti is particularly stunning. It still sounds like it was recorded yesterday!
The songs? Each one shines a different light on Bolan's weird world. His word play and love of language is there for the world to share. I don't think it's dated one jot either. Given it's deeply embedded in the glam genre of the early seventies - that's pretty re-marc-able (geddit?)
The two stunning hits lead off each side but it's the deeper cuts like Ballrooms Of Mars (the only song title that's not a two worder) that keep rewarding with every play - I mean 'John Lennon knows your name and I've seen his'. What does that even mean?? I've often wondered. Endless speculative fun.
It was downhill for T Rex after The Slider - the second best glam album of all time (Ziggy shades it for mine, but it's close). Thanks for allowing me another listen GK.
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