Electric Warrior is the second studio album by English rock band T. Rex and their sixth since their 1968 debut as Tyrannosaurus Rex, released on 24 September 1971, by Fly Records in the United Kingdom and Reprise Records in the United States. The album marked a turning point in the band's style, moving away from the folk-oriented sound of the group's previous albums and pioneering a more flamboyant, pop-oriented glam rock style.
The album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. The single "Get It On" helped to boost the album's sales and it reached the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Retitled "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" by the US record company, it also became the band's only North American hit. Electric Warrior has since received acclaim as a pivotal release in the glam rock movement. It had a profound influence on later musicians of different genres.
Background
As T. Rex re-entered the studio to record their next album in March 1971, the band was riding a wave of sudden success prompted by their first single, "Ride a White Swan", hitting number 2 in the UK charts that January, followed by "Hot Love" which topped the charts for six straight weeks through March and April. While promoting "Hot Love" on Top of the Pops on 24 March, Marc Bolan had appeared in a silver satin suit with glitter under his eyes, sparking the glam rock craze. The image is printed in metallic gold on a matte black background, at least for the original UK issue on Fly Records and the first German issue on Ariola. In early July, Murphy also took the photo of the band relaxing in Marc's flat that was used for the poster that was included with the first issue in the UK and Germany. A hype sticker ("free T. Rex poster inside") advertised the poster in the UK. Some hype stickers for modern "remastering" campaigns are designed in a similar style as the original hype sticker. The poster picture was used for the gatefold of the US issue on Reprise Records. The inner sleeve artwork of the UK issue, portraits of Marc Bolan and Mickey Finn, was drawn by artist George Underwood, who had drawn the artwork for the first Tyrannosaurus Rex album in 1968, My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows. The first German Ariola issue used the inner sleeve artwork for the gatefold.
The artwork served as the inspiration for the French electronic duo Justice, who paid homage in the design of their debut studio album, †.
Promotion
T. Rex heavily promoted Electric Warrior through a string of tours, interviews, radio, and TV appearances through late 1971 and early 1972. Besides multiple appearances on Top of the Pops the group also appeared on European shows like Beat-Club, Starparade and Hits A Go-Go. A fall 1971 tour of the UK provoked scenes of fan hysteria unprecedented since the heyday of Beatlemania, causing the press to dub the new craze "T. Rextasy". A short US tour in February 1972 of mid-sized venues proved moderately successful as "Get It On", redubbed "Bang a Gong" for the American market, became the group's only top ten hit in that country. In another interview that year responding to charges that his music had "sold out" to commercialism, he stated "We didn't sell out or change the music; the music's the same. It's just that now it's timed in the cosmos to be successful."
Release
Electric Warrior was released on 24 September 1971 by record label Fly in the UK and Reprise in the US. It went to number 1 on the UK Albums Chart, staying at the slot for 8 weeks. The album remained in the UK chart for a total of 44 weeks. In the US, Electric Warrior reached number 32 in the Billboard 200 chart.
Two singles were released from the album: "Get It On" in July and "Jeepster" in November. "Get It On" was T. Rex's biggest selling single, staying four weeks at the top of the UK chart and becoming the band's only top-ten US hit. In the United States, "Get It On"'s title was originally changed to "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" to distinguish it from Chase's song "Get It On", which was also released in late 1971. "Jeepster" managed to reach number 2 in the UK although it was released by Fly without Bolan's permission, making him reluctant to promote it.
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In a positive 1972 review for Rolling Stone, Ben Gerson noted Bolan's transition from his earlier fairytale lyrics, noting that now "his targets are your common rock & roll cliches, as well as your common pseudo-poetic, pseudo-philosophical rock & roll cliches [...] What Marc seems to be saying on Electric Warrior is that rock is ultimately as quaint as wizards and unicorns, and finally, as defunct. Gerson concluded that the album established Bolan as "the heaviest rocker under 5’4″ in the world today." In his retrospective review, Steve Huey of AllMusic called it "the album that essentially kick-started the U.K. glam rock craze" and wrote that "the real reason Electric Warrior stands the test of time so well – despite its intended disposability – is that it revels so freely in its own absurdity and wilful lack of substance [...] Bolan's lack of pomposity, back-to-basics songwriting, and elaborate theatrics went on to influence everything from hard rock to punk to new wave." and dropping to number 188 in a 2020 revised list. In 2004, Pitchfork ranked Electric Warrior as the 20th best album of the 1970s. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
It was voted number 873 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).
Legacy
The album is credited as the first glam rock album, pioneering the development of the glam scene. Lol Tolhurst of the Cure said that the band listened to it during their formative years: "We were listening to T. Rex at this time,” [...] “I recall Robert [Smith] had a copy of Electric Warrior". The Slits's guitarist Viv Albertine also mentioned a special liking for this album for "the whole sound, the whole cartoony, sexual, and thing, it's very English as well. I think Prince has taken so much from Bolan." The Bongos released a cover of “Mambo Sun” which hit number 74 on the Billboard Dance Club chart in April 1981. PJ Harvey's main collaborator John Parish included the album among his favourites: "when I'm working... I like to have a few records that are most important for me, which I periodically stick on to remind myself just how good records can be. [...] I have a duty to at least try and make something as sweet and irresistible as this". Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream has cited "Get it On" as one of his all-time favorite pop songs, adding "When I was growing up, singles were an art statement. [...] People like [..] T. Rex were changing all the time. As a fan you wanted to know what they were going to wear and whether you could follow them to that new place".
Use in media
"Cosmic Dancer" is featured prominently in the soundtrack of the final segment of the 2019 Netflix documentary Dancing with the Birds, in which a male Carola's parotia successfully woos a female into mating with his courtship display. It was also played in the opening sequence of the 2000 film Billy Elliot.
"Jeepster" can be heard playing on a jukebox in Quentin Tarantino's 2007 film Death Proof. "Planet Queen" and "Get it On" were both included in the soundtrack of the 2024 film Longlegs, which also featured several allusions and references to the music of T. Rex.
"Mambo Sun" is played towards the end of Karan Kandhari's 2025 film Sister Midnight.
Track listing
Personnel
T. Rex
- Marc Bolan – vocals, guitar
- Mickey Finn – congas, bongos, vocals
- Steve Currie – bass
- Bill Legend – drums, tambourine
Additional personnel
- Howard Kaylan – backing vocals
- Mark Volman – backing vocals
- Rick Wakeman – keyboards on "Get It On"
- Ian McDonald – saxophone
- Burt Collins – flugelhorn
Technical personnel
- Tony Visconti – production, string arrangements
- Roy Thomas Baker – engineering
- Martin Rushent – tape operator
- George Underwood – artwork, photography
- George Marino – mastering
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+Weekly chart performance for Electric Warrior
!Chart (1971–1972)
!Peak<br />position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)
|align="center"|15
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|UK Albums Chart
|align="center"|1
|-
!scope="row"|US Billboard 200
| 24
|}