The Slider - WikiHQ

The Slider is the seventh studio album by English rock band T. Rex, and the third since abbreviating their name from Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was released on 21 July 1972 by record labels EMI and Reprise. Two number-one singles, "Telegram Sam" and "Metal Guru", were released to promote the album. Issued at the height of the band's popularity, The Slider received acclaim from critics, reaching number 4 in the UK Albums Chart and number 17 in the US.

Background

At the start of 1972, T. Rex was riding a wave of superstardom propelled by four successive top 3 hits (including two number ones) and an 8-week run at the summit of the UK charts for Electric Warrior, which became that country's best-selling album of 1971. It was under these auspicious circumstances that the songs which would comprise The Slider were written and recorded.

Songs and recording

Most of the songs for The Slider were written and demoed in the fall and winter of 1971, as the group toured the UK. Bolan claimed in interviews that the new album was his Imagine, in that in it he felt he had been frank and truthful about himself. Among the highlights was the opening track "Metal Guru", which Bolan described as a "festival of life song" where he related "Metal Guru" to "all gods around... someone special, a godhead. I thought how god would be, he'd be all alone without a telephone". Other tracks like the acoustic ballads "Spaceball Ricochet" and "Main Man" expressed a vulnerable fragility addressed to his fans, while the chugging boogie of the title track contained the revealing refrain "and when I'm sad, I slide".

Musically, outside of the ballads, the album was harder rocking than Electric Warrior, featuring several heavy metal-influenced songs like "Buick MacKane" and "Chariot Choogle" that Bolan cheekily labeled "Zep Rex", along with a further use of elaborate studio techniques (phasing, reverb, backwards guitars etc.) to achieve a glam rock sound. As on Warrior, Tony Visconti provided string arrangements while Flo & Eddie contributed androgynous backing vocals (although Visconti later claimed they sang on only three tracks, with he and Marc doing their best Flo & Eddie impersonation on the rest).

Further recording was done from 31 March to 2 April back at Rosenberg Studios. Producer Tony Visconti, however, disputes that Starr took the photograph, stating "Marc [Bolan] handed me his motorized Nikon and asked me to fire off two rolls of black and white film while we were on the set of Born to Boogie. Ringo, the director of the film, was busy all day lining up shots. But Marc apparently saw a photo credit opportunity and gave Ringo the credit for the photos". The unique grainy composition of the black and white image had been unintentionally produced due to the mishandling of the exposure chemicals used to produce the picture by a darkroom technician eager to see the photos.

Although Guns N' Roses later covered "Buick MacKane", the front cover was not an influence on the top hat worn by GNR guitarist Slash. "People always ask me that because of the Slider cover," he remarked. "But, no, that had nothing to do with it".

Release

Two singles were released to promote The Slider. The first was "Telegram Sam" which was released January 1972 and charted in the United Kingdom for twelve weeks, peaking at number 1. "Telegram Sam" also charted in the United States and peaked at 67 on the Pop Singles chart. The second single "Metal Guru" was released in May 1972 and charted in the United Kingdom for fourteen weeks, giving the group its fourth number 1. However, it did not chart in the United States.

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In the United Kingdom, the album received mixed reviews. Richard Williams of The Times reviewed the album alongside Rod Stewart's Never A Dull Moment, David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and Roxy Music's Roxy Music. Williams found Bolan to be "the least obviously talented". However, he further noted that the "narrow range and musical repetitiousness" of the music did not matter as it made "his records immediately recognizable on the radio" and that the album "is full of songs of a slightness which is wondrous to behold. But the hushed intimacy of Bolan's vocal delivery helps to make one word do the work of ten — particularly when combined with his gift of coining oddly appealing images". Williams also praised the work of Tony Visconti, declaring "I'm inclined to think that it's Visconti more than anyone who's responsible for Bolan's success; his arrangements and production give T. Rex's work a quality which the group's leader could never have achieved alone". Michael Oldfield at Melody Maker enthused that Bolan had "produced an album in which the winning formula is jiggled around enough to make a thoroughly enjoyable, and exceptionally good, album" while Penny Valentine at Sounds stated approvingly that "each track is a solid piece of chart appeal...many of which could be whipped off as a single at any time" although she described the lyrics as "frugal repetitive", being simply a series of images and twists.

Legacy

Johnny Marr of the Smiths cited it as one of his favourite albums, saying: "The Slider came out and it had 'Metal Guru' on it. It was a song that changed my life as I had never heard anything so beautiful and so strange, but yet so catchy. 'Telegram Sam' was also on that album and the whole thing was unusually spooky and had a weird atmosphere, considering it was a number one record and they were essentially a teenybop band". Gary Numan also hailed it among his favourites: "Song after song after song… and the title track; it's a not typical album-title track. You'd normally go for one of the big singles and The Sliders got a very slow, lazy groove thing. It's just great. It's just the sexiest track".

"Ballrooms of Mars" was featured in the 2003 comedy film School of Rock, and was used as the opening theme of the Spanish TV series Punta Escarlata. "Ballrooms of Mars" also appeared in the 2013 film Dallas Buyers Club. The lyrics of the song "Baby Boomerang" became a plot element in a 1973 episode of Cannon, "The Hard Rock Roller Coaster".

In their 1993 cover album "The Spaghetti Incident?", Guns N' Roses recorded a version of "Buick MacKane" as part of a medley with Soundgarden's "Big Dumb Sex". Guitarist Gilby Clarke also wore a T.Rex T-shirt in the Estranged music video.

On 4 May 2022, the Black Crowes released a studio version of "The Slider" on their album 1972 (EP).

Track listing

Personnel

;T. Rex

Marc Bolan – vocals, guitar
Steve Currie – bass guitar
Mickey Finn – percussion, vocals
Bill Legend – drums

with:

Mark Volman ("Flo") – background vocals
Howard Kaylan ("Eddie") – background vocals
Tony Visconti – string arrangements, background vocals

; Technical

Tony Visconti – producer
Ringo Starr – sleeve photography
Dominique Freddy Hansson – engineering
David Katz – orchestra master
Mick O'Halloran – Front of house Technician/ Lead road manager
Steve Little – Stage Manager/ PA to Marc/Roadie
Micky Marmalade – Roadie/Driver

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable"

!Chart (1972)

!Peak<br /> position

|Australia (Kent Music Report)

|align="center"|13

|align="left"|UK Albums Chart

|align="center"|4

|align="left"|United States (Billboard 200)

|align="center"|17

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

! scope="col" | Chart (1972)

! scope="col" | Position

! scope="row" | German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)

| 48

! scope="col" | Chart (1973)