The Slider

The Slider
Studio album by T. Rex
Released 21 July 1972
Recorded March–April 1972 at Rosenberg Studios, Copenhagen, Denmark; Château d'Hérouville, Paris, France; Elektra Sound Recorders Studios, 962 La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, 90069, United States
Genre Glam rock
Length 43:55
Label T. REX (UK), Reprise (US)
Producer Tony Visconti
T. Rex chronology
Electric Warrior
(1971)		 The Slider
(1972)		 Tanx
(1973)
Singles from The Slider
  1. "Telegram Sam"
    Released: January 1972
  2. "Metal Guru"
    Released: May 1972

The Slider is the seventh studio album by English glam rock act T. Rex, released on 21 July 1972 by record labels EMI and Reprise. Two singles, "Telegram Sam" and "Metal Guru", were released to promote the album.

The Slider received acclaim from critics, and reached number 4 in the UK charts and number 17 in the US.

Recording and production

On the recommendation of Elton John, The Slider was recorded outside of Paris at Château d'Hérouville to avoid British taxing laws.[1] Production started on March 1972 and the basic recordings were completed in Strawberry Studios in five days.[1][2] One of the songs recorded at Chateau was "Metal Guru".[2] Bolan described the song as a "festival of life song", and that 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".[3]

Further recording was done at the end of March in Rosenberg Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark.[2] The backing vocals by Flo & Eddie were recorded at Elektra Sound Recorders Studios, 962 La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, 90069, in April.[2]

Like all previous T. Rex albums, The Slider was produced by Tony Visconti.

Album cover

The album notes credit Ringo Starr with the front and back cover photographs. The photographs were taken the same day that Starr was filming the T. Rex documentary Born to Boogie at John Lennon's estate, Tittenhurst Park. Producer Tony Visconti, however, disputes that Starr took the photograph, stating "Marc 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."[4]

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 and peaked at number 1.[5][6] "Telegram Sam" also charted in the United States and peaked at 67 on the Pop Singles chart.[7] The second single was "Metal Guru" which was released in May 1972 and charted in the United Kingdom for fourteen weeks and peaked at number 1.[5][6] It did not chart in the United States.[7]

The Slider was released on 21 July 1972 by record labels EMI in the UK and Reprise in the US. It entered the United Kingdom charts on 5 August 1972 where it stayed for eighteen weeks, peaking at number 4.[8] In the United States, where the album was promoted upon release with a television commercial featuring the band miming to "Chariot Choogle", it peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart.[7]

Reissues

The Slider was remastered for CD by Edsel Records in 1994 as part of their extensive T. Rex reissue campaign and a number of bonus tracks were appended. A companion release, entitled Rabbit Fighter (The Alternate Slider), was released in 1995 and contained alternative versions and radio sessions of the main album and bonus tracks. A combined CD digipak of these releases was issued in 2002. Also in 2002, further recordings from the Slider sessions were released by Thunderwing Productions Limited (TPL), the owners of several original ¼", 1" and 2" Master Tape recordings of Marc Bolan and T. Rex. These tracks were released as The Slider Recordings. In 2010, The Slider was remastered and reissued by Fat Possum Records. The remastering was done by Chicago Mastering.

Legacy

The song "Ballrooms of Mars" was covered by Richard Barone of The Bongos on his 1997 album Between Heaven and Cello. The song was featured in the 2003 comedy film School of Rock. This song was also used as the opening theme of the Spanish TV series Punta Escarlata. A Spanish version was composed for the show too. There is a Spanish-language cover version by Spanish rock band Radio Futura called "Divina", released in 1980. "Ballrooms of Mars", along with "Main Man" and "Life Is Strange" from Tanx were featured in the 2013 film Dallas Buyers Club.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Consequence of Sound[10]
LA Weekly
PopMatters7/10[11]
Pitchfork9.8/10[12]
Q
Rolling Stone

The Slider has received acclaim from critics.

In his retrospective review, Steve Huey of AllMusic wrote, "Even if it treads largely the same ground as Electric Warrior, The Slider is flawlessly executed, and every bit the classic that its predecessor is."[9] Stephen M. Deusner of Pitchfork gave the album a 9.8/10 grade, the highest given to any T. Rex album, and wrote, "At the peak of his rock superstardom, Bolan was also at the top of his game, and The Slider is his ecstatic ode both to himself and to music in general. The '50s rock rhythms that threatened to burst the seams of Electric Warrior here explode mightily and repeatedly."[12]

Track listing

All tracks written by Marc Bolan.

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Metal Guru"  2:25
2."Mystic Lady"  3:09
3."Rock On"  3:26
4."The Slider"  3:22
5."Baby Boomerang"  2:17
6."Spaceball Ricochet"  3:37
7."Buick Mackane"  3:31
Total length:21:57
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Telegram Sam"  3:42
2."Rabbit Fighter"  3:55
3."Baby Strange"  3:03
4."Ballrooms of Mars"  4:09
5."Chariot Choogle"  2:45
6."Main Man"  4:14
Total length:21:58

Personnel

Technical

References

Sources
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