Audio CD review:
Marc Bolan & T. Rex - 20th Century Superstar

Marc Bolan & T. Rex - 20th Century Superstar

Band: Marc Bolan & T. Rex Title: 20th Century Superstar Rating: Release Date: 10 December, 2002 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Road I'm On (Gloria) - Tobee Tyler, 2: Blowin' in the Wind - Tobee Tyler, 3: Wizard - Marc Bolan 4: Beyond the Risin' Sun - Marc Bolan 5: Third Degree - Marc Bolan 6: San Francisco Poet - Marc Bolan 7: Eastern Spell - Marc Bolan 8: Hippy Gumbo - Marc Bolan 9: Misfit - Marc Bolan 10: Jasper C. Debussy - Marc Bolan 11: Desdemona - John's Children 12: Midsummer Night's Scene - John's Children 13: Sara Crazy Child - John's Children 14: Lilac Hand of Menthol Dan - Marc Bolan 15: Sleepy Maurice - Tyrannosaurus Rex 16: Highways (AKA Misty Dust) [#] - Tyrannosaurus Rex 17: Child Star [#] - Tyrannosaurus Rex 18: Chateau in Virginia Waters [#] - Tyrannosaurus Rex 19: Puckish Pan [#] - Tyrannosaurus Rex 20: Lunacy's Back - Tyrannosaurus Rex 21: Debora [#] - Tyrannosaurus Rex 22: Hot Rod Mama - Tyrannosaurus Rex 23: Scenescof - Tyrannosaurus Rex 24: One Inch Rock [#] - Tyrannosaurus Rex 25: Salamanda Palaganda [#] - Tyrannosaurus Rex 26: Conesuala [#] - Tyrannosaurus Rex 27: Juniper Suction [#] - Tyrannosaurus Rex 28: Nickelodeon [#] - Tyrannosaurus Rex 29: Pewter Suitor - Tyrannosaurus Rex 30: Seal of Seasons [#] - Tyrannosaurus Rex 31: Catblack (The Wizard's Hat) - Tyrannosaurus Rex 32: Chariots of Silk - Tyrannosaurus Rex 33: Iscariot - Tyrannosaurus Rex 34: King of the Rumbling Spires - Tyrannosaurus Rex 35: Do You Remember [Alternate Vocal Edit][#] - Tyrannosaurus Rex 36: Do You Remember [#] - Tyrannosaurus Rex 37: Once Upon the Seas of Abyssinia - Tyrannosaurus Rex 38: Ill Starred Man [#] - Tyrannosaurus Rex 39: Demon Queen - Tyrannosaurus Rex 40: By the Light of a Magical Moon - Tyrannosaurus Rex 41: Lofty Skies - Tyrannosaurus Rex 42: Elemental Child - Tyrannosaurus Rex 43: Dove - Tyrannosaurus Rex 44: Prettiest Star - David Bowie 45: Oh Baby 46: Ride a White Swan (Intro) [#] 47: Ride a White Swan 48: Ride a White Swan (Outro) [#] 49: Jewel 50: Diamond Meadows 51: Beltane Walk 52: Suneye 53: Childe 54: Children of Rarn 55: Hot Love [#] 56: King of the Mountain Cometh [#] 57: Mambo Sun [#] 58: Cosmic Dancer 59: Get It On 60: There Was a Time/Raw Ramp 61: Rip Off [#] 62: Jeepster 63: Life's a Gas 64: Sailors of the Highway 65: Telegram Sam 66: Cadillac 67: Baby Strange 68: Metal Guru 69: Thunderwing 70: Spaceball Ricochet 71: Children of the Revolution 72: Jitterbug Love 73: Xmas Flexi Message 74: Solid Gold Easy Action 75: Born to Boogie 76: 20th Century Boy 77: Highway Knees 78: Electric Slim and The Factory Hen 79: Left Hand Luke and The Beggar Boys 80: Groover 81: Blackjack 82: Truck On (Tyke) 83: City Port - Pat Hall 84: Teenage Dream 85: Venus Loon - Marc Bolan, T. Rex, 86: Painless Persuasion V. The Meathawk Immaculate - Marc Bolan, T. Rex, 87: Change - Marc Bolan, T. Rex, 88: Till Dawn 89: Light of Love 90: Zip Gun Boogie 91: Think Zinc 92: Solid Baby 93: New York City 94: Chrome Sitar 95: Dreamy Lady 96: Christmas Bop 97: Jupiter Liar 98: Dawn Storm 99: London Boys 100: I Love to Boogie 101: Laser Love 102: Life's an Elevator 103: To Know You Is to Love You (To Know Him Is to Love Him) - Marc Bolan, , Gloria Jones 104: Teen Riot Structure 105: Soul of My Suit 106: Dandy in the Underworld 107: Celebrate Summer

Customer Reviews Excellent overview, but omits several key cuts Rex album, etc. "20th Century Superstar" is a comprehensive 4-CD box set covering all phases of Marc Bolan's career, and includes all of his hard-to-find early solo singles as well as outtakes, X-mas fan club songs, tracks from every Tyrannosaurus and T. However, as with almost every box set that has been released since the format was invented, the curious omission of a handful of key tracks normally found on greatest-hits and anthologies prevents this from a full five-star rating. Whatever happened to "Mustang Ford", "She Was Born To Be My Unicorn", "Pavilions Of Sun", "Seagull Woman", "Buick McKane", "Mad Donna", "Crimson Moon"?? Certainly the omission of "She Was Born To Be My Unicorn", "Seagull Woman" and "Buick McKane" is highly suspect. And, as another reviewer here has mentioned, there is no live material bar "Dove" and the BBC "Sailors Of The Highway". Of course, there is so much material out there that one would need more than 4 discs to include everything of worth, although I would have at least included the above omitted tracks in favor of some of the "Zip Gun" and "Futuristic Dragon" material on disc four ("Jupiter Liar" in favor of "Buick McKane"??). As this is a UK import, the hefty price tag is also likely to turn off all but devoted Bolan fanatics. Seeing as how I am one, I still consider it an essential purchase; some of songs here ("Nickelodeon", "Ill Starred Man", "Demon Queen", "Hot Love", "Mambo Sun") appear in alternate takes not found on any other release, even the recent remasters. And hearing the early singles and John's Children material in (for once) superb sound quality is worthwhile, as well as the chance to witness Bolan's constant evolution from beginning to end in one succinct package. Now one need only use this box set as a template to add the ten or so missing key tracks and create one's *own* box. What a blast ! Bolan was a master of the pop song format. From the moment the first disc starts until the last one stops spinning in your player , you will have a blast listening to this. The lyrics are full of mystic images (did anyone EVER understand a SINGLE Bolen lyric ?) , the music is riff-laden crunchy rock and roll. There are TONS of Bolen compilations out there , this is the one to buy. Then, start into the unreleased comps for even more oddities. What would this guy sound like now ?. Genius Bolan--The Best Box Set If you only know T. This pricey but well-worth-it box set is only available in the UK, but Americans can get it here on amazon if they can afford it. Rex's "Bang a Gong (Get it On)," you'll never believe the great music that is collected here. I cannot recommend this work highly enough for any lovers of 1960s-1970s rock music or any rock for that matter. Bolan was an underrated and often overlooked genius whose work rivals any rock artist who ever made it here in the US (with the possible exception of the Beatles). As others have said, this set tracks Marc from his early experiments to his acoustic, folky Tyrannosaurus Rex period, through major UK glam-rock successes like Electric Warrior to recordings made mere months before his untimely death in a car crash a few weeks short of his 30th birthday in 1977. Mr. Wenner of Rolling Stone and his cronies should check out Marc Bolan on this 4-disc-retrospective to see who they should really be inducting into their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame these days. If it weren't for Marc, there likely would have been no punk rock, as Debbie Harry, Joey Ramone, Billy Idol, and other admirers have readily admitted. Rock on Marc--your music will live forever. . . You can see a complete list of all Marc Bolan & T. Rex discography, or go back to the Marc Bolan & T. Rex tabs