Electric Warrior
T. Rex's best album,Electric Warrior, distills the best elements of Marc Bolan's earlier acoustic period with a dynamic rock rhythm section--drummer Bill Legend and bassist Steve Currie--and lush arrangements by producer Tony Visconti. Featuring the classics "Bang a Gong (Get It On)," "Jeepster," and "Mambo Sun,"Warriorranges from the space-blues of "Lean Woman Blues" to the punk-jazz of "Rip Off," with a sound fleshed out by chamber strings and thefalsettoharmonies of ex-Turtles and Mothers of Invention Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. (Zappa sideman Ian McDonald plays sax as well.)  Touches such as the arcing cellos of "Cosmic Dancer" and the sexy rhythms of "Planet Queen" perfectly bring to life Bolan's imaginative world of "diamond star halos" and "shadowless horses." A must for any serious collector of British rock classics.--James Rotondi