T.REX: deluxe media book edition with lots of rarities

Title: Bolan’s Zip-Gun + Futuristic Dragon (Deluxe Edition)

Label: Edsel

Edsel continue to dig into the Bolan treasure chest to reveal more goodies for the dedicated fans: and there’s plenty of them out there.

Presented in a book-type container, you can find both 1975’s Bolan’s Zip Gun and 1976’s Futuristic Dragon. Bolan’s Zip Gun features the hit singles Light Of Love and Zip Gun Boogie while Futuristic Dragon features Dreamy Lady and New York City. This deluxe media book edition includes 21 bonus outtakes and demos from the two albums, seven of which have been mastered from original first generation tapes in the possession of two dedicated fans – this is the first time these tapes have been used. You can also find a book within including lyrics. The book also features ephemera and many press clippings from the era.

These albums are intriguing because they show Bolan searching for new sounds, new genres, new flavours and rhythms. More than that, as his widow, Gloria Jones stated, “A lot of people didn’t understand the period between 1974 and 1975 when Marc gained the weight. He had worked ten years without a holiday. He was finally living.” New ideas flowed from this rest period.

Zip-Gun retains a touch of the funky approach that Bolan adopted within Zinc Alloy but the production has been stripped back somewhat which adds to the inherent musicality of this album. The mastering of this album is lively with plenty of air and space over the broad soundstage.

Futuristic Dragon, although harking back to trademark Bolan boogie on occasion, is also gloriously pompous with an epic, grand vision that struts with egotistical stomp, nasty guitars, heady backing vocals and a sense. Mastering here is solid with the emphasis on midrange detail extraction. With a splendid selection of great sounding bonus tracks, this is a superb collection for any Bolan fan.