Marc Bolan, T. Rex - Across The Airwaves (CD 1998)

This first came out when there was a dearth of 'new' quality material from the Bolan archive. The early stuff reeks of mid- sixties eccentrincity whilst eschewing Bolan's flair for melody (much greater than his most obvious sylistic contemporaries The Incredible String Band) and the 'electric' pieces showcase T.Rex as a classic crowd pleasing third generation rock and roll band (the British Creedence Clearwater Revival). There's nothing radical about these interpretations, some lyric changes, verse swaps, and perhaps simpler(!) arrangements, but they succeed in sustaining a real live feel and the flavour of their time. For me it all went wrong somewhere in 1972, with cheap repetition and posing replacing genuine effort and artistry, but this album deserves a place alongside the first six studio albums and 'The Children Of Rarn' demo as testament to Bolan's often overlooked innovation and invention.