Though 1973’s Tanx fared well in Europe, T. Rex’s eighth studio album didn’t live up to the preceding Slider in America. This was partly because fatigue from constant touring (as well as increased partying) was taking away the taut punch of former performances. But another factor was that Marc Bolan was evolving out of glam and delivering darker, more aggressive songs trimmed with backing soul singers and horn arrangements, predating David Bowie’s similar move on Young Americans by two years. “Tenement Lady” kicks off Tanx, sounding like the album will pick up where Slider left off; then the swampy strut of “Shock Rock” jabs at the very glitter-rock genre that Bolan and the band helped pioneer. This is followed by the similarly short “Country Honey,” where rootsy rhythms play under Bolan’s wishes for a pastoral holiday. Of course “Born to Boogie” contradicts all this sentiment with textbook bubble-glam.