''Futuristic Dragon'' is the eleventh studio album by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band T. Rex, released worldwide on 30 January 1976 by

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

bar North America. The album was preceded by two successful singles that went into the UK chart, "

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

" and " Dreamy Lady". The album saw

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted int ...

continuing to experiment, blending rock with

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

and

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

elements on certain tracks.

Content, music and sleeve

The album features some unusually dense production from singer and songwriter

, especially on "Chrome Sitar" and "Calling All Destroyers", which contained unusual musical embellishments such as the

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

and other sonic sound effects. The album includes a nod to a new genre

on the track " Dreamy Lady", which was released as a single under the moniker of "T Rex Disco Party". ''Futuristic Dragon'' also contains tracks heavily influenced by American soul music, which Bolan had been experimenting with since 1973. "All Alone", "Ride My Wheels", and "Dawn Storm" all feature predominantly soul-based rhythms and instrumentation. The sleeve illustration was conceived by artist George Underwood, who had first worked with Bolan on the 1968 Tyrannosaurus Rex album '' My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair...''.

Release

Preceded by the release of two UK Top-40-hit singles from the album, "

" which went at number 15 and " Dreamy Lady" which reached the top 30, ''Futuristic Dragon'' was released on 30 January 1976. It reached number 50 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. In the US, ''Futuristic Dragon'' wasn't issued domestically before 1987. ''Futuristic Dragon'' was remastered for CD by Edsel Records in 1994. A number of bonus tracks were added including b-sides. A companion release, entitled ''Dazzling Raiment (The Alternate Futuristic Dragon)'', was released in 1997 and contained alternative versions, studio rough mixes and solo recordings of the main album. A combined album

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

was released in 2002.

Critical reception

Retrospective reviews have been favourable.

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

wrote: "The album defies expectation, presenting a surprisingly consistent set of tunes dovetailing with the burgeoning

scene without entirely partaking of it", adding that the record was "full of lush orchestration and soul-style backing vocals".

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

wrote "''Futuristic Dragon'' has enough winning moments to suggest an upturn ..the album wins your sympathies: It's good enough to make you wish it were better."

Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis ( el, Αλέξης Πετρίδης; born 13 September 1971) is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper ''The Guardian'', as well as a regular contributor to the magazine '' GQ''. In addition to his mus ...

praised it in ''

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', saying: it "was packed with fantastic songs – the gorgeous Dawn Storm was by far the most successful of his attempts to meld his sound with

– and had it been released as the followup to ''

Tanx ''Tanx'' is a 1973 album by rock band T. Rex, the eighth since their debut as Tyrannosaurus Rex in 1968, and the fourth under the moniker T. Rex. It was released on 16 March by record label EMI. ''Tanx'' was a musical departure from previou ...

'', it might have arrested his commercial slide".

Track listing

Personnel

– vocals, guitars, moog *

Gloria Jones Gloria Richetta Jones (born October 19, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter who first found success in the United Kingdom, being recognized there as "The Queen of Northern Soul". She recorded the 1965 hit song "Tainted Love" and has wo ...

– backing vocals,

clavinet The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tension ...

* Steve Currie – bass guitar * Davy Lutton – drums *

Dino Dines Peter Leslie "Dino" Dines (17 December 1944 – 28 January 2004) was a British keyboard player, best known for his work as a member of T-Rex. Dines was also a member of Apostolic Intervention and the Keef Hartley Band. Career Early Dines was a m ...

– keyboards *

Jimmie Haskell Jimmie Haskell (born Sheridan Pearlman, November 7, 1926 – February 4, 2016) was an American composer and arranger for motion pictures and a wide variety of popular artists, including Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Steely Da ...

– string instruments ; Technical * George Underwood – cover artwork

Charts

References

External links

* * {{Authority control T. Rex (band) albums 1976 albums Albums arranged by Jimmie Haskell EMI Records albums