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The fact Marc
Bolan was forced to sign with a label like Neil Bogart's newly-formed
dance-oriented Casablanca was a pretty good indicator that his career was in
trouble. Released in 1974, the US-only "Light
of Love" was actually a compilation set, pulling
together three songs from 1973's "Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of
Tomorrow" (Teenage Dream', 'Explosive Mouth' and 'Venus Loon') and
sight tracks recorded for Bolan's planned UK follow-on "Bolan's Zip
Gun". Having ended his long-standing partnership with producer
Tony Visconti, the album found Bolan stepping into the role of
producer. You might have expected a monumental change like that to
have a major change on Bolan's overall sound, but it didn't. Bolan's
unique glam-pop seemed largely unchanged with most of these eleven songs
underscoring Bolan's simplistic song structures - I frequently find myself
thinking, wow I could have written something like that. At the same
time, the album did have kind of a stitched together feel. Without a
lot of effort most folks could probably figure out which songs were from the
earlier "Zinc" LP - just listen for the muddy production
values.
- Yeah, I know it
was a comeback hit for Bolan and company, but I've got to tell you that
'Light of Love' may have been one of the worst things the man ever
recorded. A hideous melody that sounds like it was cobbled together in
about thirty seconds with even dumber lyrics (here should be a lawa against
having that many la-la-las in a song), and a simply abysmal
performance. Hard to tell Bolan was even awake for this
one. The only thing worse was the accompanying video which you
can see on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3icbQfh_bAc
rating: ** stars
- Admittedly
'Solid Baby' had a certain slinky throw-away charm, but beyond the title
repeated time after time, there wasn't a great deal to the song.
rating: ** stars
- No matter what
you thought about Bolan's talents (or lack thereof), you had to admit the
man could occasionally crank out a catchy pop ditty - witness 'Precious
Star'. A breezy slice of top-40 pop with one of those instantly
recognizable Bolan hooks, the only complaint on this one came in the form of
the needless screechy female backing vocals. This one would have
made a nice single - far better than the title track. rating:
**** stars
- Deciding to give
'50s-styled R&B a shot was probably a concept that looked better on
paper than in actual execution. Bolan simply didn't have the kind of
voice needed to pull the genre off and trying to camouflage those
shortcomings with an army of shrill female backing singers only served to
underscore his vocal limitations. Thoroughly boring and it seems
to go on and on and on .... rating: **
stars
-
A classic slice of Bolan glam-rock, 'Space
Boss' had the same lyrical depth as a toothpaste commercial, but then who
cared since this was intended as throwaway pop fodder. Mindless
fun and actually kind of funky, though the female backing singers remained
an major source of irritation. rating: ***
stars
- One of three
tracks pulled from his last UK LP, 'Think Zinc' suffered from horrible
sound, but was still one of the better performances. Nowhere near as
commercial as some of the other tracks, the song's tougher sound was
actually a benefit, showing Bolan was capable of handling more conventional
rock material. Yeah, the female backing singers were here as
well. rating: *** stars
- 'Till Dawn' was
another track that came close to capturing some of the earlier magic.
Yeah, the song underscored what a limited voice Bolan had (he was very shaky
on this one), but the song had one of the album's better melodies and there
was actually a memorable guitar solo.
rating: *** stars
-
A top-20 UK hit, 'Teenage
Dream' is another track that's always been a mystery to my
ears. I've simply never understood this heavily orchestrated ballad's
appeal. Bad Mott the Hoople ? Courtesy of YouTube you can
check it out yourself: Here's a solo Bolan lip synching the song on
the German Disco television show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt-f8un0Nfw
rating: ** stars
- Just when you'd
given up on Bolan he trots out another cute, funny, and catchy number and
one of the album's best performance - 'Girl
In the Thunderbolt Suit'. rating:
**** stars
-
Metal funky ? I guess that would describe 'Explosive
Mouth' as well as anything I've heard. Kicked along by plenty of fuzz
guitar and Bolan's slurred vocals you had to admit there was something
jarring in the lyrics "I wanna lay my lips on
your explosive mouth ..." Always wondered why
the song faded out so early. rating: ***
stars
- I guess I always
figured I was just losing something in the translation 'cause the 'Venus
Loon' lyrics were just a complete puzzle to my American ears. And then
one day I happened to stumbled across the actual lyrics ... "Slipshod
gymslip in my neighborhood, Empty head, steel bed, Dipseys no good. All
alone, no telephone, to hype up my baby, Goin' to see my baby in the
afternoon, Goin' to take my baby on a Venus loon ...".
You tell me. Musically and stylistically this was prototypical T.Rex -
loud, brash, and catchy in a dumb, radio-friendly fashion.
rating: *** stars
The
collection included a pair of UK singles:
-
1973's 'Teenage Dream' b/w 'Satisfaction Pony' (EMI catalog number MARC 7)
-
1974's 'Light of Love' b/w 'Explosive Mouth' (EMI catalog number MARC 8)
Bolan
and company returned to the States touring in support of the LP, but
American sales were poor. Being paired with the likes of Black Oak
Arkansas and Blue Oyster Cult probably didn't help. Adding to his
problems, Bolan's next UK studio album "Bolan's Zip Gun" wasn't
helped by the fact eight of the tracks had appeared on the "Light
of Love" album which had been heavily imported into the UK.
"Light of Love" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Light of
Love (Marc Bolan) - 3:16
2.) Solid
Baby (Marc Bolan) - 2:37
3.) Precious
Star (Marc Bolan) - 2:51
4.) Token of My
Love (Marc Bolan) - 3;39
5.) Space
Boss (Marc Bolan) - 2:47
6.) Think
Zinc (Marc Bolan - 3:21
(side
2)
1.) Till
Dawn (Marc Bolan) - 3:01 2.)
Teenage Dream (Marc Bolan) - 4:58 3.)
Girl In the Thunderbolt Suit (Marc Bolan) - 2:19 4.)
Explosive Mouth (Marc Bolan) - 2:25 5.)
Venus Loon (Marc Bolan) - 3:02
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