To celebrate the 40th anniversary of its release, T. Rex’s seventh album, The Slider from 1972, has been remastered by its producer Tony Visconti for a new special edition.
Out on November 26 via Edsel, T.Rex – The Slider 40th Anniversary Box Set, includes B-sides and outtakes alongside the original 13-track album, as well as a previously unreleased demo of the title track taken from Visconti’s private collection.
The extras are nothing if not exhaustive: there’s a DVD with a new 105-minute interview with Visconti by Bolan biographer Mark Paytress, footage of ‘Telegram Sam’ and ‘Metal Guru’ from Top Of The Pops, ‘Cadilac’, ‘Spaceball Ricochet’ and ‘Telegram Sam’ from ITV, an interview from 1972 between Bolan and Russell Harty, footage of Bolan and Mickey Finn, the band’s then-percussionist, a TV advert for the album a promo film of ‘Buick Mackane’.
There’s also a hardback book with essays by both Visconti and Paytress, as well as 180g vinyl pressings of the album, its singles ‘Telegram Sam’ and ‘Metal Guru’ and ‘Chariot Choogle’, originally a promo-only 45”, all in reproduction was paper of Bolan’s EMI subsidiary, T. Rex Wax Co. Additionally, the box set features a 40-page book of the sheet music for every song on the album, an A2 poster, sticker, plastic carrier bag, sew-on patch and facsimiles of an original Bolan fan club letter, membership card, rosette and concert ticket, all in a smashing box.
To get yourself warmed up, and if you haven’t got any T. Rextasy lying around, here’s the box set’s trailer:
