Lunacy's Back, But Does It Really Matter?

Review Score: (8/10)
In fact yeah, it does matter. I've read loads of horrible reviews for this album. I wouldn't have even entertained the idea of buying it if it wasn't for a little thing called file sharing. I downloaded the complete versions of Dawn Storm, Jupiter Liar, and Sensation Boulevard from Kaaza and gave them a listen. At first I didn't know what to make of the songs. They were so different from Electric Warrior and The Slider. It took me a couple of listens to get used to them. And then something happened. Don't really know what but I found myself humming Jupiter Liar one day and desperately wanting to own it on cd. Payday that week sent me running to the nearest record store where I had to special order the album and wait two weeks for it to arrive. The same day I brought it home I listened to it twice in its entirety. I think I put New York City on repeat. Since late August it has become a permenant staple of my most played cds. I even made a copy of the entire album on tape so I could listen to it in my car. It may actually be easier for someone who isn't familiar with Marc Bolan's other work to pick this album up and enjoy it as is. To compare it with his earlier stuff is futile 'cause by this time he was moving in a completely different direction both musically and with his life. I think that this album is his real farewell to his former life as a glam rock superstar. There are still lots of really fun lyrics here though. I guess the best way to describe the feel of the album is to relate a story involving it. A couple of weeks ago I went to visit a friend in Boston. We spent the night drinking vodka, walking around the city dolled up in fishnets and vinyl, washing down questionable pharmaceuticals with Jolt Cola all the while smoking French Silk Cut Ciagrettes which my friend carried around in a little black ciagrette case. After emerging from The Linwood, a little punk club with a couple of fashionably seedy boys on our arms we got a ride back to her place just outside of the city. I forced my copy of Futuristic Dragon into the tape player of the hapless driver (I think it was her roomate but I can't be sure) and as Jupiter Liar segued into Chrome Sitar something strange happened. I think that the mood of Chrome Sitar kind of summed up our evening 'cause we sat there tired and staring out of the windows in awe as the lights of the 3 a.m. city passed over our heads. It was a really washed out, happy feeling like your body is ready to shut down 'cause you haven't slept in a week but you've had a really amazing night doing all this decadent, stupid stuff that you never should have done in the first place and loved every minute of it. I think that Futuristic Dragon might just be Marc Bolan's 3 a.m. in a big US city heading home after the party and smiling at the thought of his nice warm bed album.

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