Disco de T. Rex: “Inside T. Rex: A Critical Review 1970 - 1973 [DVD]”

Uggghhh! This is a very disappointing collection of self-serving personal opinions by british music critics, interspersed with modestly interesting snippets of lip-synched T-Rex TV appearances from 1970 to 1973. Other than the mundane and utterly familiar chronological information, the rest is pretty much a waste of time. As a long-time fan, I learned nothing and didn't enjoy much of it. Who cares if those interviewed thought Bolan had put on a little weight by 1973? The years covered are limited and the dvd ends with a pompous proclamation by one critic that "after the release of "The Groover" single, I said no more, that's it for T-Rex." If the unfamiliar rely on this dvd as an introduction, they would get the false impression that 1973 really was the end. While 1974 and 1975 were darker days for Marc Bolan with the release of the transitional "Zinc Alloy" and the rather disappointing "Bolan's Zip-Gun", the revamped T-Rex responsible for the final albums "Futuristic Dragon" and "Dandy in the Underworld" were on there way back in 1976 and 1977. Since this period is not mentioned at all in the dvd, people will get a very incomplete and false impression. I support critical opinion, but it needs to be based in reality. This dvd? I say, "No Tanx!"

I'm basing my rating from the standpoint of being a long time fan (since '71). IF you too are an older fan, in fact, and have read and seen practically everything you could on T.Rex (aside from having all the albums); then this should be regarded as mainly a primer, for neophytes. Oh it's not terrible, and yes, there is some rare footage, but the biggest complaint I have about this production (possibly from English TV?), is that we get to enjoy only one hour's duration of mainly unphotogenic w*nker critics saying very general things from their own perspective (and sometimes inaccurately)--some of whome were likely in diapers when T.Rex was big. And meanwhile all this brilliant footage is played out onscreen sometimes in split screen equally as large as the critic/commentator. What a load of self serving.... Yeah, there are a few genuine notables from the era, and it was good to see Trevor Bolder again after 30 years, in a brief interview; but these few small high points do not elevate this to anything more than something for the curious who don't know T.Rex--though with the state of music now, not many I think would be interested. And even then, you get NO, absolutely NO feel for why T.Rex was great. I got this disc expecting to see a load of rare footage and maybe a few interviews and spend at least an hour and a half's happy time in front of telly. If they had packaged up a lot of TV appearances and interviews with the band (FULL performances, not the brief snippets we see here--and yes I know it's meant to be a chronological history), it would be worth it, even though most of those appearances were lip synced. (No more looking at smeary bootlegged VHS--hell, even the video quality on this really isn't that great for DVD). So SKIP THIS and go watch the live bits in "Born to Boogie" and you'll see why T.Rex should have been in the Rock n' Roll hall of fame--but still astoundingly, isn't.

Most of the extremely negative reviews here seem to say that this is a rip-off because it mostly features critics talking about T.Rex's early years, talking over most of the performance footage. However, they need only read the TITLE of the release--Inside T.Rex: A CRITICAL review 1970-73, plus the liners on the back of the box, to realize what they were getting beforehand. And the critical reviews are interesting (they did manage to get a number of high-profile UK rock critics to comment, although US consumers probably wouldn't recognize them and thus dismiss them), and I agreed with most of what they had to say. T.Rex fans who have read every biography will most likely have heard a lot of this before, but there has been no DVD documentary on the group up to this point and this is the best on offer for now (there's another covering the final years 1974-77).

As for the performance footage, yes most of it is cut and most can be found on earlier T.Rex video releases. Still, it's all great stuff, like "Get It On" on Top Of The Pops, "Elemental Child" on French TV and "Children Of The Revolution" from the Born To Boogie film. Fortunately, there are four or five clips most US fans will have never seen before (I'm a Bolan fanatic and had not seen them)--"Salamana Palaganda" from a '68 festival, "Suneye" from 1970, "Metal Guru" on "Top Of The Pops" (not the usual clip that makes video comps but an earlier, scintillating performance), "Solid Gold Easy Action" on "Top Of The Pops" (very interesting, wish they'd not talked over it) and "The Groover" from ABC's "In Concert" series (Bolan starts to look worn out here but it's still of interest).

Anyways, if you're interested in a critical review of T.Rex's early, good period, this is not a masterpiece documentary but is acceptable. Three stars.