10 More Rock Music Albums That Were Way Ahead Of Their Time
9. A Beard Of Stars - Tyrannosaurus Rex
Before he would become the flamboyant, hip-thrusting idol of glam rock, Marc Bolan was a folk singer.
In fact, his band T. Rex (initially known as Tyrannosaurus Rex) were about as folk as you could get. Their debut album was called "My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows" for goodness sake.
Eventually, Bolan got sick of running around fields and praying to gnomes, so he decided to invent glam instead.
It's usually agreed that glam rock was born when Bolan appeared on Top of the Pops in 1971. His glittery face and performance of the song Hot Love spawned hundreds of imitators, much to the chagrin of conservative parents everywhere.
The album that bridged the gap between Tyrannosaurus and T. was 1970's A Beard Full of Stars. There was still enough folk on there to satisfy the band's existing fanbase, but Bolan was clearly practising the tricks that would make him a global sensation.
A Beard Full of Stars performed well enough in the charts at the time, but it's only in hindsight that we can see just how important it was.