Zinc Alloy and The Hidden Riders of Tomorrow

Zinc Alloy And The Hidden Riders Of Tomorrow

Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow – A Creamed Cage in August is the ninth studio album and a UK-only release by Marc Bolan & T. Rex, released in February 1974. When originally released the initial pressings were a multi-layered triple gatefold sleeve, a latticework image of the current cover featuring singer Marc Bolan's face in a pale gold surround. Japanese manufacturer Teichiku reinstated this as an elaborate limited edition paper sleeve in 2001.

At the time, Marc Bolan's success in the UK was beginning to slip, as a result of two factors: his constant desire to "crack" the US market (which resulted in a lessened effort on the UK charts) and his desire to expand T. Rex's sound. This can be seen on 1973's Tanx, which included new guitar effects, chord changes, string arrangements and other studio "tricks" Bolan had not employed before. Because of this, Bolan decided not to release the album in the USA, but instead released Light Of Love in its place.

He had been listening to a sizable amount of US soul and R&B, no doubt influenced by his new affair with a backup singer and clavinet player he had hired for his 1973 US tour - Gloria Jones. These new sounds, in retrospect, were a year and a half before David Bowie's pioneering Young Americans album, often credited with making the most successful transition from UK glam rock (which was losing popularity) to radio-friendly, soul-influenced pop/rock. However, as successful as Bolan was in combining his new influences, the boogie/rockabilly sound at the core of the classic T. Rex sound can still be heard in the guitar work and the harmonies, in particular on the track "Nameless Wildness".

The songs reflect a darker mood than on Bolan's earlier releases, with lead track "Venus Loon" having quite grotesque subject matter. This was surely refective of Bolan's inner uncertainty about his status in the rock world now that he was no longer a teen idol. Other songs such as "Galaxy" and "Change" contain similar forebodings and dark imagery. The music, too, is ambitious and complex, containing some of Marc's most inventive extended guitar solos.

The album divided fans and critics into the two camps - a schizophrenic critical reaction that would remain with him until his death - some derided him as a washed-up teen idol, and others believed he would eventually make a resurgence in popularity. At that moment, however, Zinc Alloy marked a downturn in his fortunes - the contemporaneous album single, "Teenage Dream", made it only to #13 in the UK charts. While that would be a success for most groups, Bolan had spent all of 1971-1973 enjoying constant Top Ten and Top Five UK hits, including four #1's.

Bolan had said in the late 1960s that at the peak of his career, he would change his stage name to "Zinc Alloy", which is what he was going to address himself as with this album. However, the band name "Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow" sounded a bit like "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars", Bowie's band name 2 years earlier, so Bolan decided to put the name "Marc Bolan & T. Rex" on the cover. The album itself was going to be called "A Creamed Cage In August", hence why it is on the back cover.

T. Rex would not enjoy another Top 20 UK hit until "New York City", in the summer of 1975.