Good evening all you "gold galactic ravers" and craft ale ragers! The Meista here rocking out to the wondrous brilliance of Marc Bolan's T. Rex "The Essential Collection" cassette tape box set and a (couple) Tour De Fall Pale Ale(s) from New Belgium Brewing Company! This pairing is respectfully dedicated to Rolan Feld Bolan and the memory of his father, Marc Bolan who would have turned 67 years old earlier this week... rest in peace Mr. Bolan!!
The Tour De Fall Pale Ale pours a clear, deep fall leaf amber with a 1-finger, frothy white head that leaves pronounced lacing. The nose is characterized by a blend of piney/citrusy hops and sweet malts. There are aromas of lemon, tangerine, grapefruit, wet fall grass, and pine. Light to medium bodied with good carbonation, the Tour De Fall's mouthfeel is sharp, crisp, and oily. The taste is a blend of big citrusy hops and more subtle sweet malts. There are big juicy notes of tangerine, orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, and mango (maybe a touch of apricot?) with more bitter notes of pine and herbal tea. More subtle note of biscuit, caramel, and baked bread come out as the beer warms. The finish is clean and crisp with a slight lingering note of tangerine marmalade... very fitting for the ultimate groove provided by the genius that is Marc Bolan and T. Rex!
"The Essential Collection" is a 3-tape collection that was released in 1991 through Relativity Records. (I bought it way back in '91 when it came out... thus the cassette tapes.) So the downside of this compilation is the fact that there are virtually no early T. Rex recordings, the tracking doesn't seem to much sense either , and then there's the glaring omission of "Bang A Gong (Get It On)" (due to a rights issue). The upside (big upside!) is that it is a killer collection of T. Rex tracks including 8 rare live acoustic tracks including "Spaceball Ricochet", "Jeepster", "Cosmic Dancer", "Main Man", "Ballrooms Of Mars", "Mystic Lady", "Girl", and "Baby Strange"... and it is a freakin' T. REX box set after all!! (Back in '91, T. Rex albums were not easy to come by.) Along with these wonderful live acoustic tracks, the 3 tapes include some of the most important and influential (glam) rockers of modern music including "Metal Guru", "Buick Mackane", "20th Century Boy", "Dandy In The Underworld", "The Groover", "Children Of The Revolution", "Chrome Sitar", and "Till Dawn" among many, many others! The set also comes with a great booklet describing the life and music of Marc Bolan and his incredible vision and band!
Cheers!!
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