Tanx

EMI released it in the UK and Reprise in the US, with Visconti producing. Most of it was recorded at the Chateau d'Herouville between August and December 1972. Bolan reached for soul, funk and gospel. Visconti played the Mellotron that opens Tenement Lady, saxophone appears, and the closing Left Hand Luke and the Beggar Boys has female backing singers, among them Madeline Bell and Lesley Duncan, who went uncredited on the sleeve. Bolan took the idea from a single by the R&B DJ Montague the Magnificent. On 3 December 1972 the band also recorded in Tokyo, without Visconti, and cut 20th Century Boy, Electric Slim and the Factory Hen and Shock Rock.

No singles came from the album. 20th Century Boy was planned as its closer, but was taken off the running order on 8 January, and it came out on its own. The album reached number 4 in the UK, number 3 in Germany and number 5 in Norway, and did not make the US top 100. Ultimate Classic Rock called it Bolan's last great hurrah. The producer Ed Buller said the blueprint for Suede's Coming Up (1996) was Tanx. The cover, designed by John Kosh, plays on the title with a toy tank.