Editorial Review:

Album Description:
A 4-CD box set covering Marc's career from his early solo work in 1964 through his work with John's Children, Tyrannosaurus Rex and T. Rex 108 tracks all digitally remastered including 3 previously unreleased tracks, early demos, rare 45's ultra rare recordings with John's Children and cuts from all of the Tyrannosaurus Rex and T. Rex albums. A 64-page booklet containing rare and previously unseen photographs as well as an introduction by Tony Visconti.









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Disc 1:

1. The Road I'm On (Gloria) - T. Rex, Di Mucci
2. Blowin' in the Wind - T. Rex, Dylan, Bob
3. The Wizard
4. Beyond the Risin' Sun
5. The Third Degree
6. San Francisco Poet
7. Eastern Spell
8. Hippy Gumbo
9. Misfit
10. Jasper C. Debussy
11. Desdemona
12. Midsummer Night's Scene
13. Sara Crazy Child
14. The Lilac Hand of Menthol Dan
15. Sleepy Maurice
16. Highways (AKA Misty Dust)
17. Child Star
18. Chateau in Virginia Waters
19. Puckish Pan
20. Lunacy's Back
21. Debora
22. Hot Rod Mama
23. Scenescof
24. One Inch Rock
25. Salamanda Palaganda
26. Conesuala
27. Juniper Suction
28. Nickelodeon
29. Pewter Suitor
30. The Seal of Seasons
31. Catblack (The Wizard's Hat)
32. Chariots of Silk
33. Iscariot

Disc 2:

1. King of the Rumbling Spires
2. Do You Remember
3. Once Upon the Seas of Abyssinia
4. Ill Starred Man
5. Demon Queen
6. By the Light of a Magical Moon
7. Lofty Skies
8. Elemental Child
9. Dove
10. The Prettiest Star - T. Rex, Bowie, David
11. Oh Baby - T. Rex, Cochran, Dib
12. Ride a White Swan
13. Jewel
14. Diamond Meadows
15. Beltane Walk
16. Suneye
17. Childe
18. The Children of Rarn
19. Hot Love
20. King of the Mountain Cometh
21. Mambo Sun
22. Cosmic Dancer
23. Get It On
24. There Was a Time/Raw Ramp
25. Rip Off

Disc 3:

1. Jeepster
2. Life's a Gas
3. Sailors of the Highway
4. Telegram Sam
5. Cadillac
6. Baby Strange
7. Metal Guru
8. Thunderwing
9. Spaceball Ricochet
10. Children of the Revolution
11. Jitterbug Love
12. Xmas Flexi Message
13. Solid Gold Easy Action
14. Born to Boogie
15. 20th Century Boy
16. Highway Knees
17. Electric Slim and The Factory Hen
18. Left Hand Luke and The Beggar Boys
19. The Groover
20. Blackjack
21. Truck On (Tyke)
22. City Port
23. Teenage Dream

Disc 4:

1. Venus Loon
2. Painless Persuasion V. The Meathawk Immaculate
3. Change
4. Till Dawn
5. Light of Love
6. Zip Gun Boogie
7. Think Zinc
8. Solid Baby
9. New York City
10. Chrome Sitar
11. Dreamy Lady
12. Christmas Bop
13. Jupiter Liar
14. Dawn Storm
15. London Boys
16. I Love to Boogie
17. Laser Love
18. Life's an Elevator
19. To Know You Is to Love You (To Know Him Is to Love Him) - T. Rex, Spector, Phil
20. Teen Riot Structure
21. The Soul of My Suit
22. Dandy in the Underworld
23. Celebrate Summer

Rating: - Best compilation album to date!
This is the best of the greatest!! The booklet is interesting reading, the music is fab and I can take the best of Marc with me without carrying all the CD's I own! Must have for any and all who are Born to Boogie!

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Rating: - Excellent overview, but omits several key cuts
"20th Century Superstar" is a comprehensive 4-CD box set covering all phases of Marc Bolan's career, and includes all of his hard-to-find early
solo singles as well as outtakes, X-mas fan club songs, tracks from every Tyrannosaurus and T.Rex album, etc. However, as with almost every box set that has been released since the format was invented, the curious omission of a handful of key tracks normally found on greatest-hits and anthologies prevents this from a full five-star rating. Whatever happened to "Mustang Ford", "She Was Born To Be My Unicorn", "Pavilions Of Sun", "Seagull Woman", "Buick McKane", "Mad Donna", "Crimson Moon"?? Certainly the omission of "She Was Born To Be My Unicorn", "Seagull Woman" and "Buick McKane" is highly suspect. And, as another reviewer here has mentioned, there is no live material bar "Dove" and the BBC "Sailors Of The Highway". Of course, there is so much material out there that one would need more than 4 discs to include everything of worth, although I would have at least included the above omitted tracks in favor of some of the "Zip Gun" and "Futuristic Dragon" material on disc four ("Jupiter Liar" in favor of "Buick McKane"??).

As this is a UK import, the hefty price tag is also likely to turn off all but devoted Bolan fanatics. Seeing as how I am one, I still consider it an essential purchase; some of songs here ("Nickelodeon", "Ill Starred Man", "Demon Queen", "Hot Love", "Mambo Sun") appear in alternate takes not found on any other release, even the recent remasters. And hearing the early singles and John's Children material in (for once) superb sound quality is worthwhile, as well as the chance to witness Bolan's constant evolution from beginning to end in one succinct package. Now one need only use this box set as a template to add the ten or so missing key tracks and create one's *own* box...

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Rating: - What a blast !
From the moment the first disc starts until the last one stops spinning in your player , you will have a blast listening to this. Bolan was a master of the pop song format. The lyrics are full of mystic images (did anyone EVER understand a SINGLE Bolen lyric ?) , the music is riff-laden crunchy rock and roll. There are TONS of Bolen compilations out there , this is the one to buy. Then, start into the unreleased comps for even more oddities. What would this guy sound like now ?

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Rating: - Bolan start to finish
As a bigger fan of Bolan's Tyrannosaurs Rex, rather than T. Rex, material, I can't agree with those who dismiss the first disc of this 4 CD set. Although primarily for current fans, and not really the best place to start hearing Marc Bolan's other stuff, if you do start here, this collection is still a good choice, as you're likely to have some difficulty finding many of these gems elsewhere.

Albeit still worthwhile, 20th Century Superstar begins to run out of steam about the middle of the third disc. Most of the out-takes included in the set are from Marc Bolan's early career. As well they should be: The '90s saw a tidal wave of releases of formerly unreleased tracks from Electric Warrior on, and virtually nothing from the period from his Toby Tyler singles to the eponymous T. Rex album.

On Superstar you will find Bolan's first and last singles, essential album tracks, rarities and even Bolan reading one of his poems. I can't imagine a more career spanning and representative. Although much of this material would never make it onto a "best of," this set is an absolute must for those who love Marc Bolan. Here at last is a collection of his most notable work, all superbly mastered. A real find.

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Rating: - Genius Bolan--The Best Box Set
This pricey but well-worth-it box set is only available in the UK, but Americans can get it here on amazon if they can afford it. If you only know T. Rex's "Bang a Gong (Get it On)," you'll never believe the great music that is collected here. I cannot recommend this work highly enough for any lovers of 1960s-1970s rock music or any rock for that matter. Bolan was an underrated and often overlooked genius whose work rivals any rock artist who ever made it here in the US (with the possible exception of the Beatles). As others have said, this set tracks Marc from his early experiments to his acoustic, folky Tyrannosaurus Rex period, through major UK glam-rock successes like Electric Warrior to recordings made mere months before his untimely death in a car crash a few weeks short of his 30th birthday in 1977. Mr. Wenner of Rolling Stone and his cronies should check out Marc Bolan on this 4-disc-retrospective to see who they should really be inducting into their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame these days. If it weren't for Marc, there likely would have been no punk rock, as Debbie Harry, Joey Ramone, Billy Idol, and other admirers have readily admitted. Rock on Marc--your music will live forever.