Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow
| Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow – A Creamed Cage in August | ||||
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| Studio album by Marc Bolan & T. Rex | ||||
| Released | 1 February 1974 | |||
| Recorded | 1973 | |||
| Genre | Glam rock | |||
| Length | 46:17 | |||
| Label | T.REX (UK) Ariola (Germany) | |||
| Producer | Tony Visconti | |||
| T. Rex chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow – A Creamed Cage in August | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
| Pitchfork | 5.8/10 |
| Uncut | 7/10 |
Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow (subtitled A Creamed Cage in August) is the ninth studio album by Marc Bolan & T. Rex, released on 1 February 1974 by record label EMI.
Marc Bolan discovered the Musicland Studios in Munich and was one of the first British artists recording here; most basic recordings were done here during the second half of 1973. At the time, his 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.
His US label Reprise had dropped him and he was struggling to find another US label to sign him in the US. When he finally got a deal with Casablanca Records he had recorded lots of new material and decided to release it along with a couple of tracks from Zinc Alloy as the Light of Love album. Thus neither Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow nor Bolan's Zip Gun were issued in the US in the '70s.
Bolan had been listening to a sizeable amount of US soul and R&B, no doubt influenced by his new affair with Gloria Jones, a backup singer and clavinet player, whom he had hired for his 1973 US tour. 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".
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