Tyrannosaurus Rex released three psychedelic folk albums prior to Marc Bolan turning his back on his long-time collaborator, Steve Peregrin Took, reinventing himself as a glam rocker. Unicorn, originally released on 16 May 1969, represented the last album they would work on together as Bolan remained firmly rooted in his hippy roots whilst Took drifted off into the underground scene.

The album was the first of theirs to be released in America and ended up skirting the top twenty. Not a major success but an improvement on their previous position. There would be a fourth and last album under this band name, although the last one would not feature Took as the two fell out over Took’s desire to put more of his own material on the record.

On first listening there is little to distinguish Unicorn from its two predecessors, My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows (1968) and Prophets, Seers & Sages: The Angels of the Ages (1968). The vocals remain essential Bolan, although he seems to have taken the point about the vocals on the first two albums and for once his enunciation allows you to hear a greater amount of the vocals. More subtly, there is the creeping addition of electric instrumentation, starting the transition from Tyrannosaurus Rex to T. Rex.

This being the rerelease of the album, we get the original sixteen tracks, all polished for their new outing, as well as a further additional thirty-eight track. Once again these consist of different versions of the songs as well as live renditions and surviving radio sessions.

It’s odd to contrast Bolan’s ramblingly complex songs, which spends most of its time in exploring myths and the esoteric, if you think of the gritty musings of the Velvet Underground, whose observations of the dirtier side of life would come to be more influential than Tyrannosaurus Rex. Not that they were the only band who preferred to spend their time in this particular head space, as much of the progrock scene, with bands like Yes spent an inordinate amount of time singing about fairies, elves and, in this case, unicorns.

Ultimately, the album becomes a desirable addition to any progrock collection, but not, I think, an essential purchase.

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Charles Packer