Is it love? is best known as the b-side of the successful break through single, Ride a White Swan. It shared the space with a version of the Eddie Cochran song Summertime Blues. It was also the opener for the album T Rex and has its own merits, without doubt. The song is very simple, lyrically and musically, minimalist almost. It is a sort of transitional song for the folky duet sound of Tyrannosaurus Rex that became the regular guitar band sound that T Rex espoused. Here we have distorted electric lead and bass but backed by bongos rather than drums. Other distinctive features are the drone effect caused by some sort of electronic buzz, the distinctive cry and count down at the beginning of the track and the multi-tracked voices at the end. The short lead riff was then a new departure for T Rex. The song's brevity (2' 36") is another one of its strengths. It is a hidden gem.
