Kings Of The Wild Frontier

This is fucking horrible - I love it. I'm not sure why I actually like this. The lyrics are stupid, the music is stupid, the name and album art are stupid.. there's even a completely random pirate song for absolutely no reason. The band's not even "Adam & The Ants", there's one guy named "Adam Ant". It makes no sense - that's like The Beatles calling themselves "John & The Lennons". This is what the kids like to call "penis music" and I'm here for it. Yeah I gave this a 4/5 and The White Album a 2/5, what are you going to do about it. I am aware that my brain is completely rotten and that I have tiny goblins building aqueducts in my cerebral cortex.

Why does the album generator hate me?

The range of influences in this album is impressive. I hear Beach Boys, Beatles, punk, African music (particularly Burundi), and glam rock. Adam and the Ants are clearly not overly concerned with mixing these influences or writing idiosyncratic songs, such as 'Jolly Roger,' yet there is a unity to this album that makes it all work. There's a lot to love here. The more I dive into New Wave, the more I'm convinced that it is one of the most forward thinking movements in popular music history.

I really like this one. It's like the Animals meets the Talking Heads, but with a little something special mixed in there. Honestly, I can't iterate why I dug this so much. I just did.

An album I've never heard of from an artist I've never heard of, nice! After reviewing the Belle & Sebastian album, a band formed by two Stuarts, I'm surprised to find that Adam Ant is in fact also named Stuart. There's some sort of British Stuart invasion that needs to be investigated. I appreciate this album's weirdness. It's got a touch of that '80s new wave feel, but it's mostly dwarfed by a more experimental edge. I wish I could say I liked this, but I didn't. Of course, I liked a few songs, and I can tell why someone would like it (I'm guessing Andrew and/or Alden will love this one), but as experimental as it is, it didn't really grab or hold my interest. The '80s pop/droning rock combo is lost on me. I wouldn't say it's a bad album, but I wouldn't say it's good either. Also, did Death Grips sample "Killer in the Home" on "Spread Eagle Cross the Block"? Maybe not, but the three-chord riff sounds similar. Favorite tracks: Dog Eat Dog, Ants Invasion Album art: really cool picture, very menacing. Giving off some Buffalo Bill, "Goodbye Horses" vibes. I like the inexplicably backwards D in "ADAM," especially because the D in "WILD" is not backwards. Watch out folks, this guy's wacky! 2.5/5

Behind the idiosyncratic sounds of early 80s post punk/new wave--which have aged quite well given the revival surge of these sounds occuring in the British scene these days--, behind the experimental drive borrowing a lot of disparate elements here and there, from Glam Rock and Surf Rock to traditional Burundi rythms and Tex Mex / Western Country twangs, behind all those endearing and/or hypnotic details, there's one thing that this record displays that's cruelly missing in a lot of the more obscure cuts sometimes suggested by Dimery's list among well-known landmarks: infectious pop melodies. They're here played with an undeniable sense of fun, and the end result is here a record which is anything but pretentious, and yet manages to impress you from the get-go with its manifold stylistic twists and turns. I was barely aware of who Adam Ant was before his name popped up on this app. From what I hear, his overall discography will be quite hit or miss for me. But it only took one exhilarated spin of this particluar record to make the latter a new late-70s/early-80s favorite of mine, along with the greatest albums of Siouxsie And The Banshees, Wire, The Cure, Bauhaus, Gang Of Four, The Clash, The Damned, This Heat and the likes. An awesome discovery. Whoever in Dimery's team was in charge of that specific scene has great taste. I will thank him forever, along with the creator of this app. Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 853 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory: 81 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 36 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 31

Big cowboys and Indians/Western meets glam rock vibes here! Really fun with lots of catchy songs and always gotta appreciate anyone trying to be a bit different!

Met a guy in a bar once who told me he was a famous popstar in the 80s. I didn't really believe him, but he was Adamant...... I only knew Prince charming and stand and deliver prior to this, but this album wasn't what I expected. Was a bit glam rock, which surprised me, that opening track sounded like Hanoi rocks. Probably didn't enjoy it enough to go back but it was far more interesting than I expected. 3.5

I always liked Adam Ant without really knowing his music that well. This is a fine display of why I like it and possibly also explains why i never got to know it that well. It is a major thump-a- thon - high energy right at yeah. The easiest to hear lyrics are often amusing. Not too much drama; just good fun. Adam has a way to grab hold of you without being arrogant or obnoxious It's a great party vibe and a band meant to be seen live or heard at parties where you're so fucked up you can't hold a normal conversation anyway so why not spin the Ants.  The last half of the album did seem to start to fade. 

Definitely music

I've been a fan of Adam Ant's pop music since I was a kid, but I hadn't listened to Kings of the Wild Frontier until a few years ago. Ant was one of my first crushes, but I learned to deeply appreciate his work after rewatching Sofia Coppola's film, Marie Antoinette & taking a deep dive during the pandemic. He & his band were tired of the gritty punk scene & wanted to do something colorful and "heoric." In the book, Mad World - An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs that Defined the 1980s, he says he tapped into and studied the Regency dandy, military history, pirates & Native Americans. He grew to deeply appreciate Native Americans and even got a tribe's blessing to wear the Apache war stripe. For him, the stripe represented war against the record companies. He also felt a kinship to the Native Americans & adopted some of their philosophies. (Having a Romani Gypsy grandfather born in a caravan, he understood to be culturally mindful & respectful). It's evident in the lyrics, "I feel beneath the white, there is a redskin suffering from centuries of taming." What a brazen political statement made by an English band. I can't recall any American bands taking these types of stances in their music at the time. The album is interestingly a bit of everything: spaghetti western, pirates, and Burundian drum music. Let's not forget those twangy guitars. It's very entertaining, and his style was like no other. It turns out Michael Jackson asked Ant where he got his jacket, so Ant directed him to Bermans in London. It's a hussar jacket - a theatrical costume. Michael said, "I want an Adam Ant jacket." And that's how his famous red military jacket look was born. Adam Ant deserves FAR more credit than he gets. He & his band are the forefathers of post-punk, and they were incredibly creative & bold. Personally, I love this album. I had hoped to dress as Ant for Halloween (I enjoy gender bending, so a female as Ant would've been rad), but I don't have the time. Maybe next year. And I hope to see him live next year since he canceled Cruel World 2023. If I never see him live, I'll always have his music. 5 fucking stars.

nice, downloaded it

Love this album, busted out the vinyl for this listen

Loved it! Serious Oingo Boingo vibes!

Bonkers in the best way possible. A heady mixture of African drumbeats, pop culture references and giddy yelps that helped herald the birth of new wave.

Overrated album from an overrated band

Bit boring ennit

Catching up on last 3 days - Hendrix made me appreciate why people bang on about him so much (he's on another level), Hookworms transported me to a cool electronic plane of smooth, but damned if this isn't the album of the 3 that I'll be playing again and again on repeat. Banging.

Dog Eat Dog has some excellent beat and bass work. This sounds like the sound track for the lost boys in Peter Pan.

Pop used to be this mad. Why do we now worship such mediocrity. Pirate afrodrum pop punk. What's not to love?

SEX MUSIC FOR ANT PEOPLE! ANT MUSIC FOR SEX PEOPLE!

For this review, I'm sticking to the original LP tracklisting, and not factoring in the B-side tracks and second disc of the super deluxe edition. I hadn't heard of Adam and the Ants before, and that album artwork already gives me quite the impression. This group went through a near complete lineup change before this album, along with a style shift from post-punk to new wave, with the sole consistent member being frontman Adam Ant. Kings of the Wild Frontier gave me similar vibes to The Stranglers concerning the manic energy that Adam and the rest of this group exerted in their songs. From the get-go on "Dog Eat Dog", the Burundi drums kick in as Adam howls and belts his way through, complemented by catchy guitar hooks. It doesn't take long before lyrical themes go off the rails, from talking about the uprising of ant-people to pirates and Native American tribes. It's fun in its lack of cohesion with good riffs and percussion, though this band kept at 100% chaos and doesn't give a break to change up the style, so be aware of that. Give it a spin.

I’ve definitely heard some Adam and the Ants before (Staaaaand and deliver!!) which I’ve enjoyed. Beyond that, I certainly wouldn’t say I’m over familiar, but I like what I’ve heard, and this album led to me liking more. I really enjoyed the tribal sound that came across a lot of the time. The sound is undeniably pop, but the drums would frequently stay on the toms making more of a marching beat than I expected. There are a lot of catchy moments here, making for a fun album.

Swept up in the silliness 7/10

Still the coolest look in pop, and a unique sound too.

Meh. Nothing standout at all here except for a few, very stupid lyrics.

Very 80's. A vibe that reminds me of Bowie just in the slightest I think. 3.5

Kind of stupid but also kind of fun

Bloody Adam and his bloody ants annoyed me at the time and still do. That might be a bit unfair due to my ex-wife liking them. But as I say I disliked them then when things were rosy between me and my ex (her liking this shit should have been a massive neon lit warning sign) Where my hatred lies is hard to define because I suppose the tracks on this album are up to standard reasonable toe tapping pop songs. Everywhere you went in 1980 you had to endure these songs which came a bit exhausting. That and of course all the “ants” stood in an upright pose with two fingers across their brows looking menacing (not that was possible due to hilarious application of make up) And don’t get me started on those ubiquitous videos on MTV and the like. It was impossible to avoid them. Crashing through glass windows is really dangerous but Adam or should I say Stuart managed to do it regularly and still came back to give us more of his stinking music. There is a happy ending in that they broke up in 1982 so my misery was short lived. That is until today when this album arrived on my list. 1/5 25/8/24

Awful, random sounds that vaguely remind me of riffs off other oddly random crappy sounds. The fact that this guy ever had a music career makes me hurt.

What is this even? I'm not even sure if this still counts as music or if it's just a weirdo sing-songing whatever happens to be going through his head at that moment, supported by an unquestioning backup band. This is just really bad in every way. It's not even weird in an interesting way. Just weird and off-putting.

One notable item about this album is the "Jolly Roger" song. A pirate song by a punk/new wave group? Ok... Other than that, not much else to say about this. Should not be on a "must listen" album list for anyone. A final note is making mention of the odd "Lawrence of Arabia Theme" musical quote in song "Feed MeTo The Lions"; not sure if it is intentional or not...

loved it!

4++

really interesting new-wave hard-rock had a lot of really great stuff in there 9/10

So catchy and filled with raw energy and rambunctious vocals p, absolutely love it! I’d give it a 9.5 out of 10!

Except for the radio hit, Antmusic, I hadn't heard this one. And hadn't heard or thought of Adam Ant in decades. This was a blast to go back in time to my grade school years. Post-punk pop, in the vein of Devo, the sound aged surprisingly well.

New wave, pop punk

Kooky, fun, unique - well paced and just right in length. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea but purely subjectively to me - this is an awesome perfect album.

Punky, upbeat glam pop, definitely an influence on Supergrass and Franz Ferdinand. Irresistible.

9/10 - All round great album, bit strange at points but i liked it

This album and Dirk and the rest are why I am how I am. I could not love this more, now or then. Get off your knees and hear the insect prayer!

Two drummers is a great idea for a band that cares more about driven sound than message. The hooks are repetitive and often silly, but that’s extraneous. 4.5

Truely awesome punk album.

Didn't know what to expect coming into this knowing only 'Prince Charming' and 'Stand and Deliver' which are both on the next album. 'Dog Eat Dog' opens fast. 'Antmusic' has the catchiest chorus on the whole record. 'Ants Invasion' has a great riff. I absolutely love Adam Ant's voice and random almost yodels and noises he makes. The guitar can get quite heavy at times which was a surprise. Always a fan of music that makes you headbang even though it's not all out rock or heavy metal. Difficult to say why I love this so much. Glam rock meets punk meets pop meets Burundi Beat (Google it). Just 40 mins of really fun, very catchy, a bit over the top and silly music. Absolutely loved it.

An undeniable new wave masterpiece. It's chock full of quirky nuggets of gold and oddball swagger. Adam Ant is like the non-inflammatory version of Morrissey. This album is just a solid good time from end to end. Landmark for the genre.

Yes ...I liked this album

I've never heard of this group or album, but I loved it.

Great A&Ants album from the early 80s: 5 stars obviously, not a single weak song. Dirk Wears White Sox (probably the best Adam Ant album) and Friend or Foe should also have been on the list.

New wave, pop punk.

had a lot of fun listening to this, unexpectedly

I bought Kings of The Wild Frontier as soon as it came out. I was a fan then and still am. The mixture of the musical themes was fresh, original, and fascinating. There was this heroic and adventurous touch to it. Pirates, gunman, native Americans, the Wild West, and other references in lyrics, music, and appearance of the group placed them in the time after punk and before New Wave in a unique spot. Remember, at that time there was no MTV, just Top of the Pops on BBC. The double drums were a centerpiece of the music, as were the sailor choir like backing vocals. The production was astonishingly good, so no wonder that this got number one in the UK.

Drums have never sounded better than on this record. The production on them is so good that Michael Jackson himself phoned up Adam Ant to ask how he recorded the drums. The rest of the music is really catchy and unique, nothing else really sounds quite like this record, especially in 1980

New wave, pop punk

Leapfrog the dog.

This album SLAPS

Good energy!

Loved this. It was so much better than I thought it would be. I hope I won’t regret later saying it is five stars but I think this is on a pedestal above the previous 4 I gave which was the Stevie wonder one. Highlights included antmusic, los rancheros, ants invasion and the title track. This album will be on the rotation from now on - great fun and encapsulates the sounds of the 80s very well and I’m surprised people don’t talk about this album more. This is exactly the reason why I’ve started this project is to discover gems like this

This music always resonates with me. I love Adam Ant on all of good band configurations. This isn’t his best album in my mind, but damn good.

FUN album

Not only was he a huge influencer of fashion and culture, but the music was original and unlike anything done before or since.

I thought this was a cool album. It was interesting getting two post-punk albums in a row. I really like the production on this album, it always feels like there's a lot going on

Fun! 4/5

Like I said in the review of my previous album, I was concerned when Kings Of The Wild Frontier had a global rating that was less than a 3. But my oh my, This album is great. It was super catchy and it really did feel like a lot of love was put into it. If there is one thing I have learned today, don't trust the global ratings at all. Best Song: Press Darlings Worst Song: Los Rancheros

I'm really digging this - hearing so many other influences across all the tracks.

This was more fun than I expected, genuinely different to everything else of its time

I really really dug this

Super fun new wave album. If you haven’t heard Adam and the Ants you definitely should

Adam and the Ants are a band I’ve been aware of for a long time, ever since I heard the Horrible Histories parody of “Stand and Deliver” (which was always my favourite song when I was younger), my mum showed me the original and I was sold. Never really listened to anything by them other than that song though. AL: this album just radiated charm. While not all of the tracks were necessarily hits or standouts, all of them had their own individual feel and charm, the album is also pretty short and concise which helps add to that feeling. No tracks particularly stood out as bad and I’d say the baseline is probably a B-grade for how good all these songs were, many pushing into A territory, nothing particularly excelled though, which was my only problem. FT: “Dog Eat Dog”, “Ant Music”, “Kings of the wild Frontier”, “Don’t be Square”, “Jolly Roger” 4/5

I liked a lot of the songs, will revisit

Welch großartige Pop Collage und vielseitige eklektische Sause. Grandios gealtert auch was den Sound betrifft. Of Montreal verblassen vor Neid und geben sicher nicht mehr als 4.2

Dude loves ants. Cool listen, though.

Surprisingly varied. Some corking tracks on here, with few (if any) that were a chore. The twee nonsense of Adam Ant's theatrics distract from a very talented musician.

A standout album of the 80s for me

Expected the usual 80s synth that seems to dominate anything from the 80s in this list but was pleasantly surprised. Almost verging in talking heads early Post Punk. Lots of kind of fat riffs in there too. Doesn't sound like anyone's taking them too seriously either which I love.

I made more fun of these guys than they deserve. Pretty good.

I love this and I'm not ashamed. Although I do realise much of it is objectively not good. Enjoying the befuddled reactions in the reviews, I guess Adam didn't crack America. I can't have been musically conscious at 2 or 3 years old but Adam Ant was basically my earliest musical memory, the songs off this album went off like a grenade into my little ears. Particularly the title track and Dog Eat Dog. The Burundi drums, the deep voice chants, the big fuck-off riffs those vocal yodels, what was this??? The absolute pop explosion of Stand and Deliver (not a million miles from Jolly Roger, tbf), Prince Charming and Pablo Picasso at the planet of the apes is jumbled up in my young memories of this yet they're all off the next album. So, being a kid I fully bought into the marketing (I think McLaren was involved at this point - before nicking half the band like a kid in a I Want Candy shop. See me after class for more tortured puns), the (essentially cartoon) cowboys and indians schtick. Were they cowboys? Were they indians? Isn't this probably problematic in 2023? What happened to the punky band from Dirk Wears White Sox? I was only possibly asking the first two questions in my toddler mind. It's a shame much of it ages poorly. I stand by the tracks I love (honourable mention to Magnificent Five, also Don't be square, surely a left over from the Dirk period, he even chants the name), and I will readily credit this for opening my fragile young mind and preparing it to enjoy oh so many wonderful post punk masterpieces over the ensuing 40 years and hopefully many more. The title track is a masterpiece and one of the best songs of the 80s, I don't care. Marilyn Manson obviously thought so, the thieving dickhead. Down below those dandy clothes you're just a shade too white.

Wild stuff. First few songs caught me. But this one maintains a pulsating energy throughout

Only knew a couple of Adam Ant songs previously. Just listened to the original 12 song release, and it was better than expected. Pretty original sounding stuff, good variety of songs. Nothing super amazing here, but just barely squeaks in at 4/5. I'd listen again.

mASSA tipo um punkzao pop

Lots of good tracks - Los Rancheros and Making History are keepers.

4. Total surprise

Fantastic album. Loved it back in the early 80’s when released. Still love it today.

punk rock, let’s gooooo. with some catchy riffs and some new wave proclivities, these folks got it bass rattling along. i can fucks with this, definitely.

I thought Adam and the Ants were more cheesy 80s. This was actually pretty wild and cool.

I did not expect to like this but I did!

Refreshing new wave album. Satisfying rhythmic and instrumental choices. The album drags a little with some repetitive motifs, but isn’t so long where it’s insufferable

So much better than expected, only Adam and the ants song I know is price charming and it's not my thing. Thought this would be art-rock that was weird for the sake of it but it was weird in the way I like! Reminded me of gang of four and other off-kilter indieish bands sometimes. The pirate song didn't do it for me but otherwise good stuff.

My brother introduced me first to a lot of the bands and artists on this list: this one came by way of my sister, back in its original era. I always felt like Adam & the Ants occupied their own unique niche in British 80s pop and new wave. Though the themes of indigenous peoples' plight (such as they are, it's all pretty vague) don't really land these days, the music is at the top of the game, very much holds up for me.

Great album!

This album is all over the freaking place and I loved that about it. So many absurd songs. Sounded like something King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard could have come up with 4/5

oh dit is een leuke, geeft me een beetje frankie goes to hollywood vibes en die vond ik ook zeer leuk. ik zou dit nog wel eens luisteren.

Post Punk at its finest.

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Dog eat dog, Antmusic, Feed me to the lions, King of the wild frontier, Don’t be square, The human beings

A&A were my first intro to punk - still as fun today

Fun early 80’s sound. Last I heard he was still touring.

I liked this. I only knew a couple of the singles and didn't really take him seriously after he was arrested for running around with a toy gun ages ago. Turns out he has quite serious mental health issues and is really open about it so my opinion has gone right up. Musically I now think every band should have 2 drummers. The drums sounded insane. The songs were good apart from the one where he went full pirate.

Perfect weird shit

Gloriously 80s. Nice range of tunes. Brilliant to listen to on a rainy Tuesday

I'm reading all these negative reviews here and am thinking I've been listening to an entire different album than the majority here. It's an upbeat album that makes perfect use of these double burundi drums. Adam Ant when he was still good.