Customer Reviews

Prince Charming (Hk) (Reis)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

1981's "Prince Charming" is the third and final album Adam Ant recorded with his band the Ants before he began a solo career. It didn't sell as well as "Kings of the Wild Frontier," but "Prince Charming" did have a few hits such as the signature anthem "Stand and Deliver," the title track, and the positively wacky "Ant Rap," which may very well be the first "rap" tune recorded by a white male singer. Looking beyond the hits, there are other cool tunes such as the freakish acapella "Mile High Club," the campy opener "Scorpios," and "Picasso Vista El Planeta del Los Simios." In 2004, Sony reissued "Prince Charming," and, quite frankly, the remastering isn't much of an improvement over the original, which sounded flat and muddled. But the CD comes in a nice digipak with lyrics and rare photos and extra bonus tracks Antphiles will enjoy. I'm a little disappointed with the remastering of this CD, but fans should still upgrade their copy of "Prince Charming" with this 2004 reissue.

At this point Adam and the Ants could do no wrong in 1981. This is their most realized and fun work. Of the ten original songs there's not a wasted note. Each song plays perfectly off the last. In America, the only song I saw a video for was "Prince Charming", but there were other great songs like "Scorpios", "Picasso Visita El Planeta De Los Simios", "Five Guns West", "That Voodoo", "Stand And Deliver", "Mile High Club", "Ant Rap", "Mowhok" and "S.E.X." are also as equally campy and entertaining. This is truly a fun album and no one makes music like this anymore.

The six bonus tracks consist of demos, two of which were never fully realized "Showbiz" and "Who's A Goofy Bunny Then?" To me, all of the demos are uninspiring but they let you hear the process. As with the other remasters the packagin is digipak and the artwork and design is great. I agree with the other reviewer here that the remastering isn't as good as "Dirk Wears White Sox", "Friend Or Foe", "Strip" and "Vive Le Rock", and it ranks down there with "Kings Of The Wild Frontier". The booklet comes with the lyrics to all the songs. All in all, a great album.

Coming off the impossible-to-match KINGS OF THE WILD FRONTIER, a peerless example of one of the best albums of the 80s, Adam, Marco and the posse had a lot to answer for in this miscalculated, muddled follow-up that's more facile sell-out than artistic statement - still, if you stick with the addictive, outlandish trio of hit singles...well, at least hits in the UK (STAND & DELIVER, ANT RAP, and PRINCE CHARMING), you'll do fine. It's really the brilliant campy kitsch of the VIDEOS that puts these songs across - now I just wish Sony would sort it out and finally, finally, finally reissue ALL of the ANTS' videos on DVD to replace the musty, moldy VHS tape that'll have to do until then.

Generally the weakest of the three original Ants albums the remastering job does the album some justice. Songs really stand out now where in the past they sounded much flatter and dull.

Especially "Scorpios", "Mowhok" and "Mile High Club" - they were always the weaker ones (to these ears). "Picasso Visits The Planet Of The Apes" (talk about kitschy brilliance) still sounds amazing and psychedelic. "Prince Charming" still sounds like one of the most unusual No. 1 singles of all time (in a very good way). "Stand And Deliver" (also an odd No. 1 single) is still one of the best singles to come out of the early 1980's. "Ant Rap" is still one of the campiest singles to come out of the early 1980s's (although it does make me giggle quite a bit).
"Five Guns West", "That Voodoo!" and "S.E.X" (complete with the unlisted "The Lost Hawaiians" song after it) still sound like great, weird psychedelic Summer songs.

The bonus songs are also pretty interesting from the silly chorus
of "Who's A Goofy Bunny Then?" (which evolved into "Libertine" from Strip) and "Showbiz" (which mutated into "Crackpot History And The Right To Lie from Friend Or Foe). The demos are a bit trebley as they were only intended as demos to only be heard by the label in presenting new songs. They remain charming nonetheless. As is the entire collection.
(Prince) Charming Nonetheless.

"Da Diddley Qua Qua!!!"

Granted, I was 12 at the time. However, after seeing Adam on MTV, I decided that we should marry and have little ants. While that never came to fruition, I do have to say that in the following two decades, I came to be a semi-expert on his Antness and rate this particular work as one of the better ones. If you're looking for melody and fun (rather than insightful lyrics and innovative guitar play), this album will do you nicely. The opening track, "Scorpions" always seemed better live to me, but it kicks off the album with a bang. Favorites on the album include the title track, Picasso et al, and of course "Stand and Deliver" - that song alone I believe makes the cd worth owning. If you're looking for 80's indulgence, I think you'll like it.

The lyrics "Ridicule is nothing to be scared of" said a lot to me when I heard them first in 1982. But the album has not lost its attraction for me over the years. A WEST SIDE STORY song ( Scorpios), a "spanish" song (picasso), a "western" song (five guns west), a bossa nova (voodoo), an "indian' song (mohawk) and even a Hawaiin number. What more could you ask for?

I was really hoping for a lot from this remaster, as this album has always had (at least to my ears) a dark, murky sound to it. The weakness must be the master tape itself, as this CD doesn't really improve on the old version except for added bass on most tracks (which is welcome). What really makes this CD something special is one of the extra tracks which is actually a rehearsal during the writing of "Scorpios" - listening to this gave me chills down my spine, as you actually get to witness Adam and Marco creating this song together - stunning!

Overall, if you are a fan of this album you will still want this, just don't expect a sonic revelation.

At least that is what it sounds like to me. Guaranteed that you have NEVER heard anything like this album. It is weird and perfect. One of the best cds on Earth. And it has Stand and Deliver and Prince Charming- so you can't possibly go wrong. My favorite song on the cd is a tie between Voodoo and Picasso Visits the Planet of the Apes. Or S.E.X. Oh- how I love that song. Sigh.

Are you sick of everything being played on the radio right now? Do you want something different? Do I sound like an informercial? Well, fine. If that is what it takes for you to buy this cd!! Well? What are you waiting for? Whip out that credit card! Times a wasting!

Wow, I can remember how this got trashed when it came out. O.k. granted it is not fine art but I give Adam credit where credit is due. He could have played it safe and put out a carbon copy of "Kings Of The Wild Frontier" with the tribal drumbeats and all but he didn't. Rather he expanded his musical horizons and was all over the map with this effort. The thing is it was and still is great fun to listen to it. Look at the vast variety in styles on each cut. Hey Adam pulled it off and made it through the critical slings and arrows to move forward with his breakthrough solo effort. Give him credit.

This was a great follow up. While the 9 songs might be a little lacking in today's standard, in the day of the LP, 9 songs was something we were use to. I must have heard this album a few thousand times. Oh, and he even does a rap song on here, long before it was faishionable for a punk to do rap. His however was original, unlike the Rage Against the Machine clones that we have today.