Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Antmusic for antpeople, April 23, 2001
In the aftermath of punk and just before new romanticism finally broke cover, a man called Adam appeared on the UK music scene wearing a old military cavalry jacket and white stripe across his nose. Adam and his band of merry men seemed to be amongst the first to realise the importance of image (Gary Numan was the other real pioneer in this area, although it eventually worked against him...).The song-writing team of Adam and Marco Pirroni was superb on this album (less so on it's follow-up Prince Charming) and most of the tracks here still stand up to the best of them today. The use of two drummers also gave the band a distinct sound missing from most of their contemporaries. The famed English sense of humour (yeah, I know I'm biased...) is also evident on here, listen to the western-themed Los Rancheros and the piratical Jolly Roger. There was a serious side too as evidenced at least on Making History. Mostly, though, it was about fun and this comes through loud and clear (shown in particular on The Magnificent Five, Don't Be Square (Be There) and Antmusic). For a while this group could no wrong. They were unique then, and there has been no-one like it since - miss out at your peril...
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ants Invasion, December 29, 2005
This album, which held the #1 spot on the UK chart for most of 1981 (though only reaching #44 on the US chart), is simply Adam & the Ants' greatest achievement. It starts of with the fantastic, upbeat & ecstatic 'Dogeatdog', a UK #4/US #15 smash. The song takes a while to get used to, but when you finally get it, it will blow you away.
'Antmusic', a UK #2/US #14 single, was Adam & the Ants big breakthrough, & the only single that was able to reach a respectable chart position during the post-murder Lennon craze of christmas 1980. Being kept of the top spot by the songs of the tragically murdered prophet of his generation, 'Antmusic' nonetheless, broke Adam & the Ants internationally, & desrvedly so, for it is among his best & catchiest songs. New listeners, start with that song, for it will get you in the first listen.
After these two songs, the record suddenly gets very dark. Actually the album is a pretty dark affair, with 'Los Rancheros' & especially 'Feed Me To The Lions' bringing visions of a Bowiesque post-apocalyptic landscape to mind. 'Press Darlings' is another catchy classic followed by 'Ants Invasion' & 'Killer In The Home', that follow up the apocalyptic tension. 'Kings Of The Wild Frontier' itself, a UK #2 hit following the #9 placing of the non-album 'Young Parisians', is the strangest song on the strangest record. Indeed. There is nothing else to say about that song (later `Ant Rap' would follow up on this tradition of taking Adam & the Ants' weirdest songs into the UK top 3).
`The Magnificent Five', `Don't Be Square (Be There)' & `Jolly Roger' (the name signifies the direction Adam & the Ants would take on their next record) are somewhat average Adam & the Ants songs (though such a thing doesn't exist). `Jolly Roger' jumps from brooding to a parody of singalong every 15 seconds or so. They are all great songs, & carry the hilarious/apocalyptic mood up to `Physical (You're So)', a #19 hit in the US, but never released as a single in the Ant homeland of the UK. Truly one of his best songs, it is also one of his darkest, carried by a paranoid guitar feedback. It leads into `The Human Beings', another misty dark song, which scares you into laugter... or?... well, it sounded good. A strange chorus carries the tune & ends this most fascinating & brilliant album.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Defined an era, December 27, 2004
This is one of the great defining albums of its time - there is simply nothing else like it. Nothing else has the same bravado, the same arrogance, and the same sense of post-punk camp. Much was made of the Ants' swashbuckling/Apache image, but if image was all they had, then this album would have died a sudden death. To this day, "Kings of the Wild Frontier" remains a terrific album because it not only has great songs, but because it seamlessly switches directions between frivolous and dark, providing a total thrill ride in its 13 songs. Released in 1980, it still sounds like nothing else 30 years later.
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