Kings of the Wild Frontier

Meh, more strange than good.

A much weirder and more interesting record than I remember - seems mad that this was the UK's biggest-selling album of 1981.

I'm here for this one, dug it.
Is it great? No. Fun? You betcha.

This is an interesting album. Definitely some good in here. But it’s a little too weird and wacky and all over the place to listen in full over and over again. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it.

I liked it, it's fun and bombastic. But why do punk singers all sound the same?

I love finding records like this that are unashamedly weird and different. From the absolute shit photo on the cover to the odd vocal style and odd arrangements, it all comes together to make something brilliant. A lot of kids that formed bands and became famous in the later 80s and 90s definitely played this record on repeat. Even the start of grunge can be heard in this one. This is a record that I have seen a bunch of times but never actually listened to. I'm glad to have remedied that today and will definitely look for this one at the record shop. It's also one of those albums where I almost don't want to look up anything else by Adam and the Ants because I don't think it would be as good and if the rest of the catalogue is mediocre it will cast a shadow over this record. Or maybe just as bad, it might be exactly the same as this one. 5/5

Wow, wow, wow. This has been a revelation. It shares that exact same primal energy as early Killing Joke, and I can hear the influence of this strongly in Fire Dances in particular. It's got those huge, pounding, anxiety inducing, Latin/Eastern influenced tribal rhythms, left-of-centre guitar tunings and that jaunty, twangy, overdriven riffage, whilst consistently retaining a sense of fun. It's got a palpable post punk grit and attitude to it blended with the absurdity of theatre, and the two contrasting moods mesh scarily well into a unique experience.

Adam Ant is the cherry on the cake here with his chanting, yodelling vocal deliveries adding to the constant sense of drama and unease whilst commanding a playful and anthemic presence.

No the worst which is surprising for 19080s English new wave. 2.5/5. Raising to 3.

5
Putting this up to a 5 because its one I keep going back to again and again. This album shouldn't work half as well as it does. Its all over the place, often quite silly, but it all comes together amazingly

I remember in Australia in 1981, the most popular media commentator announced on national TV that "Punk is dead because of this album. And all over the UK kids are holding Ant Balls!"

Which, of course, earned the response, "Must be bloody big ants!"

As big, dumb, glam-pop, proto New Wave albums go this is pretty good. Sure, some songs are better than others. There are some that are a lot worse than others.

It's all about as substantial as The Macarena, but when they fire up the twin drum Burundi beat and start emoting about warriors and ants and looking like dandies and pirates and going completely over the top it's all very early 80s and a pretty entertaining - albeit slighty weird - good time.

Es ist ein grell geschminkter, tribal‑getriebener Pop‑Punk, der mit Doppel‑Drums und „Antmusic“-Attitüde sofort ins Auge springt. Die Energie ist unbestreitbar, doch hinter dem Stilfeuerwerk steckt oft mehr Konzept als Substanz.

British pop music in the 80s was weird and wild at times. Their biggest hit 'Antmusic' is a hullabaloo of shrieking, hollering, weird percussion and partying - it works, but no idea why it works so well.
The rest of the album is not quite as interesting or noteworthy, although the Ants do work their way through a few different genres and styles, without ever really sticking to one for too long. It makes for an interesting listen, but maybe ultimately distracts from the whole, due to the all-over-the-place feel

https://youtu.be/UFXdTZQ7lkE?is=B_f4a97TV2tngqXU

If you go to the last couple of minutes of this you can see how the bass player on this album got the heave ho!

This album is a real treasure. Maybe the wildest album to be the best selling in a single year in the UK? We live in such different times. Who at the top of pop is making anything this out there? Charlii XCX? Maybe 🤔

This isn't that good ultimately, but there's something deeply sad about the loss of this kind of truly bizarre edge to pop music. The world is smooth and polished all the worse for the absence of a bit crap but at least going for something weird stuff - like spooky African surf new wave shanties - in the mainstream. Sure, it's a novelty act, but remember novelty?

By the time I got to 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘳, I felt as though I’d already heard too many new wave albums. While Adam and the Ants certainly have their own distinctive style, this record never did much to change that feeling.

The Burundi-inspired drumming and tribal rhythms give the album a unique identity, but the songs themselves rarely held my attention. I can appreciate how original the sound must have been in 1980, yet it never really clicked with me.

I understand why 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘳 became such an influential record, but despite its originality, it simply isn’t an album I see myself returning to.

Better than Coldplay

Absolutely love the drums and guitars on this album! Unrelenting. And despite some other reviewers, I really don't think he takes himself seriously at all. He gets exactly what he's doing

Totally gonzo, wild, and subversive, but just a little too silly to be more than a three for me.

It’s not good, feels like a disposable toy that’s made out of plastic so it’ll end up outlasting us all.

Utter shite.