Adam and the Ants: Prince Charming

Adam and the Ants: Prince Charming

1981

Epic Records

Format I own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing:  1. Scorpio  2. Picasso Visita El Planeta De Los Simio  3. Prince Charming  4. Five Guns West  5. That Voodoo!  6. Stand and Deliver  7. Mile High Club  8. Ant Rap  9. Mowhok  10. S.E.X  11. The Lost Hawaiians

A bit of a comedown after "Kings of the Wild Frontier." This starts out pretty strong w/ most of side one featuring some of his coolest songs ever, and side two starts out with what is possibly the greatest track of Adam's career, "Stand and Deliver." But after that it's just a big, gaping void of wasted time...

 I guess "Antrap" finally grew on me. It only took about 20 years, but I finally enjoy it. If just you're a little worried about Adam Ant tackling rap you don't really have to worry. It's not exactly "2 Chainz" or anything. Hell, the only reason I was able to identify it as rap was because of the title. It's basically Adam doing what he normally does, the only difference being that the music is missing. The backing consists of drums, vocals, and a whistle...That's it... Pretty entertaining though, and along with the Clash's "Sandinista" LP, an example of the early British new-wave/rap connection.



(suave cover of the "Ant Rap" single)

In fact, Adam seems to be going out of his way to not repeat his previous triumphs...There's a lot of new things he tries here, with some success and with some failures.

The successes: "Scorpio" sounds like the gaudiest Bond theme ever, but once you get acclimated to it, you'll find it has a pretty cool chorus. "Picasso Visita El Planeta De Los Simio" is a ridiculously catchy piece of power pop. Next is "Prince Charming" which is runner-up with "Stand and Deliver" as the album's best track. Apparently, it's ripped off from some song I never heard called "War Canoe." I wouldn't know about all that, though...Here, I guess you can listen to them both and judge for yourself...

 All I know is this sparse track slowly builds with all manners of thumps, screams and flamenco strumming.  Man, it's hard to get this out of your head once it worms its way in there. "That Voodoo" really grew on me too, as it alternates between rocking and calmer almost muzak-like passages. This is the closest the album gets to the ominous pop songs on "Kings of the Wild Frontier" while being altogether something different. 

And that's about it for successes...

"Five Guns West" is a continuation of the wild west motif explored on the previous album.  While arguably more successful in capturing the Old West vibe, with it's gunshot sound effects and Sergio Leone theme, it isn't quite up to that album's standards. The difference being, on "Kings of the Wild Frontier" you got the Western motif and the great songs to go with it. Here you just get to hear an evocative spaghetti western track with no memorable melodies... And the band wastes a perfectly fine key change on the dumb "Mile High Club." "Mohowk"  seems pretty tame compared to prior Indian-themed tracks. And while "S.E.X" is playing all I can really think about is "I wonder what the initials in S.E.X. stands for?"

So all in all, a mixed bag.  But the high points are so high, that I say if you come across a copy of it, pick it up and play it at your next Friday Night Record Party.  Just cut side 2 a little short. and you'll be fine

I bought my vinyl copy while I was in college during the 90's, at a store in Alpena. Michigan that sold records, guns and porn.  I can't really remember the name of the place. I'm not 100% sure if the guns were for sale, but I remember going through the record bins one day and the owner opened a closet and pulled out some semi-automatic weapons and was showing them to another guy in the store...Ahhhh, Michigan...

Let's relive those memories while listening to "Prince Charming..."