Adam Ant (members section)
'90s Adam Ant Albums
There were other Canadian new wave bands that come in at different angles. Give these a spin if you can:Manners & Physique
Live Aid was a watershed for new wave and its many artists, including Adam Ant. He went on a musical hiatus to pursue an acting career. But a few years later he had the music bug again. Continuing to reinvent himself, Adam tapped longtime Prince collaborator Andre Cymone to produce his next album, Manners & Physique. The album, mostly forgotten today, indeed had some Minneapolis funk sheen on it, with guitar and synth riffs that were Prince-lite. It was led with the single Room at the Top, which establishes Ant's new sound right in the intro with a 3-note drum machine hit and funky guitar riffs. Ant lays down pleasant vocals but Room is missing his trademark vocal histrionics. But the lyrics show Ant putting a new page in his playbook: sarcasm. This is shown with lines like "when the going gets hard, you can eat your credit cards". The retool actually worked for the US audience, giving Ant a top 20 hit with Room at the Top, his highest chart showing since Goody Two Shoes. He didn't get a UK bump but held his ground. Bitten with the funk bug, Ant doubled down by getting Cameo's frontman Larry Blackmon to produce his follow-up, Persuasion. But unfortunately, his record label shelved it, and it was never released save bootlegs.Wonderful
The early '90s saw new wave bands score new hits by going gentle and acoustic (Duran Duran's Ordinary World the biggest example). Adam boldly took a similar tack with his 1995 album Wonderful. Manners and Physique neutralized his vocals but Wonderful had them rebuilt in a different form. The album is loaded with romance and sexuality. But ant trades Strip's energetic jubilation with earnestness and raw vulnerability. Take the title track: Ant, apologetic after a falling out with his girlfriend, half-sings an apology in simple but effective language. Then in the choruses and bridge Ant's vocal turn passionate in a last salvo to save their relationship. The song Wonderful played well with the lyrically-transparent alternative hits of the '90s, earning him a top 40 on both sides of the pond.Discographies
Dirk Wears White Sox
Kings of the Wild Frontier
Prince Charming
Friend or Foe
Strip & Beyond
Timelines
Related Bands
INFLUENCERS
Adam Ant
Ennio Morricone : Spaghetti western drama infused Ant’s tribal swagger
David Bowie : Theatrical persona and glam reinvention inspired Ant
Gary Glitter : Stomping glam rhythms shaped Ant’s anthemic sound
Sex Pistols : Punk aggression and DIY ethos fueled Ant’s rebellion
PEERS
Adam Ant
Billy Idol : Share punk roots polished into swaggering rock
Oingo Boingo : Theatrical, percussive energy matched Ant's eccentric flair
Duran Duran : Combined fashion, rhythm, and charisma-driven showmanship
Bow Wow Wow : Tribal beats and playful rebellion mirrored Ant's
FOLLOWERS
Adam Ant
Sigue Sigue Sputnik : Adopted Ant's glam-punk futurism and shock aesthetics
Manic Street Preachers : Channeled his rebellious style and politicized flamboyance
The Killers : Revived his dramatic swagger and rhythmic rock tension
Palaye Royale : Echoed his art-school theatrics and fashion-conscious edge
Nova Twins : Fused his genre-bending confidence with defiant attitude
Expert & Fan Comments
Dirk Wears White Sox
- Classic Pop Magazine: "Dirk Wears White Sox is a wonderfully strange, distinctive record, which marries… punk energy with a genuinely menacing atmosphere and… evocative novelistic lyrics.”
- progrography.com: "Sounding like a sexy Siouxsie Sioux, Adam Ant kicks at the star-maker machinery (everything is a copy) on ‘Zerox Machine’ … the grating guitars and pounding drums are typical of the post-Pistols movement."
Kings of the Wild Frontier
- Trouser Press: "Adam found his groove with Kings of the Wild Frontier… a delightful program of modern bubblegum with shrewd underpinnings… ‘Antmusic’ shamelessly self-promotes… to an irresistible stop-start melody."
- Robert Christgau: "A clever pop-punk amalgam… I find that the hooks grate."
Prince Charming
- Poprescue: "At its weaker point, led here by opening track Scorpios, the music sounds chaotic … it didn’t help me to find the song amongst the sounds."
- Louder than War: "Prince Charming unveils itself as another quirky work of art rock genius … the dark star of the underground debut album ‘Dirk Wears White Sox’ had gone supernova."
Friend or Foe
- Allen Lulu: "Friend or Foe is an amazingly fun album. It’s light, poppy, bright, and just full of unique arrangements in a pure Adam Ant sound" ;
- Trouser Press: "This may be junk, but it’s classy junk."
Strip & Beyond
- Trouser Press (about Strip): "Following that triumph, it was time for another bad album, and Strip is pathetic… Best suited for emotionally stunted Playboy readers."
- Allen Lulu (about Vive Le Rock): "It’s bap-back-to-basics Adam record… the fun and silliness of Prince Charming and Kings of the Wild Frontier are actually back … the subject matter is more objective than ever before. It’s Adam’s best sounding record in years."