Adam And The Ants - Kings Of The Wild Frontier

Original Release Date

1980

Release Information

UK LP 1980 (CBS - S CBS 84549)
Europe CD 2006 (Columbia - 88697003062)
UK 2xCD 2016 (Sony Music/Columbia - 88875119742)

1 Dog Eat Dog 3:07
2 Antmusic 3:36
3 Feed Me To The Lions 2:59
4 Los Rancheros 3:29
5 Ants Invasion 3:19
6 Killer In The Home 4:20
7 Kings Of The Wild Frontier 3:55
8 The Magnificent Five 3:06
9 Don't Be Square (Be There) 3:32
10 Jolly Roger 2:10
11 Making History 2:57
12 The Human Beings 4:29

2006 CD Bonus Tracks
Alternative Mix
13 Antmusic (Alternative Mix) 3:40
Previously Unreleased Demo Recordings
14 Antmusic (Demo) 3:26
15 Feed Me To The Lions (Demo) 3:00
16 The Human Beings (Demo) 2:27
17 S.E.X. (Demo) 3:53
18 Omelette From Outer Space (Demo) 3:06

2016 2xCD Bonus Tracks
Disc One
B Sides
13 Press Darlings 4:11
14 Physical (You're So) 4:26
15 Fall In 2:08
KPM Studio Demos (Previously Unreleased)
16 Don't Be Square (Be There) 4:23
17 The Human Beings 4:56
18 Los Rancheros 3:33
19 Making History 3:44

Disc Two
Live At Park West Club, Chicago 16/04/1981
1 The Human Beings 3:35
2 Dog Eat Dog 3:14
3 The Magnificent Five 3:03
4 Don’t Be Square Be There 3:20
5 Los Rancheros 3:33
6 Ants Invasion 3:12
7 Killer In The Home 4:15
8 Cleopatra 2:54
9 Press Darlings 3:47
10 Kick! 1:55
11 'Antmusic' 3:14
12 Beat My Guest 3:04
13 Jolly Roger 2:11
14 Zerox 3:11
15 Cartrouble 3:21
16 Kings Of The Wild Frontier 4:33
17 Physical (You’re So) 5:22
18 A.N.T.S 3:30
19 'Antmusic' (Rough Cut) 3:24
20 Don't Be Square (Be There) (Rough Cut) 3:52

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US LP 1980 (Epic - NJE 37033)

1 Dog Eat Dog 3:07
2 "Antmusic" 3:36
3 Los Rancheros 3:28
4 Feed Me To The Lions 2:59
5 Press Darlings 4:12
6 Ants Invasion 3:20
7 Killer In The Home 4:19
8 Kings Of The Wild Frontier 3:53
9 The Magnificent Five 3:05
10 Don't Be Square (Be There) 3:29
11 Jolly Roger 2:09
12 Physical (You're So) 4:26
13 The Human Beings 4:29

Chart Placings

UK Chart Hit: 1, 66 wks
US Billboard Chart: 44

Credits

UK LP:

All songs written by Ant/Marco
Made by Marco/Adam Ant/Kevin Mooney/Terry Lee Miall/Merrick
Produced by Chris Hughes
Engineered by Hugh Jones
Recorded at Rockfield Studios, August 1980

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Additional Credits on 2006 CD:

Tracks 1-13 Produced by Chris Hughes
Drums on track 18: David Barbe

Project Producer: Marco Pirroni
Additional Production: Chris Hughes
Digital Mastering by Andy Pearce at Masterpiece

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2016 CD:

Disc 1:

Kings Of The Wild Frontier' original album made by Marco Pirroni/Adam Ant/Kevin Mooney/Terry Lee Miall/Merrick
Produced by Chris Hughes
Engineered by Hugh Jones
Recorded at Rockfield Studios, August 1980
All tracks remastered by Adam Ant & Walter Coelho, July 2015

Disc 2:

Tracks 18-20 originally produced by Chris Hughes
All tracks remastered by Adam Ant & Walter Coelho, July 2015

Additional Credits

Marco - guitar
Adam Ant - vocals
Marco Pirroni - guitar
Kevin Mooney - bass
Terry Lee Miall -drums
Merrick - drums

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Bonus Tracks on 2006 CD:

13: Alternative mix featured on some pressings of the original LP
14-18: Previously unreleased

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Bonus Tracks on 2016 CD:

Disc One
13: B-Side of Kings Of The Wild Frontier 7", released July 1980
14: B-Side of Dog Eat Dog 7", released October 1980
15: B-Side of "Antmusic" 7", released November 1980

Reviews & Opinions

PUNKY GIBBON: After the joyless Dirk Wears White Sox, the clever Kings Of The Wild Frontier moves further away from art-punk and constitutes a significant improvement, with strong singles like 'Antmusic' (available on some pressings in a very different mix), Dog Eat Dog and the title tune. Elsewhere, the album veers between perky novelty numbers like 'Jolly Roger' and the Sergio Leone-ish 'Los Rancheros' (hwah!) and atmospheric art-rock ('Killer In The Home'). The pirate/cowboy theme is a conceptual masterstroke: combined with the memorable tunes, the dual-drummers and bright production it makes for a satisfying package, both visually and aurally.

FREEK KINKELAAR, RECORD COLLECTOR, 2004: Unplug the jukebox and do us all a favour [read full review here]

JOE YOUNG/IRA ROBBINS/KATE LEWIS, THE TROUSER PRESS RECORD GUIDE, 1991: Adam found his groove with Kings of the Wild Frontier. Goodbye heaviness and failure, hello hit parade. Dressed in flamboyant pirate gear, Adam and his merry crew bounce through a delightful program of modern bubblegum with shrewd underpinnings. "Dog Eat Dog" uses the rampaging pseudo-tribal drums Adam picked up from McLaren. "Antmusic" shamelessly self-promotes (as do many of Adam's early lyrics) to the accompaniment of an irresistible stop-start melody. The sourness of Dirk survives on Kings, but there's so much exuberant fun on the surface that it's hard not to have a good time.

Additional Notes

For those amongst you who like to know such things, the LP comes with a nice full-colour booklet. So there you go. (Actually, there's three versions if you count the one issued in the US, which has a slightly different track-listing.). There are two versions of the UK LP: the first pressing has an alternate mix of 'Antmusic'; all subsequent pressings have the single version of the same song. 2016 also saw the release of a super-deluxe vinyl/CD/DVD reissue, where you get both discs from the 2016 CD reissue, a DVD containing promo videos and live footage from 1980 and 1981, a gold vinyl version of the LP, and a paperback book.

Images

UK LP 1980 (CBS - S CBS 84549). Click here for more

US LP 1980 (Epic - NJE 37033). Click here for more

Europe CD 2006 (Columbia - 88697003062). Click here for more (This same version had been previously issued as a digipak in 2004. I prefer jewel cases, so here it is.)

UK 2xCD 2016 (Sony Music/Columbia - 88875119742). Digipak. Click here for more.