#newadds

Adam & the Ants - Kings of the Wild Frontier: Since this is a classic, I think that a quick history lesson is necessary, just so we can all appreciate how freaking weird the evolution of music is sometimes. In London during the late 1970s, punk rock was tha shiznit – The Damned, The Clash, Sex Pistols, and a multitude of iconic, classic punk bands started in this scene, including Adam & the Ants.  ~At this point, some of you are probably objecting – why doesn’t this album get added to the PUNK classics wall? Just stay with me because this is where the story gets interesting.~ So, Adam & the Ants released their first (punk) album in ’79 (which is pretty great but was not commercially successful), so Adam Ant hired the Sex Pistols’ former manager, Malcolm McLaren, to guide the band to superstardom. McLaren’s advice? Have Adam Ant dress like a pirate – the O.G. sexy pirate WAY before Johnny Depp made that a thing again back in 2003 – and move away from traditional punk rock in favor of a New Wave sound. And voila, Kings of the Wild Frontier happened, just like that, and became one of the most influential new wave albums ever – in other words, you can definitely thank Adam Ant for popularizing and crystalizing the genre of music that provided the soundtrack to all your favorite John Hughes films. The entire album is killer and tons of fun (and also not dated-sounding, like a lot of other 1980’s new wave music) and is more or less a necessity for anyone who likes music. ASHLEY