Prince Charming - Adam & The Ants > Reviews > Just So Charming

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money

Advantages:	Very original and very entertaining
Disadvantages:	only 10 tracks, not 100

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Its black, its 12 inches and its quite amazing!!!!!!

I am actually refering to the album produced by 'Adam and the Ants' in 1981 entitled 'PRINCE CHARMING' , the third album made by Adam and the Ants.

So what did I get for my money way back in the early 80's?
An amazing piece of vinyl containing only 10 tracks of what I consider to be Adam and the Ants second best album (my first favourite being Kings of the wild frontier)

This album is very much Adam Ant at his most theatrical, all the make up and extravagant videos to accompany this music was pretty much unseen in the world of pop music at this time.

In fact the album cover is just a picture of Adam (real name 'Stuart Goddard') posing in a very frilly jacket with huge cuffs and wearing loads of make up and his hair tied up with ribbons!!!!

The inner cover (this album cover opens like a book) is a picture of Adam and all of his Ants (marco, merrick, terry-lee and gary tibbs) posing in some elaborate hallway all wearing rather elaborate items of clothing and loads of make up.

But this was the early 80's so I think it was all ok to look a bit mad or indeed silly in those days.

If you had heard the Kings of the wild frontier album the you would know already that Adam Ant was fascinated with the wild west and was very much a sexual person, therefore it comes as no surprise as to some of the songs sounds and style on this album.

I dont really like to describe each track on the album in detail as it isnt really a fair opinion as music appeals to different people in different ways, so what I will do is point out my favourite tracks and maybe try and say a little on why they are my favourites.

**** PRINCE CHARMING ****

Obviously the title track for the album, if you are as old or older than me you might well remember the video to this song, a masive ballroom with hundreds of people all dancing the same, Adam Ant swinging from a chandelier and doris day waving a wand as his fairy godmother.
This song was a massive hit and undoubtedly created an even bigger fan base than they already had.
Theres not a lot to the lyrics though, but I cant help sing along to it....

DONT YOU EVER, DONT YOU EVER, STOP BEING DANDY, SHOWING ME YOU'RE HANDSOME

**** STAND AND DELIVER ****

Another massive smash hit for the band, another very theatrical vidoe also, Adam Ant posing as a 'Dandy Highwayman' and robbing people, then smashing through a window onto a table and singing to a bunch of aristocrats.
This song probably has much deeper meaning than what he actually says in the lyrics, but its just such a catchy and likeable track anyway its no wonder everybody knows it.

STAND AND DELIVER, YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE! TRY AND USE A MIRROR , NO BULLET OR A KNIFE!

BRILLIANT!!! I heard it on radio 2 the other week and could'nt help but sing along to it at the top of my voice much to my work mates discomfort!

**** ANTRAP ****

I originally bought this song as a 7inch single, it had little doors on the cover that opened to reveal all of the band individually.
Its a sort of rap type song with a very much different drum style tune in the background.
This was also a hit for Adam and the Ants, however it didnt do quite as well as the previously 2 mentioned tracks.
The videop was once again very dramatical with Adam Ant dressed in a suit of armour and still wearing hefty amounts of make up.

I'M STANDING HERE WITH MY FOUR MEN......LETS START THAT RAPPING THING AGAIN:

I GOT 'MARCO, MERRICK, TERRY-LEE, GARY TIBBS AND YOURS TRULY,
IN THE NAUGHTY NORTH AND THE SEXY SOUTH,
WE'RE ALL SINGING I HAVE THE MOUTH
I HAVE THE MOUTH

So thats the three most well known tracks from this album, each one very different than the other but all doing very well in the UK charts in 1981.

the full track listing is as follows:

1. The Scorpios

2. Picasso visita el planeta de los simios

3. Prince Charming

4. 5 guns west

5. That voodoo

6. Stand and deliver

7. Mile high club

8. Ant rap

9. Mowhok

and last but not least

10. S.E.X.

This album is one of my very favourites not just because I was a huge 'Antfan' but because its probably one of the finest examples of the 'New romantic' era of the 1980's , clearly displaying a different sound than ever heard before and just so different from the stuff that was about at that time :0)