Friday, May 24, 2013

Adam Ant is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter


Yeah, that's the title. I don't know what it means either. But if you've ever been the kind of person who wants stuff to make sense, you've probably never been an Adam Ant fan. The man and his music have always been unapologetically bat-shit insane. It's nice to see that some things haven't changed. This album, his latest after however many years in retirement, is classic Adam Ant insanity. And in case I'm being unclear, that's a good thing.

It's not all together a great album, however. At least, it's not one that I can recommend wholeheartedly to any but the most die-hard Adam Ant fans. We're a dying breed, and I'm sorry to say that this latest album might not change things much. It's classic Adam Ant with some excellent songs, but the production just sounds... off. The mixing doesn't sound great throughout, as though it was recorded in Adam Ant's basement. That's a shame, because the arrangements are layered and deep and really suffered from the lackluster production. However, Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska also sounds cheap and that's one of the best albums ever made, so maybe this was a stylistic decision.

Anyway, I'm not really reviewing this album because there would be no point. If you're the kind of person who'd buy a new album by Adam Ant, you've already picked it up. If you aren't, well... I say check it out. The man's getting on in years and his voice isn't quite the powerhouse it was in his youth, but he still sounds good, he can still write a catchy hook, and he's still out of his freakin' mind.

Nobody makes music like this any more, so I'm glad he's back and I hope he keeps them coming.

Anyway, here's the video for the opening track Cool Zombie. I really like this song and this video is either the most brilliant thing I've ever seen or the dumbest:

1 comment:

Mugato said...

I actually liked that song