Kings of the Wild Frontier

After having his previous backing band wooed away by producer Malcolm McLaren to form Bow Wow Wow,{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/kings-of-the-wild-frontier-mw0000194982|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|title=Kings of the Wild Frontier Review|website=allmusic.com}} Adam Ant recorded Kings of the Wild Frontier with guitarist Marco Pirroni as his new writing partner.

Kings of the Wild Frontier reached No. 1 in the UK Album Chart{{cite web |url=http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all_the_no1_albums.php?show=4 |title=The Official UK Charts Company: All the Number 1 Albums |publisher=Official Charts Company |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209095724/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all_the_no1_albums.php?show=4 |archive-date=9 February 2008 |access-date=24 December 2014}} and spawned three hit singles: "Kings of the Wild Frontier", which was released in July and reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart; "Dog Eat Dog", which reached No. 4; and "Antmusic", released in December and reaching No. 2,{{cite web |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/adam%20%26%20the%20ants/ |title=Adam & the Ants | Artist | Official Charts |publisher=Official Charts Company |access-date=24 December 2014}} as well as No. 1 in Australia for five weeks.{{cite web |url=http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Adam+And+The+Ants&titel=Antmusic&cat=s |title=Australian-charts.com – Adam and the Ants – Antmusic |website=Australian-charts.com |access-date=24 December 2014}}

Initial UK copies of the album featured a different version of "Antmusic" that started with a fade-in, but after the song became a hit the subsequent pressings used the 7" single mix with the familiar drumstick intro.

The album was remastered and reissued in 2004 with several bonus tracks.

A multi-disc "Super Deluxe Edition" was released 20 May 2016. It includes a DVD of the long out-of-print Ants in Japan concert video and a CD of a 1981 concert from Chicago.{{cite journal |last=Gilbert |first=Pat |date=2016-04-01 |title=Creation Record |journal=MOJO }} This edition scraped a single week in the UK Album Chart in its own right at number 69 and is considered to be a separate chart hit from the original album (rather than a 67th week for the album as a whole){{Cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/search/albums/kings+of+the+wild+frontier|title=kings of the wild frontier | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=2 April 2021}} Ant performed the entire album live on tour in the UK that year, and in the United States, Australia and New Zealand in 2017.{{Cite web|url=http://www.adam-ant.net/2016.html|title=2016|website=Adam-ant.net|access-date=2 April 2021}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.adam-ant.net/2017.html|title=2017|website=Adam-ant.net|access-date=2 April 2021}}

Photographer Peter Ashworth wrote, "On 5 August 1980, prior to his first slot on Top of the Pops, Adam Ant got the band together in a small rehearsal room in Brixton to create a video test. Shooting stills from the monitor screen during the band performance produced some powerful images. Two days later a repeat shoot from the video recording, in a blacked-out studio, produced the sleeve image..."{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2018/dec/12/frankie-eurythmics-tina-turner-peter-ashworths-80s-pop-mavericks-in-pictures|title=Frankie! Eurythmics! Tina Turner! Peter Ashworth's 80s pop mavericks - in pictures|date=12 December 2018|access-date=2 April 2021|website=Theguardian.com}}

The US version of the album dropped "Making History" in favour of two tracks penned by Ant prior to teaming up with Marco Pirroni, "(You're So) Physical" and "Press Darlings".

{{Music ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/kings-of-the-wild-frontier-mw0000194982 |title=Kings of the Wild Frontier – Adam and the Ants |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=24 December 2014}}

|rev2 = Classic Rock

|rev2score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |last=Patterson |first=Sylvia |url=https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/adam-and-the-ants-kings-of-the-wild-frontier-35th-anniversary-deluxe-box-set |title=Adam and the Ants: Kings of the Wild Frontier box set review |magazine=Classic Rock |date=13 May 2016 |access-date=20 November 2020}}

|rev3 = Mojo

|rev3score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |last=Gilbert |first=Pat |title=Creation record |magazine=Mojo |issue=270 |date=May 2016 |page=100}}

|rev4 = Q

|rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |last=Segal |first=Victoria |title=Crowning Glory |magazine=Q |issue=359 |date=June 2016 |page=118}}

|rev5 = Record Collector

|rev5score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |last=Rathbone |first=Oregano |url=http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/kings-wild-frontier |title=Adam & The Ants – Kings of the Wild Frontier |magazine=Record Collector |issue=455 |date=July 2016 |access-date=3 January 2017}}

|rev6 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

|rev6score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite book |last=Evans |first=Paul |editor1-last=DeCurtis |editor1-first=Anthony |editor1-link=Anthony DeCurtis |editor2-last=Henke |editor2-first=James |editor3-last=George-Warren |editor3-first=Holly |chapter=Adam and the Ants |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |publisher=Random House |edition=3rd |year=1992 |isbn=0-679-73729-4 |page=6}}

|rev7 = Smash Hits

|rev7score = 8/10{{cite magazine |last=Ellen |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Ellen |title=Adam & the Ants: Kings of the Wild Frontier |magazine=Smash Hits |volume=2 |issue=23 |date=13–26 November 1980 |page=29}}

|rev8 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

|rev8score = 9/10{{cite book |last=Sheffield |first=Rob |author-link=Rob Sheffield |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor1-link=Eric Weisbard |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |chapter=Adam and the Ants |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide |publisher=Vintage Books |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-75574-8 |pages=6–7}}

|rev9 = Uncut

|rev9score = 8/10{{cite magazine |last=Lewis |first=John |title=Adam and the Ants: Kings of the Wild Frontier |magazine=Uncut |issue=230 |date=July 2016 |page=89}}

|rev10 = The Village Voice

|rev10score = B{{cite news |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv3-81.php |title=Christgau's Consumer Guide |newspaper=The Village Voice |date=2 March 1981 |access-date=24 December 2014}}

}}

Reviewing the US edition for The Village Voice in March 1981, Robert Christgau judged the album as a response to British punk rock nihilism: "The music, needless to say, is rock and roll, a clever pop-punk amalgam boasting two drummers, lots of chanting, and numerous B-movie hooks. Especially given Adam's art-schooled vocals, I find that the hooks grate, but that may just mean that when it comes to futuristic warriors I prefer Sandinistas."

In his retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called it "one of the great defining albums of its time. There's simply nothing else like it, nothing else that has the same bravado, the same swagger, the same gleeful self-aggrandizement and sense of camp. This walked a brilliant line between campiness and art-house chutzpah, and it arrived at precisely the right time – at the forefront of new wave". Trouser Press cites it as the album where Adam Ant "found his groove".{{cite web |last1=Young |first1=Jon |last2=Lewis |first2=Kate |last3=Rompers |first3=Terry |url=http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=adam_ant |title=Adam Ant |website=Trouser Press |access-date=28 August 2016}}

Kings of the Wild Frontier is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.{{cite book|author1=Robert Dimery|author2=Michael Lydon|title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition|date=23 March 2010|publisher=Universe|isbn=978-0-7893-2074-2}} It is also one of twenty CDs in the Great British Albums box set released by Sony Records in 2012.{{cite web|url=http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/reviews/great-british-albums-20-disc-box/|author=Paul Sinclair|date=6 September 2012|title=Great British Albums / 20 Disc Box|publisher=Super Deluxe Edition}} In 1992, Nine Inch Nails released a cover version of "Physical (You're So)" on the EP Broken, remade in an industrial rock style with more aggressive guitars and vocals than the original.{{cite magazine|last=Ramirez|first=AJ|date=9 December 2014|url=https://www.popmatters.com/189026-caught-in-the-machine-nine-inch-nails-physical-youre-so-2495577450.html|title=Caught in the Machine: Nine Inch Nails - 'Physical (You're So)'|magazine=PopMatters|access-date=24 March 2020}} In 2020, Rolling Stone included Kings of the Wild Frontier in their "80 Greatest albums of 1980" list.{{cite web|url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-1980-1075743/|title=The 80 Greatest Albums of 1980 What came out of all this was, arguably, the greatest year for great albums ever|publisher=Rolling Stone|date=11 November 2020 |access-date=12 November 2020}}

{{Original research|1=section|date=May 2025}}

The songs on the album reference and quote numerous cultural sources in both lyrics and music. The abiding themes are drawn from a stew of popular, historical and contemporary sources to create an immersive tableau of pop-mythology. The title track evokes Davy Crockett, and media representations thereof, and posits the band and its followers as a new royal family. "Dog Eat Dog" was inspired by a quotation attributed to Margaret Thatcher. "Feed Me To The Lions" includes a musical quotation of the theme from the film Lawrence of Arabia. "Los Rancheros" refers to Clint Eastwood. As well as evoking the film Them!, "Ants Invasion" mentions a 'Forbidden Zone' as in the 1968 film of Planet of the Apes (a theme returned to on the following year's "Picasso Visita el Planeta de los Simios"). "Killer In The Home" quotes Apocalypse Now in its lyrics. "The Magnificent Five" homages The Magnificent Seven, and quotes Friedrich Nietzsche. "Don't Be Square (Be There)" refers to an earlier, unreleased Adam and the Ants song, which itself obliquely referenced the actor Dirk Bogarde. "Jolly Roger" is musically identical with the theme to Seven Guns for the MacGregors, composed by Ennio Morricone. "Making History" quotes Night of the Living Dead. "The Human Beings" lyrical content consists almost entirely of the chanted names of Native American tribes Blackfoot, Pawnee, Cheyenne, Crow, and the name of Goklayeh, a Bedonkohe Apache leader.

{{track listing

|all_writing = Adam Ant and Marco Pirroni

|headline = Side A

|title1 = Dog Eat Dog

|length1 = 3:11

|title2 = Antmusic

|length2 = 3:37

|title3 = Feed Me to the Lions

|length3 = 3:03

|title4 = Los Rancheros

|length4 = 3:30

|title5 = Ants Invasion

|length5 = 3:19

|title6 = Killer in the Home

|length6 = 4:22

}}

{{track listing

|headline = Side B

|title1 = Kings of the Wild Frontier

|length1 = 3:56

|title2 = The Magnificent Five

|length2 = 3:07

|title3 = Don't Be Square (Be There)

|length3 = 3:32

|title4 = Jolly Roger

|length4 = 2:11

|title5 = Making History

|length5 = 2:59

|title6 = The Human Beings

|length6 = 4:32

}}

{{track listing

|headline = 2004 reissue bonus tracks

|title13 = Antmusic (Alternative Mix)

|length13 = 3:43

|title14 = Antmusic (Demo)

|length14 = 3:28

|title15 = Feed Me to the Lions (Demo)

|length15 = 3:02

|title16 = The Human Beings (Demo)

|length16 = 2:30

|title17 = S.E.X. (Demo)

|length17 = 3:57

|title18 = Omelette from Outerspace (Demo)

|length18 = 3:06

}}

{{track listing

|headline = Side A

|title1 = Dog Eat Dog

|length1 = 3:07

|title2 = Antmusic

|length2 = 3:36

|title3 = Los Rancheros

|length3 = 3:28

|title4 = Feed Me to the Lions

|length4 = 2:59

|title5 = Press Darlings

|writer5 = Ant

|length5 = 4:12

|title6 = Ants Invasion

|length6 = 3:20

|title7 = Killer in the Home

|length7 = 4:19

}}

{{track listing

|headline = Side B

|title1 = Kings of the Wild Frontier

|length1 = 3:53

|title2 = The Magnificent Five

|length2 = 3:05

|title3 = Don't Be Square (Be There)

|length3 = 3:29

|title4 = Jolly Roger

|length4 = 2:09

|title5 = Physical (You're So)

|writer5 = Ant

|length5 = 4:26

|title6 = The Human Beings

|length6 = 4:24

}}

{{track listing

|headline = Bonus 7 inch single

|title1 = Stand and Deliver

|length1 = 3:06

|title2 = Beat My Guest

|writer2 = Ant

|length2 = 3:12

}}

; US Cassette version

{{track listing

|headline = Side A

|title1 = Dog Eat Dog

|length1 = 3:07

|title2 = Jolly Roger

|length2 = 2:09

|title3 = Los Rancheros

|length3 = 3:28

|title4 = Feed Me to the Lions

|length4 = 2:59

|title5 = Press Darlings

|writer5 = Ant

|length5 = 4:12

|title6 = Ants Invasion

|length6 = 3:20

|title7 = Killer in the Home

|length7 = 4:19

|title8 = Beat My Guest

|writer8 = Ant

|length8 = 3:12

}}

{{track listing

|headline = Side B

|title1 = Kings of the Wild Frontier

|length1 = 3:53

|title2 = The Magnificent Five

|length2 = 3:05

|title3 = Don't Be Square (Be There)

|length3 = 3:29

|title4 = Antmusic

|length4 = 3:36

|title5 = Physical (You're So)

|writer5 = Ant

|length5 = 4:26

|title6 = The Human Beings

|length6 = 4:24

|title7 = Stand and Deliver

|length7 = 3:06

}}

On 20 May 2016, Sony Music/Legacy Recordings issued a lavish four disc super deluxe box set of Kings of the Wild Frontier. The box included two CDs, a DVD & a 180g gold newly remastered vinyl LP.{{cite web|url=http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/adam-and-the-ants-kings-of-the-wild-frontier-super-deluxe-edition/|author=Paul Sinclair|date=25 April 2016|title=Adam and the Ants / Kings of the Wild Frontier Super Deluxe Edition|publisher=Super Deluxe Edition}}

{{track listing

|title1= Dog Eat Dog

|length1= 3.09

|title2= Antmusic

|length2= 3.36

|title3= Feed Me to the Lions

|length3= 3.01

|title4= Los Rancheros

|length4= 3.29

|title5= Ants Invasion

|length5= 3.20

|title6= Killer in the Home

|length6= 4.21

|title7= Kings of the Wild Frontier

|length7= 3.55

|title8= The Magnificent Five

|length8= 3.06

|title9= Don’t Be Square (Be There)

|length9= 3.31

|title10= Jolly Roger

|length10= 2.09

|title11= Making History

|length11= 2.57

|title12= The Human Beings

|length12= 4.31

|title13= Press Darlings

|length13= 4.11

|title14= Physical (You’re So)

|length14= 4.26

|title15= Fall In

|length15= 2.08

|title16= Don’t Be Square (Be There) (KPM Studio Demo)

|length16= 4.23

|title17= The Human Beings (KPM Studio Demo)

|length17= 4.56

|title18= Los Rancheros (KPM Studio Demo)

|length18= 3.33

|title19= Making History (KPM Studio Demo)

|length19= 3.44

}}

All tracks mastered by Adam Ant & Walter Coelho. Tracks 1–17 previously unissued on CD. Tracks 19 & 20 previously unreleased.

{{track listing

|title1= The Human Beings

|length1= 3.35

|title2= Dog Eat Dog

|length2= 3.14

|title3= The Magnificent Five

|length3= 3.03

|title4= Don’t Be Square (Be There)

|length4= 3.20

|title5= Los Rancheros

|length5= 3.33

|title6= Ants Invasion

|length6= 3.12

|title7= Killer in the Home

|length7= 4.15

|title8= Cleopatra

|length8= 2.54

|title9= Press Darlings

|length9= 3.47

|title10= Kick!

|length10= 1.55

|title11= Antmusic

|length11= 3.14

|title12= Beat My Guest

|length12= 3.04

|title13= Jolly Roger

|length13= 2.11

|title14= Zerox

|length14= 3.11

|title15= Cartrouble

|length15= 3.21

|title16= Kings of the Wild Frontier

|length16= 4.33

|title17= Physical (You’re So)

|length17= 5.22

|title18= A.N.T.S.

|length18= 3.30

|title19= Antmusic (Rough Cut)

|length19= 3.24

|title20= Don’t Be Square Be There (Rough Cut)

|length20= 3.52

}}

{{track listing

|headline = The Videos

|title1= Kings of the Wild Frontier

|title2= Dog Eat Dog

|title3= Antmusic

|title4= Physical (You’re So)

|note4 = Live in Manchester

|title5= Dog Eat Dog

|note5 = Live

}}

{{track listing

|headline = Adam & The Ants at the BBC

|title6= Dog Eat Dog

|note6= Top of the Pops, 16 October 1980

|title7= Ants Invasion

|note7= Old Grey Whistle Test, January 1981

|title8= Killer in the Home

|note8= Old Grey Whistle Test, January 1981

|title9= Antmusic

|note9 = Top of the Pops, December 1980

|title10= Dog Eat Dog

|note10= Top of the Pops, 30 October 1980

}}

{{track listing

|headline = Adam & The Ants Live in Tokyo 1981

|title11= The Magnificent Five

|title12= Antmusic

|title13= Don’t Be Square (Be There)

|title14= Ants Invasion

|title15= Killer in the Home

|title16= Never Trust a Man (With Egg on His Face)

|title17= Kick!

|title18= Press Darlings

|title19= Christian D’or

|title20= Los Rancheros

|title21= Cartrouble

|title22= Dog Eat Dog

|title23= Kings of the Wild Frontier

|title24= Physical (You’re So)

|title25= ANT INVASION: a documentary of the first Adam & the Ants US tour 1981

}}

{{track listing

|headline = Side A

|title1= Dog Eat Dog

|length1= 3.09

|title2= Antmusic

|length2= 3.36

|title3= Feed Me to the Lions

|length3= 3.01

|title4= Los Rancheros

|length4= 3.29

|title5= Ants Invasion

|length5= 3.20

|title6= Killer in the Home

|length6= 4.21

}}

{{track listing

|headline = Side B

|title1= Kings of the Wild Frontier

|length1= 3.55

|title2= The Magnificent Five

|length2= 3.06

|title3= Don’t Be Square (Be There)

|length3= 3.31

|title4= Jolly Roger

|length4= 2.09

|title5= Making History

|length5= 2.57

|title6= The Human Beings

|length6= 4.31

}}

; Adam and the Ants

• Adam Ant – vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, harmonica
• Marco Pirroni – electric guitar
• Kevin Mooney – bass
• Merrick (Chris Hughes) – drums, production
• Terry Lee Miall – drums
• Peter Ashworth – sleeve photography

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for Kings of the Wild Frontier}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Adam Ant|title=Kings of the Wild Frontier|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=1980|certyear=1981|id=3639-3677-2|access-date=10 June 2025}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Adam and the Ants|title=Kings of the Wild Frontier|type=album|award=Gold|relyear=1980|certyear=1994}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|title=A Brief History of Album Covers|first=Jason|last=Draper|publisher=Flame Tree Publishing|location=London|year=2008|pages=224–225|isbn=9781847862112|oclc=227198538}}

• {{Discogs master|63446}}
• [https://archive.today/20130416122733/http://www.radio3net.ro/dbartists/supersearch/S2luZ3Mgb2YgdGhlIFdpbGQgRnJvbnRpZXI=/Kings%20of%20the%20Wild%20Frontier Kings of the Wild Frontier] (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)

{{Adam Ant}}

{{Brit British Album}}

{{UK best-selling albums (by year) 1970–1989}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kings of the Wild Frontier}}

Category:Adam and the Ants albums

Category:1980 albums

Category:Epic Records albums

Category:Brit Award for British Album of the Year

Category:Albums recorded at Rockfield Studios

Category:Albums produced by Chris Hughes (musician)