Adam & The Ants - Original Album Classics (2011)

One of the seminal figures of new wave, Adam Ant (born Stuart Leslie Goddard) had several distinct phases to his career. Initially, he explored jagged, guitar-oriented post-punk with his group Adam and the Ants before giving way to a more pop-oriented, glam-tinged musical direction that brought him to the top of the charts. After that had run its course, he refashioned himself as a mainstream singer, which enabled him to stretch his career out for a couple of years. Once it seemed like his musical career had evaporated, he made an unexpected comeback in the early '90s as an adult alternative artist. During all this time, he recorded several great pop singles and had a surprisingly large impact on alternative rock.

Adam Ant was popular with teenage girls back in 1980, not so much with the boys. His first album, Dirk Wears White Sox, is not so good, with no memorable songs. The second album, Kings Of The Wild Frontier, is a great album with the excellent Dog Eat Dog, Antmusic, and the title track, along with a number of other good tracks. The third album in this collection is Prince Charming, with the big hit singles Prince Charming and Stand And Deliver, which are good, as are Picasso and 5 Guns West, but the rest of the album is disappointing. It's a shame that the excellent singles Young Parisians and Deutscher Girls, which came out during the period covered by these albums, were not included in the extra tracks.