Adam Ant - Vive Le Rock

Adam Ant adopted a '50s-style rock & roll sound for his third solo album, achieving a pastiche with some of the effervescence, but none of the definition (or popularity), of Elton John's "Crocodile Rock." Producer Tony Visconti tried to give him some of the plastic rock legitimacy of Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie, but Ant was even goofier, and especially with his vocals smothered in harmony and echo and buried in the mix, he wasn't so much transformed into a rocker manque as rendered anonymous on his own record. The best track was the year-old U.K. Top 40 hit "Apollo 9," which had some of the manic energy of the Adam and the Ants hits. If the rest of the album had recreated its dizzy spirit, Ant might have made the comeback he needed with Vive Le Rock. Or maybe not--it's possible that his moment simply had passed. In any case, the album flopped on both sides of the Atlantic, Ant was dropped by his record label, and he didn't make another album for more than four years. [Vive Le Rock was reissued in 1996 with the added track "Mohair Locker Room Pin-Up Boys."] ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Name Credits Adam Ant Concept, Cover Design, Piano, Vocals, Producer Andrew Vaughan Research, Compilation Anne Matthews Groomer, Grooming Chris DeNiro Vocals, Bass Count Wiczling Percussion, Drums François Kevorkian Mixing Marco Guitar Marco Pirroni Project Producer, Guitar, Compilation, Producer Mark Alleyne Design, Art Direction Mark Lebon Photography Nick Knight Photography Ray Staff Digital Remastering Rob O'Connor Graphic Design, Concept, Cover Design, Artwork Sven Taits Assistant, Assistant Engineer Tony Visconti Producer, Engineer William Faulkner Grooming, Groomer