Search - Adam Ant :: Manners & Physique

Great Find!

08/18/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is my first Adam Ant purchase. Before I bought M&P the only songs by Adam that I was familiar with was Beat My Guest (via SLC Punk)and Goody Two Shoes (I never knew he sang that song). Anyway as a first time Adam Ant listener I got this CD only because his name was familar to me and I was looking for anything New Wave in my local discount record shop. I wasn't to know what I would be listening to but once I got home and stuck M&P in my Cd player I was amazed on how good this album is. It's a classic! Not one song on the album is bad they are all great. My favorite songs include: If you keep on, Manners and Physique, Can't Set The Rules About Love, and Anger Inc. I highly recomend this album. You can't go wrong. It's the perfect album to make your move into the world of Adam Ant. It is very underated album but don't let that stop you. It is a "CLASSIC"! You'll be glad your alive after listening to this LP.
It's too bad what happened to him thought. *****************************************************************
5 *****"

Adam Ant For the 1990's

James Choma | 05/13/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Sadly, when this album came out in 1989, Adam Ant was well on his way to "Where Are They Now?" status. While this album's predecessor, "Vive Le Rock" generated the hits "Apollo 9" and the title track, the five year gap between albums proved costly to Adam's ability to sell albums. By 1989/1990, Antmusic in the USA was all but forgotten.



One thing I like about Adam is that he's a huge Marc Bolan (T. Rex) fan, and it shows in his image and music. Like Bolan, Adam's albums from "Prince Charming" to "Wonderful" have shown various shifts in style. "Prince Charming" and "Friend or Foe" = the Dandy; "Strip"= The Romantic; "Viva Le Rock"= Space Age Cowboy;" and "Manners & Physique"= 90's GQ model.



"Manners and Physique" is a Dance album, pure and simple. It is a far cry from the tribal rhythms and harmonies found on his albums with the Ants and "Friend or Foe" through "Viva;" but on its own, it works. It works as a great dance album, and as yet another incarnation in Adam Ant's personas.



Okay, if it's so good, why wasn't it more popular? Good question! There were two singles form the album, "Room at the Top" and the excellent "Can't Set Rules About Love." "Room" had some major MTV airplay, and was a minor dance hit in the US; while "Rules" charted in the UK, but not the US. My feeling is that if this album had been released a few years earlier, it might have done better.



With the shift of mainstream music to grunge and the onset of Hip Hop, "Manners & Physique" really didn't fit into any play list. As a result, it dropped like a stone. This is also the reason that Adam's former label MCA decided to shelve the follow up to "Manners," 1993's excellent "Persuasion." Even though this album was shelved, booted copies have leaked out.





So if you're an Ant fan from the "Friend or Foe" area and you're expecting the same thing, you're going to be sorely disappointed. If you like Adam Ant, and like 80's Dance oriented music, this album album is a must have. I guarantee You'll find yourself singing along with "Anger Incorporated" "USSA," "Manners & Physique," and "You Can't Set Rules About Love.""

Wouldn't be a reissue if they didn't get at least one thing

Daniel W. Kelly | Long Island, NY United States | 09/01/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It is so great to have several labels that are dedicated to reissuing classic albums by 80s artists with plenty of bonus tracks, but inevitably, almost every release falls short of giving fans everything they want (and everything that deserves to be brought into the digital age). The good news here is that BOTH remixes from the "Room at the Top" 12" are present. The bad news--instead of giving us BOTH remixes of Rough Stuff that were done back in the day, they give us an EDIT of the remix already on here! The "alternate mix" of this track is actually the one I prefer (it was the b-side to the original promo 12"). Guess it was just too obscure for the label to even realize it existed? And of course, those who never knew the promo only mix existed wouldn't even know what they were missing."