By 1985 the King of the Wild Frontier was being overtaken by the young pretenders of the mid-80s (not to mention SAW) and apart from the bonkers Apollo 9 and the title track of this album, was hardly troubling the charts; even an appearance at Live Aid couldn't arrest the slide. To be honest, as good as Adam's string of early 80s hits were, his was primarily a singles act, and despite the consistently impressive
Friend Or Foe his albums were generally unremarkable affairs. I am talking as someone who was a huge fan back in the day, so I was pleasantly surprised when I revisited this remastered LP, to find out that it has actually aged extremely well.
With less emphasis on the remorseless drumming that made Adam Ant famous, a real Rockabilly feel to some tracks, and some effervescent guitars added to the mix, Vive la Rock is a buoyant and optimistic collection that would represent a real return to form; with the exception of the two lead singles from 1989's
Manners & Physique, this would be Adam and long-term collaborator Marco's last hurrah; and what a hurrah too.