Adam Ant - Strip

2005 Digitally Remastered Edition of Ant's 1983 Solo Album Following Up the Hit "Friend Or Foe". The Title Track was a Minor Hit Single, but Didn't Quite Take off Like It's Predecessor. Includes Five Bonus Tracks of Previously Unreleased Demo Versions, Live Tracks and Rarities. Comes in a Digipak, Made to Stand Alone Or to Fit Comfortably Into a Special Box Set of Ant's Solo CD'S. Album Details

Not Meant to be Taken Seriously

I've always been an Adam Ant fan. He was such a beautiful boy. I was in my early twenty's when this album came out and I bought it right away. I think I love this album because I never took it seriously. I thought the "Strip" video was so funny and it showed Adam Ant having fun with the subject matter. The tunes are catchy and sometimes silly (yeah, cheesy). Navel to Neck is one that always gets me. Yeah, it's a bit lusty, cheesy, etc., but some of the songs make me smile and that's what counts.
August 19, 2006

Say It Girfriend Say It, Uh-huh!! (or Adam's uneven classic pop LP)

The Strip album was something of a mis-step for the overly sex-up Adam. It has a great formula in the classic pop mold though. Using Abba's studios and string sections on all of the songs seemd like a match made in perfect pop harmony. However some of the arrangements are a bit too ambitious (see "Spanish Games", "Amazon" and could-have-been-great "Libertine"). One thing is clear throughout the album though. Adam is a horny little boy and tells us so on the majority of the tracks. Which is fine really, except it's just such an uneven album that most people overlook that fact and claim his libido is a bit too much. The real problem is that as a follow-up to Friend Or Foe, Strip is just a few great songs shy of being a great album (whereas Friend Or Foe was filled to the brim with great songs and arrangements).

Having said that there are some great songs present. "Puss'n Boots" and "Strip" are classic singles and are well-produced by
Phil Collins (the rest of the album is produced abely by Richard James Burgess). "Montreal", "Playboy" and "Navel To Neck" are all great Ant songs. "Baby Let Me Scream At You" is funny and catchy.
"Vanity" may be about Vanity (whom he had dated after Prince did). The girl on the back cover is Karen Landau (Adam then-girlfriend). After the BBC banned the "Strip" single and video no further singles were issued from the album as a result.
I think it's fair to say that all in all half of this album is great and half of it is not quite as great.

The bonus tracks are all interesting versions of Strip songs.
"Kiss The Drummer" and "Yours, Yours, Yours" (the albums' two B-Sides culled from the singles) would have been nice if they were included after the initial album tracks but oh well.

"Mister Playboy sing your song and that horse you rode in on". April 23, 2006

You may find your clothes getting in the way.

After the big succeses of "Prince Charming" and "Friend Or Foe", "Strip" seems overproduced and uninspired. In fact, two of the best tracks "Strip" and "Puss'n Boots" are produced by Phil Collins (of Genesis) and Hugh Padgham (producer of The Police, Genesis and others). The only other songs that truly stand out are "Vanity" and "Playboy". The rest are a bit average. The remastering is great, and the album as a whole benefits from the overproduction and glossy feel because it's that which makes "Strip" just miss being a great work.

There are eight bonus tracks, most of them are uninteresting demo versions of album tracks, but there are three originals. "Dirty Harry" is amusing and beats the Gorillaz by 22 years! "Horse You Rode In On" isn't to bad either, and "She Wins Zulus" is also promising as a demo. Why there needs to be two different versions of the song "Strip" as bonus tracks seems like overkill to me.

As with the other remasters in this series the booklet comes with all the lyrics and the artwork and graphic design are great. All in all, this album just missed being great and ends up being slightly above average in the end for Adam Ant. February 3, 2006

Very underrated album!

This one one of the first albums I owned back in the 80's, which was on vinyl. I think it is wonderful!!! I can't understand why it didn't do so well in the US....I'm very surprised! Every song on here is catchy. Trust me...I'm a harsh critic, and this album deserved a lot more credit then it got! If you like Adam Ant, it's worth a shot.... November 20, 2005

Put Your Clothes Back On.

"Strip" isn't the unmitigated disaster I initially thought it was, but it's still an unfortunate step in the wrong direction for Adam Ant. In 1983, after the modest US success of his "Friend or Foe" LP, Adam abandoned his Antmusic formula and tried to position himself as a sex symbol for the ladies. It obviously didn't work: "Strip" tanked in the US, peaking at Number 65 and failing to generate even one Top 40 hit. The record, largely produced by Richard James Burgess, is spineless pop with little spark or character. Sluggish melodies abound, and many of the lyrics have some of the corniest double-entendres ever written. For an album aimed to generate sexual heat, "Strip" falls pretty flat. But it ain't all bad. Phil Collins breathes some life into the record (which is really saying something) thanks to his co-production and skilled drumming on the title track and "Puss-n-Boots" (the latter a Top Ten hit in the UK), and I'll admit that I do like "Vanity." But overall, this album doesn't have much in the way of substance or quality. Antphiles or those who like 80s pop on the campy side MIGHT get a kick out of "Strip." However, casual listeners in search of a good album are advised to steer clear. This record (which has been remastered with a glossy booklet and a handful of unessential bonus tracks) is better left on the shelf where it belongs. May 23, 2005

More reviews at Amazon.com ...