Adam Ant: Extra Wonderful!

Unlike me to let something like this pass me by, but then I only seem to have missed it by a few days. Yes, there is new Ant material ont' web. The digital album Extra Wonderful has been released to an Ant-hungry world. So, here's the story....

In the early 1990s, Mr Ant and Mr Pirroni hoiked themselves off to Capitol Records and recorded an album called Wonderful, which, although a very good album, failed to reignite their careers. The title track was a minor hit both sides of the Atlantic, and then two further singles failed to do any significant business. And so, that was that, Aside from umpteen collections and the excellent Remasters project, there has been no new Antmusic to speak of, despite rumours and pipe-dreams. And so, we now have Extra Wonderful.

Essentially a collection of B-sides and remixes, there are a few hidden gems here. There are the B-sides to the three singles ("Wonderful", "Beautiful Dream" and "Gotta Be A Sin"), the highlight of which has to be "Phoenix". The remixes are essentially unremarkable, but there is a decent new spin on "Beautiful Dream" (though the two versions seem to be very similar).

You also get an excellent set of live tracks, ranging from "Cleopatra" to "Desparate But Not Serious" which are really rather good. I especially like their cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Physical (You're So)" (!).

So, another set of tracks for the Ant-completist. The whole lot comes in at a hefty £13.99, but you do get 22 tracks. Worth it? Yeah, probably. Wonder if the "missing" MCA album (recorded after Manners & Physique) will ever turn up?

Download it here: