Wire - 154: Classic or Dud?

Funny, I thought I typed that in 6 months ago. (I do have the REDUX now, suffice to say I've played it once. Boy am I backed up with stuff thesedays. I blame that 1981 box)

Happy birthday, that message.

I have played it a fair bit now, and it's excellent stuff. More than the actual 'normal' CD funnily enough.

lyrically/vocally I see it as something to work through, beyond (kill this buddha, the road leads on)
love "Blessed State" though - an all time fave:
"loved in the flesh, but butchered in the mind"

sonically awesome - production masterpiece + terrific hooks and sounds.
much Cocteau Twins seems a worthy continuation of parts of 154 -
e.g. intro to "A Touching Display"

one review at the time (Rolling Stone?) read: Wire, Get Out Of Marienbad (!!!)

best album evah

are the PF/CM/154 remasters worth getting?

Still interminable.

I'd take Pink Flag over Young & The Hopeless now, but it's close. I'd take Good Morning Revival over 154 by a mile though.

I think I will call 154 the Sgt. Pepper's of punk(/postpunk), though. The Sgt. Pepper's of punk(/postpunk) SCREWED & CHOPPED.

Or maybe The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway of punk(/postpunk)

Still interminable.

-- Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, June 1, 2007 3:02 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Link

kind of redundant

I'm coming towards the end of my first ever listen to this record. Feeling pretty chuffed tbh.

Dome next then Louis?

Also upthread: enthusiastic British poster of my own current age gushing untempered praise, seen here before inevitable transformation into laconic cynical antiamerican who makes improper jokes about gun control

Dome? Is that Wire's 4th album?

Dome was a Graham Lewis side project.

Lewis and Gilbert's side project and generally well worth your attention.

But don't expect it to be anything like Wire

I don't mind things that don't sound like other things.

Then you will do well...

who's this pre-ilm-makeover british poster you refer to?

Some say his name is...MP4xA

but I am loathe to believe them

*loath

grr

what happened to sundar?

Still shows up now and again

Did you like "Map Reference..." JGO? It's my favourite Wire song.

the 15th is one of my fav songs ever recorded

That's great too!

ya map reference is rly gd but then so is the whole album

shouldn't rly pick a favourite but maybe "i should have known better" is edging it atm

"the 15th" is timeless brilliance, mind

i'm rly falling for the tuneful ones like those two and "a mutual friend", sheesh, i feel like i'm cheating or something

but "a touching display" is mega-awes along with the vast majority of the rest so that's probably ok

Two People in a Room is fantastic.

Music to gnash teeth and rip seams to

It's a great bit of musical panic, superbly sequenced between the showstopping opener and the gorgeous, relaxing 3rd. 15th. Whatever. It's a great complacency-destroying song.

i'm rly falling for the tuneful ones like those two and "a mutual friend", sheesh, i feel like i'm cheating or something

Your instincts are correct, I assure you.

"I Should Have Known Better" is probably one of my 5 to 10 favourite songs ever...I cannot overemphasise its perfection

I sometimes think the versions of "Touching Display" and "Map Ref 41 N93 W" on "Behind the Curtain" are better than the album versions.

"Blessed State" oh, what a pearl.

most/all of the Rockpalast (1979 German TV) performances are on YouTube, just search Wire Rockpalast (or individual 154 titles). features much/most of the album live(?) - oddly enough sounds reasonably close sonically/arrangements to the album versions (unlike the dry demos). worth checking just to see it sung! (and that music coming from 4 guys...)

Yeah they put that out on DVD too. Wire on the Box. There are some Chairs Missing songs in the set, and a really nice "Pink Flag" right at the end.

Is there anyone who really doesn't think this is a total classic? Even if you prefer the previous albums (which on some days I do).

The "Behind The Curtains" versions are amazing, though, in that neither-here-nor-there midground they straddle between punk and post-punk.

i think it's really good but not a total classic; a few songs that just bore me. "a touching display", "map ref", and the first three tracks are definitely classic.

kinda in the mood for this album, all of a sudden

xp a few songs that just bore me