Wire - 154: Classic or Dud?

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

Glad to see the love for this. Seems like it was often unfairly derided as a dip in quality. Poppycock. It's #24 on my all-time list. It would be higher, except there was a lot of competition from that era, like Television, Buzzcocks, Feelies, Gang of Four, Raincoats, P.i.L.

Wire On The Box: 1979 is available on Netflix!

rah!

Providing
Deciding

It was soon there

so fucking classic, this is the first post-punk album that blew my mind

It really redefined the meaning of vendetta for me.

It was soon there

― kornrulez6969, Thursday, January 26, 2012 3:43 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark

so fucking classic, this is the first post-punk album that blew my mind

― ♈ᘮﬡᕮ-Ꭹᗩᖇᗪᔕ - ᗯ ᖺ ᗢ Ḱ ᓰ ᒪ ᒪ (diamonddave85), Thursday, January 26, 2012 4:08 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark

69 + 85 = 154 Huh? HUH???!!

No, 154 was the number of gigs they had played at that point. Or so the legend says.

yeah that's what I heard as well

When I was in my late teens, I was encouraged to buy this album at a used record shop (ca. 1998, maybe). The shop owner (an old-school punk) said: we used to get high and listen to this album. Best sort-of-advice I ever received!

Classic! This may actually be my favourite Wire album.

http://cdn.discogs.com/0xvQfrhEUO_D8Y5tc2Z05DOYAg4=/fit-in/588x589/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(96)/discogs-images/R-6731843-1425502746-4364.jpeg.jpg

Looks like rockets shooting off and flags and stuff.
Idunno. Douknow? Always wondered.

/\ That was supposed to be "WTF is the art?"

"Chorus!"

i have always found this album mostly impenetrable, save "i should have known better", "the 15th", "a touching display", "map ref", and ESPECIALLY "40 versions". "40 Versions" is just unbelievably sick.

A Mutual Friend 4eva!!!

re the cover:
SPOILER!!!!

look away

it says WIRE in highly stylized typography
turn the album cover upside down
unmistakeable 'W' right?
the 'i' is easy to see too

squiggly/rippled line/strips represent 'r'
3 lines or strips are the 'e'

think the designer managed to get other references in there too, like pink flag...

so what does the back cover say?

Designed by Lewis and Gilbert I think? (not sure I buy your theory that it say 'Wire')

all part of the same picture if you have the LP

the W wraps around to the back so you may not see it if you're not looking at the LP cover

this album is perfect

correct!

what is your favourite song

https://i.ibb.co/MB2Vgf3/154.jpg

would wear wire

what is your favourite song

― imago, Monday, December 3, 2018 5:12 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

idk! at this point "a touching display" i think?

Don't tell Alfred.

hot take: goth prog is good

Damn, those sweaters are the ultimate post-punk Dad uniform.

I'm sure someone could do a Christmas version as well.

a touching display is a fine, fine choice, probably in my top three

still can't look beyond i should have known better for #1 tho. one of those openers that guarantees the album immortality no matter what the rest of it is like

obviously the rest of it is full of stuff like a mutual friend and on returning so it would be immortal even without ISHKB but still

"A Touching Display" was always my favourite too.

154: I should have POLLed better?

the two shortest songs are my favorites, but the whole thing is soooooo classic

i heard a long time ago that the first three wire album covers are meant to work together, in combination. i was absolutely certain of this, and even thought i saw an image that showed how it looked.

i'm doing it now and it doesn't look right at all? am i making all this up?

pink flag and chairs missing makes some sense, overlaid. but 154 throws everything off.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51v0KGMKu9L._SY355_.jpg

pink flag / chairs missing:

https://i.imgur.com/2idNn2d.jpg

pink flag / chairs missing / 154:

https://i.imgur.com/XdFC35p.jpg