Wire - 154: Classic or Dud?

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

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...