― hstencil, Friday, 5 December 2003 22:31 (twenty years ago) link
― F. Anthony O'Reilly (Ferg), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:33 (twenty years ago) link
I just can't stand all the turgid bullshit on 154. Prog for punks, blech.
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:34 (twenty years ago) link
― hstencil, Friday, 5 December 2003 22:35 (twenty years ago) link
― Broheems (diamond), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:37 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:38 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:40 (twenty years ago) link
― hstencil, Friday, 5 December 2003 22:41 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:44 (twenty years ago) link
― Kate Silver (Kate Silver), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:47 (twenty years ago) link
― Schwingung (Damian), Saturday, 6 December 2003 02:51 (twenty years ago) link
You should be slapped across the face with a sandpaper glove for that comment.
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 6 December 2003 03:04 (twenty years ago) link
I was listening to 154 this morning and the lyrics are fantastic.
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 6 December 2003 15:06 (twenty years ago) link
― Cinnimiccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 6 December 2003 16:37 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 6 December 2003 16:37 (twenty years ago) link
― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 6 December 2003 16:56 (twenty years ago) link
and yeah i love it
― geeta (geeta), Saturday, 6 December 2003 16:58 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 6 December 2003 17:12 (twenty years ago) link
― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 6 December 2003 17:14 (twenty years ago) link
― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 6 December 2003 17:15 (twenty years ago) link
― geeta (geeta), Saturday, 6 December 2003 17:20 (twenty years ago) link
― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 6 December 2003 17:24 (twenty years ago) link
― cinno blountington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 6 December 2003 17:27 (twenty years ago) link
Hey Jess, why do ya think that Chairs Missing is better than Pink Flag?
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 6 December 2003 17:58 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 6 December 2003 17:59 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 6 December 2003 18:01 (twenty years ago) link
That said Ned's post way back when is the only one of these that actually says why 154 is so damn loved. Can someone tell me what exactly I'm supposed to be enjoying on that thing (aside from the pre-Pixies prettiness of "the 15th" and "Map Ref" actually having a hook).
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 6 December 2003 18:06 (twenty years ago) link
― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 6 December 2003 18:09 (twenty years ago) link
all that said, "map ref" is still probably in my top 10 favorite songs of all time.
― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 6 December 2003 18:10 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 6 December 2003 18:11 (twenty years ago) link
but its not that prog really. but then again I've only heard 154 and pink flag.
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 6 December 2003 20:10 (twenty years ago) link
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 6 December 2003 20:12 (twenty years ago) link
J: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Hahahaha.
TY: Um.
J: Ha. Hahaha. Ha.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 6 December 2003 20:13 (twenty years ago) link
I don't get the love for The 15th so much and I'm surprised at the lack of love for Song 1. Is Blur's Song 2 supposed to be a reference to Song 1?
― Comme personne (common_person), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 23:06 (nineteen years ago) link
― Comme personne (common_person), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 23:08 (nineteen years ago) link
I've come round to most of Lewis' vocals, not least after experiencing his awesome arrogant over-affected supervillain shtick on the 1979 video. That 'fighting brave-ly, WILL SHE SAVE ME' bit in A Touching Display is so melodramatic it's genius.
― Michael Philip Philip Philip Annoyman (Ferg), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 05:08 (nineteen years ago) link
― Michael Philip Philip Philip Annoyman (Ferg), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 05:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― coco, Wednesday, 22 September 2004 09:08 (nineteen years ago) link
This is being issued legitimately, soon.
Classicobv.
― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 09:11 (nineteen years ago) link
Miccio, man, I love ya, but FUCK DAT...
anyway, CLASSIC. such a cold, chilly album. the textures are so bleak, atmospheric. "I Should've Known Better" sort of reminds me of Dracula.
― latebloomer (latebloomer), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 09:27 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 10:49 (nineteen years ago) link
I did have it when I was 15! I love "Map Ref." on the Troublemakers comp, and found a used copy not long afterward. Still my favorite Wire LP.
― mike a, Wednesday, 22 September 2004 12:05 (nineteen years ago) link
― briania (briania), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 12:11 (nineteen years ago) link
― carniewilson, Wednesday, 22 September 2004 13:00 (nineteen years ago) link
it's out now! i've just ordered mine from posteverything.com. get *in*.
tragically, they don't have any of those stunning a-list T-shirts left.
154 is a landmark; a colossus. it's so spectacularly under-rated (in general) too. is chairs missing better? not quite. but it's not worth arguing. two of the greatest albums in the history of time.
am i the only person in the world who loves - *loves* - a bell is a cup?
― grimly fiendish, Wednesday, 22 September 2004 13:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 13:10 (nineteen years ago) link
and i think i'm one of the few who actually enjoys the drill LP. i don't actually own manscape. i keep meaning to get it. it's a long time since i've heard it; i remember being hugely underwhelmed. which is why i never bought it, see?
i dug out my copy of the wir album the other day. holy christ, ticking mouth! one of their all-time finest moments. what a beautiful, bleak, terrifying song.
― grimly fiendish, Wednesday, 22 September 2004 13:21 (nineteen years ago) link
― Comme personne (common_person), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 14:23 (nineteen years ago) link
WireNot About To Diepinkflag24 June 2022
http://images.roughtrade.com/product/images/files/000/237/028/hero/Screen_Shot_2022-02-18_at_1.39.28_PM.png?1645209764
Wire are pleased to announce the first ever official release of Not About To Dieout June 24th via pinkflag (pre-order). Along with the announcement they have shared track “Stepping Off Too Quick” and an accompanying video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4OKaijZUpA
The original Not About To Die was an illegal bootleg, released at some point in the early 80s by the dubiously named Amnesia Records. The album was made up of selections from demos recorded by the group for their second and third albums: Chairs Missing and 154. These demos had been recorded for EMI, with cassette copies circulated amongst record company employees. However, they were never intended for release. A typically shoddy cash-in, the songs on Not About To Die were taken from a second or possibly third generation cassette, with the album housed in a grainy green and red photo-copied sleeve. Compared with the high standards of production and design Wire have always been known for, it was something of an insult to band and fans alike. Now, in a classic act of Wire perversity, the group have decided to redress the balance and reclaim one of the shadier moments of its history, by giving Not About To Die its first official release. All the tracks have been properly remastered, with the relevant recording details in place. As for the sleeve artwork, whilst it strongly references the original, it is decidedly more artful in its execution. Having received proper care and attention, Not About To Die emerges as a fascinating snapshot of Wire in transition. Herein are embryonic versions of classic songs such as "French Film (Blurred)," "Used To" and "Being Sucked In Again," that the group would develop considerably for their epochal 1978 album Chairs Missing. Later demos such as "Once Is Enough," "On Returning" and "Two People In A Room" would surface in radically altered form on 1979’s 154. Some songs, such as ‘The Other Window," are virtually unrecognisable from their later iterations. But the biggest prizes here may well be the numerous tracks that were destined to be omitted from Wire's later studio albums... Highlights include "Motive," which, whilst obviously still in an embryonic state, has an undeniable power. Robert Grey’s drumming is crisp and minimal, and Graham Lewis’s bass runs are particularly ear-catching. Despite its distinctly un-Wire title, "Love Ain't Polite" is also something of a gem. Bruce Gilbert’s guitar is razor sharp and Colin Newman’s vocal is especially strong, with his delivery of the ‘bah-ba- bah-ba’s’ providing an irresistible energy and charm. Meanwhile, the track which gives the album its title Not About To Die, officially known as “Stepping Off Too Quick” and shared online for the first time today, is alive with confident energy, and possesses what Newman half jokingly calls “The best intro to any song ever." The intro is so good in fact, that it takes up a third of the song’s entire time frame. These properly mastered tracks have never been available on vinyl before, and they provide an opportunity to hear Wire at a point in their development when they were bursting with fresh ideas and a will to communicate them. This is post-punk at its very finest.
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Friday, 13 May 2022 20:31 (one year ago) link
Aren't most of those tracks on "Behind the Curtain"?
― Doodles Diamond (Tom D.), Friday, 13 May 2022 20:44 (one year ago) link
Well yes, but why not just reissue Behind the Curtain, which was an EMI release even if it felt like a bootleg? Is the idea here to reissue the demos without the embarrassingly crude first third, like Mary is a Dyke and After Midnight?
― mig (guess that dreams always end), Friday, 13 May 2022 20:46 (one year ago) link
Ah, "never before on vinyl"... got it.
― mig (guess that dreams always end), Friday, 13 May 2022 20:47 (one year ago) link
According to Discogs:
Culture VulturesFrench Film (Blurred)Indirect InquiriesUsed ToBeing Sucked In AgainI Should Have Known BetterThe Other WindowOn Returning
"...have never been officially released; the remaining tracks appear on the 1995 CD Behind The Curtain (Early Versions 1977 & 1978)."
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Friday, 13 May 2022 23:08 (one year ago) link
Didn't all of these tracks come out with the 2018 3CD expanded editions?
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Friday, 13 May 2022 23:52 (one year ago) link
Yes.
Anyway, my copy has just arrived, so..
― Mark G, Saturday, 14 May 2022 13:41 (one year ago) link
A guy's gotta make a living. Colin Newman, that is.
― Doodles Diamond (Tom D.), Saturday, 14 May 2022 14:40 (one year ago) link
the best fucking album ever made!!!!
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 11 July 2022 12:32 (one year ago) link
yes. yes!!
― imago, Monday, 11 July 2022 12:48 (one year ago) link
I feel like all the criticisms of this album are like "oh it's so silly and OTT and comically doomy".
But that is what I love about it??
― Tim F, Monday, 11 July 2022 13:22 (one year ago) link
a touching display, you might conclude
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 11 July 2022 13:28 (one year ago) link
You'd be very wrong if you did though.
― Eavis Has Left the Building (Tom D.), Monday, 11 July 2022 14:06 (one year ago) link
My favorite album. (Thanks, Fischerspooner.)
― death generator (lukas), Monday, 11 July 2022 16:48 (one year ago) link
Am I the only one who prefers Colin Newman's A - Z? I don't object to "silly and OTT and comically doomy" in general but the tracks led by Lewis and Gilbert just aren't as interesting melodically, harmonically, or vocally (though they are very interesting conceptually and lyrically).
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 11 July 2022 16:57 (one year ago) link
(and texturally)
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 11 July 2022 16:58 (one year ago) link
Ever tried "In Esse" ?
(Makes Metal Machine Music sound tuneful. I sort of like it, but)
― Mark G, Monday, 11 July 2022 17:17 (one year ago) link
I've heard all four Dome albums, and collectively they equal about one fine record plus a lot of mildly interesting experiments.
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 11 July 2022 17:30 (one year ago) link