Favourite wire album?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by chronic kebab, Dec 8, 2014.

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  1. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    I have to go with Bell Is a Cup. Sure, it's their "pop" album but it seemed to pick up where the great "Map Ref." track on 154 was leading...sinister yet gorgeous. I pick "Silk Skin Paws" as their second greatest track (with "One of Us" from Object 54 just behind).

    Also brilliant in that the songs all have emotional impact, yet the lyrics are almost all non sequitors.
     
  2. broccolid

    broccolid Trickologist

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Yes! "Question of Degree" is mind blowing.
     
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  3. Synthfreek

    Synthfreek I’m a ray of sunshine & bastion of positivity

    Chairs Missing, 154, The Ideal Copy and Pink Flag...in that order. The rest are a notch or two below.
     
  4. Cassiel

    Cassiel Sonic Reducer

    Location:
    NYC, USA
    Phase 1: 154
    Phase 2: The Ideal Copy
    Phase 3: Send
     
  5. bonestorm

    bonestorm Forum Resident

    Pink Flag
     
  6. Former Scientist

    Former Scientist Now on wheels....

    Location:
    UK
    Er, Pink Flag....who doesn't like Pink Flag? Even the cover is excellent.
     
  7. Scope J

    Scope J Senior Member

    Location:
    Michigan
    Why no poll ?
     
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  8. Chairs Missing for me. Outdoor Miner should've been a hit
     
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  9. gingerly

    gingerly Change Returns Success

    I'm definitely in the Phase II camp, and prefer Ideal Copy amongst all of their work, with A Bell is a Cup... as a not too remote 2nd.
     
  10. Tony L

    Tony L Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Chairs Missing for me. It always amused me that they appeared to have snuck a concept album out right at the heart of punk/new-wave (all songs seem to relate to death in some way).
     
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  11. notesofachord

    notesofachord Riding down the river in an old canoe

    Location:
    Mojave Desert
    Of course, don't skip past the non-LP singles/b-sides/outtakes.
    "Dot Dash" is a groovy little ditty that shouldn't be missed!

     
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  12. Pavol Stromcek

    Pavol Stromcek Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Easy: 154, with Chairs Missing not far behind.

    Then A Bell is a Cup, Ideal Copy, Pink Flag, more or less in that order. Of the phase 3 material, I only really like Change Becomes Us and Red Barked Tree.


    Also worth noting, I love Colin Newman's A-Z, Not To, and Commercial Suicide.
     
  13. Rodney Toady

    Rodney Toady Waste of cyberspace

    Location:
    Finland
    Chairs Missing - I have loved that one ever since it was first released, although in all fairness it must be said that 154 is not very far behind in my Wire Top 3. As I have begun to venture into their more recent work only lately, I shall refrain from commenting on that for the time being.
     
  14. CupOfDreams

    CupOfDreams Forum Resident

    One of the first three, but my fave could change on any given listen because they are all so freaking good. Tonight I will say Chairs Missing. Next week maybe Pink Flag!
     
  15. John McGreivey

    John McGreivey Well-Known Member

    I like them all in different ways. I suppose "IBTABA" and "Document and Eyewitness" are the least essential. The first three are the most essential, I supppose.

    "Manscape" is ruined by the song "Like in the Manscape", and if you skip past it, it's actually a pretty good album. That song apparently wasn't on the original UK vinyl version of the album, which was also sequenced in a different order. Listen to it in vinyl order and it makes more sense, and sounds more like "The First Letter" (which I also like). Both are, to my ears, "lush noise".

    UK Vinyl Version (Mute STUMM 80)
    1 "Patterns Of Behaviour"
    2 "Goodbye Ploy"
    3 "Morning Bell"
    4 "Small Black Reptile"
    5 "Torch It"
    6 "Other Moments"
    7 "Sixth Sense"
    8 "What Do You See? (Welcome)"
    9 "Where's The Deputation?"
    10 "You Hung Your Lights In The Trees / A Craftsman's Touch"

    (The better-known CD version has 13 tracks.)

    Another one I like a lot, from around the same time as Manscape (even though most people probably think of it as a lesser entry in their catalog?) is "The Drill", which is a bunch of versions, or remanglings, of the song Drill (which is itself kind of a mangled "12xu"). It was marketed as an EP, I guess, but it's actually album-length, and doesn't sound like 9 remixes of the same song, because it's not that.

    I also reach for their mid-'80s "pop" albums a lot ("The Ideal Copy" and "A Bell is a Cup...").

    "Send" and the "Read and Burn..." EPs are also great. The things released since "Read and Burn 03" are good, but I never feel like listening to them, I guess.
     
  16. gillcup

    gillcup Senior Member

    Location:
    Raleigh, NC, USA
    Chairs Missing
     
  17. broccolid

    broccolid Trickologist

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    All of Wire's studio albums are now on Spotify, thanks to the recent addition of Pink Flag. Not surprisingly, the group's top 10 most played tracks now includes 6 from their debut. Pink Flag really does tower over their other albums, at least in terms of public perception/recognition.
     
  18. cc--

    cc-- Forum Resident

    Location:
    brooklyn
    154 has long been my personal favorite ... despite the fact that cut for cut, I actually like Chairs Missing better!

    the highlights of Mk. II are as good as the best of Mk. I. Some of my picks are "Madman's Honey," "Free Falling Divisions," and some of the live stuff on IBTABA.
     
  19. crozcat

    crozcat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    :agree: :righton:
     
  20. Frippwire

    Frippwire Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Dearborn, MI USA
    Thanks for starting this thread.

    Wire provides the inspiration for my user name (along with Robert Fripp). I love all phases of their career as well as the solo projects. Forced to pick only one favorite, I'd have to go with 154. The first time I heard 154 we were on a car journey, the weather and scenery were nice and the car stereo system was excellent. The stage was perfectly set. I was floored by what I heard and immediately became a lifelong Wire fan and collector. It may have been my first exposure to what I used to call "art punk" and I loved it. Long live Wire!
     
  21. bhazen

    bhazen I Am The Walrus

    Location:
    Deepest suburbia
    No best-of's, then?
     
  22. jimmydean

    jimmydean Senior Member

    Location:
    Vienna, Austria
    chairs missing is the most consistent imho... the first three are great... "send" is the best of the later works
     
  23. crozcat

    crozcat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
  24. sfp

    sfp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Chairs Missing hits the sweet spot between the not-quite-punk of Pink Flag and the more abstract sounds of 154.
     
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  25. Garish

    Garish Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Chicagoland, USA
    Chairs Missing. Mercy into Outdoor Miner is my favorite one-two punch track listing of all time.
     
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