Wire's 154

polystyle

Well-known member
Partly inspired by Blissblogger's RIUASA notes ,
partly by knowing after not hearing this Album after oh, almost 25 years that it would sound good - did borrow a copy and had a listen to Wire's 154.
And so glad I did !
The rush of the first 3 songs (I Should Have Known Better/ Two People In A Room/The 15th)
brought a proper tear to eye.
Inspired match of producer and production oriented artists ...
Great sounds all around , and special thanks to Mike Thorne.

And then the album plays onto The Other Window, Single KO, A Touching Display,
Map Ref 41N 93W, 40 Versions ...
Excellent
 
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soundslike1981

Well-known member
Great album. Slightly prefer 'Chairs Missing,' '154' has a few moments that sound a little Pink Floyd/King Crimson to me. But both excellent.

I assume "arty" "weird" rock is despised by antirockists/popists even more than dumb, meaty cock rock?
 

polystyle

Well-known member
I borrowed Chairs Missing as well, soon to listen.
Saw Wire twice bk in the day , CBGB's and Mudd Club as I recall.
Bristling ...
 

STN

sou'wester
I thought that collection of demos and b-sides 'Behind the Curtain' was the pick of the bunch; songs well written and badly played.
 

polystyle

Well-known member
A few people in a room

I hadn't heard ANY Wire really for 20 plus years, no friends played them, didn't hear them out, so prolly last exposure was them live, made hearing 154 again some kind of great .
I heard a regular, non Remastered CD (dunno if it ever got ReMastered) and so had to turn it on up.
The verbed out 'angular' guitar sections and synth bits are what I like
(prolly the Pink F/King Crimson -ish that soundslike mentioned) and what still sticks to me because bk when it was released , each release by each 'important group' was pored over in detail, tracks listened to again and again and production details absorbed
(possibly to try repeating them in Studio next time),
shared with friends in the group AND heard at the clubs.

Had been lucky enough to meet Mike Thorne and watch him work some when he produced
DC group The Urban Verbs, amicable,with it and smart.
154 also had seminal , great cover art that we all got a buzz off when it came out.

Listened to Chairs Missing yesterday for a while but took it off around Heartbeat or Mercy,
sounded like a record between their earliest forms on route to next mode.
some great ones there of course
(Being Sucked In Again , and I Am The Fly a club staple bk then)

Did catch some Dome and other post Wire stuff, missed 'Behind The Curtain' which sounds interesting ...
Cheers
 

STN

sou'wester
Did catch some Dome and other post Wire stuff, missed 'Behind The Curtain' which sounds interesting ...
Cheers


It was a CD release with about 41 tracks on it, all early stuff. Someone nicked my copy, no idea how easy it is to get hold of now.
 
N

nomadologist

Guest
i love 154, but i also love IBTABA and a lot of the later Wire that gets passed over for Pink Flag...
 

zhao

there are no accidents
does anyone know the version of that song which goes "how many dead or alive..." that is on one of those free CD's that was given out with the Wire? better than album version.
 

tht

akstavrh
that's the title track off pink flag, which is their their finest (half) hour and album-as-concept, thereafter they were going in two directions, although what was lost in coherence was gained in complexity

their last album 'send' is one of the best middle aged reformation albums
 
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nomadologist

Guest
still haven't let myself check out the new new wire stuff, for fear i'd be disappointed
 

tht

akstavrh
nah it's safe, it's like linkin park for postmenopausal 77 punks, oblique rage and viagra detumsecence displacing the pofaced androgyny

(they should get me to do their pr)
 
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nomadologist

Guest
hahah--it would be hilarious to read all of their reviews if you did. what are reviews these days without adjectives lifted directly off the kit? pitchfork would definitely have "detumescent" in the first graph. (followed by a lot of boring navel gazing with the extended anecdote mixed in here and there...)
 

swears

preppy-kei
Partly inspired by Blissblogger's "Death of soul" essays,
partly by not hearing these tracks since the last time I watched VH1 classic,
I raided my parents' CD collection and listened to: Terence Trent d'Arby, Mick Hucknall, Fine Young Cannibals, The Christians, The Style Council, Wet Wet Wet, Deacon Blue, Hue and Cry, and the Blow Monkeys.
Brought a tear to my eye, I tells ya!
 
N

nomadologist

Guest
Swears is just so clever for not liking Wire--because no one's ever thought of not liking rock before! Congrats, Swears. You're at the intellectual level most of my friends and I were on with regard to how to evaluate music when we were around 12 or 13. Maybe if you keep working at it, you'll get to the point where you realize it's dumb to like pop music just because it's disposible and campy!

I'm pullin for ya!
 

swears

preppy-kei
Swears is just so clever for not liking Wire--because no one's ever thought of not liking rock before! Congrats, Swears. You're at the intellectual level most of my friends and I were on with regard to how to evaluate music when we were around 12 or 13. Maybe if you keep working at it, you'll get to the point where you realize it's dumb to like pop music just because it's disposible and campy!

I'm pullin for ya!

Well, I was actually making fun of those bands 'cause they were shite. I'd just finished reading an essay on "The Death of Soul" by Reynolds and slipped in a reference to it as a lame attempt at humour, you have to understand that in the UK these late-80s "sophisti-pop" bands are considered the height of naffness. I don't like pop music in a camp way anyway, I like the stuff that genuinely suprises or moves me, and I've got nothing against Wire, what I've heard of them must have been innovative at the time. Flipping through my mate's copy of RIUASA at the moment, mostly the bits on Scritti and synthpop, he wants it back soon so I might pull my finger out and actually read it in order.

I have to admit a certain fondness for Johhny Hates Jazz's "Shattered Dreams" though.
 
N

nomadologist

Guest
if that's why you like pop, when it genuinely moves you, then why all the venom for those who are "genuinely touched" by indie rock? just curious...
 
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