Forgive me if this has been flagged (unintended pun) up already but these must be unmissable purchases. Three of the greatest albums ever being reissued.
Wire Special Editions
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`Three of the greatest albums ever`?!? Don`t be daft. I have these albums as I quite like Wire but I think `One OK album & two good albums` is a more accurate description.
Well that’s my opinion for what it’s worth. I love these three records and they mean quite a lot to me I’m afraid, sorry if that makes me ‘daft’. Wait to see some of the other albums I like, you will probably question my sanity even more then.
Your opinion is certainly shared by me. Arguably the best first-3-album run in my collection. Love them.
Looking forward to seeing what the extras are on these special editions.
Here’s the info
Pink Flag: http://pinkflag.com/specialeditions/pink-flag.php
Chairs Missing: http://pinkflag.com/specialeditions/chairs-missing.php
154: http://pinkflag.com/specialeditions/154.php
They look good. Cheers
Pissing on other people’s enthusiasm – wot larks, eh?
Not really, I admire @ip33`s enthusiasm for these albums but making proclamations such as `Three of the greatest albums ever released` needs challenging. Now if 33 had said `Three of the greatest albums ever released IMHO` that is diffreent, that`s 33`s opinion to which he is entitled. I should have also added IMHO to my comment, now that is what I call daft.
@ip33 if I have caused offense I apologise for being a pedantic old git. You may also question my sanity for the love I have for `The Greatest Albums Ever Released IMHO`. May your love for the music you love continue for as long as you love your music.
No problems at all, I do take it as read that it’s assumed that it’s my opinion. But that still doesn’t change the fact that they are three of the greatest albums ever 🙂
Pardon? Of course it’s ip33’s opinion, he was the one who wrote it. Whose opinion would it be?
To be fair, some of my opinions do come from my wife.
Yes. What was I thinking 🙂
Love ’em. love ’em, love ’em. About time they were refreshed.
First The Residents and now Wire: great stuff. If only they could have put the three Peel sessions onto these as well.
They’re an immaculate run of three. Each one is a great leap forward from the previous but they are a cohesive whole sonically and lyrically, and the three record sleeves compliment each other perfectly. What set’s them apart from a lot of Post-punk is the peculiar melodic curveballs, the great crunching wall of guitars that occurs from time to time, the odd interplay between Colin Newman’s estuary snarl and Graham Lewis’ icy baritone. Their secret weapon is that amid the atmospheric oddness they can suddenly chuck in a pristine pop song which completely jolts you back when the going gets tough (Mannequin, Outdoor Miner, Map Ref). On 154 there’s even a Cor Anglais solo just to make prog fans feel at home. They’re bloody brilliant records.
They sit in the canon of that 60s/70s British Art School Pop – see also The Kinks, Roxy, Syd’s Pink Floyd. Does that put these in the best records ever made as ip33 says – yes I think it probably does
A nice touch is that long-estranged former member, the cigar-chomping Bruce Gilbert has contributed to the sleeve notes and has also designed the box of their 1970s era 7″ singles – Nine Sevens – that Wire are releasing on Record Store Day.
Bruce also has his own album out today too – suffice to say he hasn’t mellowed at age 71 – this sounds brutal and violent.
http://editionsmego.com/release/EMEGO-250
Kidney Bingos – best comeback single ever, best comeback single title ever.
Are they the ones that nicked all Elastica’s tunes?
What’s that? Knicker elastic? You’ll have to speak up, I’m not wearing me appliance.
Good news for Wire fans but I would expect a) the originals sound better and b) the demos disc will get one listening if that.
Sorry, getting a bit cynical about selling the same stuff over and over again. I vow to stop buying them.
Come in dai, the water’s fine
How’s that vow been working out for you, Dai? 🙂
Good to see you taking on the role of crate-digger in Moose’s absence…
Well, yes: up to a point, Lord Copper. I miss the Boy Moose’s unique and refreshing approach to bringing dead threads back to life…
In fact, I was looking for a different Wire thread that I thought I remembered – and found this one by accident!
Well it’s easy to be cynical about yer Pink Floyd’s and so forth endlessly reissuing stuff but Wire have licensed and pressed these up off their own bat. This isn’t a cynical cash grab – this is how musicians and artists make a living these days. Their old records sell for 75-100 quid second hand, none of that money goes to the band of course so can’t blame them for wanting to reissue them and also that means more people can buy those records at a reasonable price.
Resurrecting this thread because the three special editions have arrived. And they are a really nice package, about 7″ single size with some lovely photos and a song by song narrative with lyrics..
Ripping the CDs (in Flac don’t worry Audiophiles) as I write so an update on the extras at a later date.
No short cuts were taken with these reissues. They were mastered – for the first time since the late 70s – from the original master tapes at Skye Mastering (aka Porky Pig’s Prime Cuts).
Previous reissues have been, shall we say for reasons of politeness, of variable quality source material.
I bought them on LP, pressed at Optimal. Common consensus is that these sound better than the originals.
I’m also a big fan of Mute-era Wire. The Ideal Copy, A Bell Is A Cup and IBTABA are equal to any classic album trio* but are unjustly overlooked.
(*) in my opinion, obviously
What did you think of Manscape, @fentonsteve? I bought it on release and think the routine kicking it gets these days is unjustified and lazy.
I liked it, and The Drill, and the Peel sessions album from around the time (one session was just the 15-minute Crazy About Love – Wire go Prog?).
And I liked The First Letter (credited to wir after the drummer left).
Really, has there been a bad Wire record? I haven’t heard them all, or the numerous spin-off projects and solo albums.
On reflection, I think you’re right – I can’t think of a single bad Wire record.
I can’t think of another band that I can say that about, including some of my favourites.
The Wir album was excellent!