154 (album)

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154
Wire studio album

Publication
(s)

September 23, 1979

Label (s) Harvest Records

Format (s)

LP , CD , MC

Genre (s)

Post-punk , art-punk

Title (number)

13

running time

58:38

occupation
  • Robert Gotobed ​​- drums

production

Mike Thorne

Studio (s)

Advision Studios, London

chronology
Chairs Missing
(1978) 		154 The Ideal Copy
(1987)
Single release
October 26, 1979 Map Ref. 41 ° N 93 ° W

154 is the third studio album by the British rock band Wire . It was released in September 1979 on the Harvest Records label. Warner Bros. Records took over distribution in the USA .

background

Like its predecessors, the recordings for 154 took place in the Advision Studios in London . On the album, Wire followed the musical direction of Chairs Missing and combined progressive punk with synthesizer sounds and ambient , whereby the music became even more "abstract" and psychedelic. The tendency towards abstraction is also made clear by the album cover and the simple title. The experimental 154 has often been compared to the music of Brian Eno , David Bowie and Kraftwerk . The album reached number 39 on the British album charts, the band's best ranking to date.

reception

source rating
Allmusic
The Guardian
Pitchfork Media

154 was positively received by the press and was voted number 18 of the best albums of 1979 by the New Musical Express . It ranks 85th in Pitchfork Media's selection of the 100 best albums of the 1970s .

According to critics, album 154 marks the end of the band's creative heyday. Wire dissolved for the time being in February 1980. The album The Ideal Copy , released in 1987 after the reunification , only met with mixed reviews.

Track list

page 1
  1. I Should Have Known Better (Graham Lewis) - 3:50
  2. Two People in a Room (Colin Newman, Bruce Gilbert) - 2:08
  3. The 15th (Newman) - 3:02
  4. The Other Window (Lewis, Gilbert) - 2:06
  5. Single KO (Lewis) - 2:19
  6. A Touching Display (Lewis) - 6:25
  7. On Returning (Newman) - 2:05
Page 2
  2. A Mutual Friend (Lewis, Newman) - 4:25
  3. Blessed State (Gilbert) - 3:26
  4. Once Is Enough (Newman) - 3:20
  5. Map Ref. 41ºN 93ºW (Lewis, Newman, Gilbert) - 3:35
  6. Indirect Inquiries (Lewis, Newman) - 3:33
  7. 40 Versions (Gilbert) - 3:26

Bonus tracks

  2. Song 1 (Robert Gotobed, Newman, Desmond Simmons) - 3:02
  3. Get Down (Parts 1 and 2) (David, Gotobed, Newman, Simmons, TV Smith) - 4:27
  4. Let's Panic Later (Lewis) - 3:20
  5. Small Electric Piece (Gilbert) - 3:33
  6. Go Ahead (Gilbert, Gotobed, Lewis, Newman) - 4:01

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Review by Joe Tangari on pitchfork.com (accessed September 16, 2017)
  2. ^ Buckley, Peter (ed.): Rock Rough Guide, 2nd edition, Verlag JB Metzler Stuttgart / Weimar 2004, p. 902.
  3. ↑ Review: 154 ( Memento of the original from July 31, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on whiskey-soda.de, accessed on September 16, 2017 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.whiskey-soda.de
  4. ↑ 17/11/13 - Wire - 154 - 1979 on indiedeepmusicarchive.net, accessed September 16, 2017
  5. ↑ a b Review by Steve Huey on allmusic.com (accessed September 16, 2017)
  6. ↑ Review by Dave Simpson on theguardian.com (accessed September 16, 2017)
  7. ↑ 1979: Best Albums of the Year on nme.com, accessed September 16, 2017
  8. ↑ Top 100 Albums of the 1970s on pitchfork.com, accessed September 16, 2017