154 [Original recording remastered]

Wire | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 11, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 1979
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Pink Flag
• ASIN: B000ENC7LS
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,173 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #58 in Music > Alternative Rock > British Alternative > British Punk

Track Listings

1. I Should Have Known Better

2. Two People in a Room

3. The 15th

4. The Other Window

5. Single K. O.

6. A Touching Display

7. On Returning

8. A Mutual Friend

9. Blessed State

10. Once Is Enough

11. Map Ref. 41 °N 93° W

12. Indirect Enquiries

13. 40 Versions

Editorial Reviews

If Chairs Missing is the transition album from punk to post-punk, then 154 is definitely of the latter genre. Synth moves to the forefront on this 1979 third album from Wire along with melodies that help humanize the electronic textures. Named for the number of gigs they had played to that point, 154 shows how far this band had come in three years. Original artwork. First time on 180 gram audiophile vinyl. --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the epitome of what post-punk should be, April 15, 2006

By 

Aquarius Records (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 154 (Audio CD)

While I'm not sure I would really want to do it, had I been asked by Continuum Press to write one of their 33 1/3 mini books about a favorite album, I just might have to choose Wire's third album 154. Partially, this choice would be something of a compromise as I doubt that a book on Nurse With Wound's Homotopie To Marie would make for a saleable product. 154 stands in my mind as the epitome of what post-punk should be: a bold fusion of post-situationist / punk antagonism and legitimately experimental methodologies with an undercurrent of smarty-pop to keep the kids bouncing up and down.

I actually came to Wire somewhat late in my record nerd existance, and I actually grew to admire the band through a reverse history of sorts, as I didn't really start enjoying the first three Wire albums (Pink Flag, Chairs Missing, and 154) until other Graham Lewis and Bruce Gilbert projects entranced me with thier experiments in proto-electronica. This was especially true for the ghostly post-structuralism found on their Dome records. And those Lewis / Gilbert projects took their genetic code for shadow and gloom from elements of 154. An album that was made under personal duress, 154 drips of disintegration. In fact the band split apart for almost 7 years after the making of 154, pursuing a variety of projects -- traces of which are quite present in this album as Colin Newman's pop sarcasm continued through his solo records and the vast array of Lewis / Gilbert projects.

Recorded in 1979, 154 marks the band's third radical reinvention in three years. Wire's pacing has slowed to a lugubrious, Factory-esque crawl but lost none of their punk antagonism. The slower pacing better suited the baritone vocals of Graham Lewis, who had penned many of the lyrics that Colin Newman sang. In lesser hands, the patchwork of forboding atmospheric dirges and punchy power pop numbers would appear disjointed; but Wire's deft use of synthetic coloring, exquisite timing, and simply great songwriting smear the whole album into a wholly convincing masterpiece. "I Should Have Known Better" and "A Touching Display" represent a few of Graham Lewis' baritone marches through plodding drone and heavy basslines, which have more in common with the late '80s, proto-doom of Swans than of the snarl of the Buzzcocks. Newman's pop brilliance also shines on 154 through "The 15th," which sadly more people recognize from the tepid Fischerspooner cover than by this punk-pop gem. Of the first three Wire albums, 154 proudly stands as the most challenging and most rewarding.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bonus Track Explanation, May 31, 2006

By 

GroundZero (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 154 (Audio CD)

According to AllMusic.com regarding the extra tracks: "The original 1989 CD issue by Restless Retro features four bonus tracks from an experimental EP issued with some copies of the vinyl LP." I don't know why Amazon lists these tracks on the remastered CD, they're not there.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 13 tracks only/good album, May 6, 2006

By 

Tom Dixon (St. Louis, MO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 154 (Audio CD)

Buyer Beware! If You purchase this product in the form of 2006 EMI/Pink Flag, distibuted by Revolver USA you will only get the 1st 13 tracks. If you want all 18 tracks, buy the EMI/Harvest import, it too is remastered. The quality of the 2006 remaster is good as well. The packaging is the digipack paper type, and the booklet does not contain the lyrics. It does have some photos and a synopsis on the band, the album etc.