Customer Reviews

154

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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.

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.

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.

No other record ever made swings as widely as this one: Raw Power (Two People In A Room), Nervous Poetry (The Other Window), Euro Pop (On Returning), Glory (Map Reference) and such a force that sounds like the end of all life, yet you wish it could go on after it is over (A Touching Display). There has never been, nor ever will be, a record quite like this. To describe 154 is to photograph heaven. Lyrically and musically ahead of any other post-punk band by light years, this is the disc I would be stranded with. If you don't have it, get it now, and be ready to re-adjust your views on life.

A CLIFFORD HODGE REVIEW
This is one of the overlooked classics of the post-punk era, and probably belongs on the top 20 list with NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS, the first CLASH album, PIL's SECOND EDITION, etc., yet it even gets underrated by WIRE fans. This has a dark, bass sound, associated with groups like JOY DIVISION, but with a more ominous-sounding vocal style. Probably darker than JOY DIVISION, SISTERS OF MERCY, THE CURE, etc., it may have been considered just too gloomy, although it is not so much depressing as it is oppressive, hammering at you more like a series of short Jonathan Kane compositions, but less repetitious, and with deep vocals invoking strange dream-like images. This should be the album for which WIRE is remembered 80 years from now. The LP on original release in 1979, contained a bonus 7-inch, but the CD has 4 extra tracks not on the LP. This is a must-have for fans of progressive punk/new wave.

"154." What to say about this masterpiece? To be sure, I am a Wire fan. As such, I write with a bias which favors the musical product of this band. The framework of Wire's compositions are rooted in intelligence, often wielding depth and complexity from minimalistic resources. I will always hold deep admiration and pleasure for their songs, which reflect the many corridors of human thought and feeling, translating those findings into incredible music. Wire is so much more than your typical "Baby, baby." (Incidentally, I am not knocking "baby, baby" songs. They're great, too.) Having said all of that, "154" is Wire at maximum command of all their musical prowess and charisma. I recommend this album for the listener who is exhausted with the trite and overused formulas that run rampant on the radio and TV. "154" is for those who want a little something different... and excellent.

154 is my introduction to Wire, and what a fine way to start. I have never been a big punk fan only due to lack of dynamics, and when I dabble, it is in Gang Of Four or Talking Heads, not the Sex Pistols or Dammed. Some of us needy music fans need more than raw guitar.

Wire supplies that and a whole lot more. The well constructed songs are matched by thick, shimmering textures which draw me to dream pop like Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine.

But the drive and kick on 154 make this music an entirely different story from those two bands, who may have learned a lot from Wire but took the sound to quite another place. Here, the dark nuance and synth undertow sets the lights perfectly, and there is no shortage of layered sounds and plenty of black water to keep me swimming here for a long, long time