Disco de Wire: “Coatings”

Instead of collecting all their favourite pop-songs as the "A-List" did, "Coatings" presents Wire as a progressive dance-rock-group like New Order oder Underworld. It contains several studio-outtakes, b-sides, remixes, a previously unreleased John-Peel-Session and the Japan-only three track addition to their album "Manscape". Together with its counterpart "The A-List", this is a perfectly good introduction to the work of this innovative British group.

I don't know if we really needed ANOTHER remix collection from these daft geniuses, but more is almost always good in the annals of the Wire catalog. The last 3 cuts are new, and superior to what was their most recent material ("Another The Letter") when this was released (1997). One of the greatest bonuses is the inclusion of the moody - almost ambient - remix of "It's A Boy" from the 1988 single for "Eardrum Buzz". You get yet another version of "Drill" and an excellent version of "Madman's Honey". Recommended for purists.

For those who are looking for the bonus CD, just go to http://www.wireviews.com/wmo/

As a fan of this phase of Wire's career I figured this would be a great companion to the studio albums. Seeing that this compilation features alternate versions of some of my favorite Wire songs I just couldn't pass it up, not to mention the many other great tracks I was missing out on.

1 The studio version of 'Ambulance Chasers' is comparably less musical than the live track from the 'Ahead' single and remastered editions of 'The Ideal Copy', but still retains that interesting gritty-shoegazer quality. This track is one of the main reasons for owning this CD.

2 A less polished version of 'A Serious of Snakes'. It sounds very similiar to the main version, but the percussion and guitars have more impact; I'm beginning to feel this version is more preferable.

3 This mix is less hard-hitting, but focuses more on the synths, with Newman on vocals this time; I prefer the original, but this is a great alternative take on one of my Wire faves.

4 Madman's Honey is the only song on Ideal Copy that I couldn't really get into, but this mix is again not so heavily produced and feels stronger overall.

5 This mix feels to me a little too busy, with additional vocals coming in occasionally and more instrumentation; not one of my favorite Wire singles, but it's still nice to hear a different mix, since this song itself is a bit obscure.

6 This instrumental version of 'It's a Boy' is rather odd; it's racier and a bit disjointed, though feels a little hollow, and in that it's very worth hearing.

7 Since a true studio recording of 'German Shepherds' doesn't exist/hasn't been released, this live recording is pretty close I think to what a non-remixed version would sound like. There are some noticeable differences, and I wouldn't want to spoil them, but I still prefer the IBTABA mix instead, but that's just me. Even so this track is very worth hearing.

8 this skeletal live version of 'Boiling Boy' is a little relief from some of the preceding tracks. I've always loved this song for how repetitive it is; it gets to be a little hypnotic in a way, and this recording shows this song at its fullest potential in that sense.

9 Awesome 'Drill' mix! Clocking in at just over 8 1/2 minutes it remains a great example of what Wire had originally tried to conceive through the song, but what's most interesting is the unusual instrumentation; definitely worth getting. It's a shame though that these few Peel session tracks weren't released on the Peel Session album, since that does make complete sense.

10 Club mix explains it all; jungle-esque percussion and loops mixed with samples of the original mix (not the IBTABA version). I'm not all too keen on these sorts of remixes, and there really isn't much about this that sets itself apart from usual remix affairs. Definitely not Wire sounding.

11/12/13 are all outtakes from the under-rated 'Manscape' album. A little dancey, they all have certain eclectic embellishments that separate them from what other bands were doing at the time, something for which Wire has always been well recognized. All three in my opinion should've been on the album, but as long as they've a home in my library it doesn't really matter.

Overall the whole compilation is about 70 minutes, like I stated is a good amount, despite the fact that it could've used a couple more tracks, but oh well. For those Wire fans who'd like a little extra taste in their music from this period this is a very valuable piece in your library as it is mine.

Also, there is a second disc which carries a live recording of Ambitious, but since it's almost 20 minutes long it couldn't stay on the first. With that said this compilation almost deserves to have been a big two-disc set full of unreleased stuff (we know there's plenty out there!), but again, it's good enough and satisfies.