Disco de Wire: “Chairs Missing [EMI Bonus Tracks]”

CHAIRS MISSING is surely Wire's masterpiece. The title suggests a bunch of people, assembled for a meeting, looking around for somewhere to comfortably sit and proceed with their business. But the chairs are missing, and so things, like Wire's music, are surreal, comical and sometimes uncomfortable, and they will require a bit of adjustment.

On their debut, PINK FLAG, Wire married two minute, three-chord punk thrash with oddly allusive lyrics. Here, the band totally transcends its punk beginnings and creates something entirely new.

Wire spin simple riffs into eerie and shifting dreamscapes that recall Kafka, Brazillian concrete poetry, top-40 pop and modern trance music. The lyrics are allusive, elliptical, witty and surreal. Songs that sound like they are built of one chord exfoliate into subtle and complex structures. Sometimes Wire make absolutely perfect pop-- "Outdoor Miner"-- and sometimes their work has the insistent throb of nightmare ("Mercy"). Some songs capture whimsy ("I Feel Mysterious Today") and others make you look over your shoulder to see what is hiding there ("Heartbeat").

This album was created in 1978 and sounds more contemporary than the works of any of Wire's contemporaries. Its production inspired Nirvana/PJ Harvey producer Steve Albini, who was mesmerised by the layers of guitars.

I listen to this often, and new ideas constantly creep out of the fascinating wordplay. Newman and Lewis trust their listeners, showing us ideas and images, and letting our imaginations, carried by the complex and powerful music, do the rest. This is essential listening.

I've been a fan of Wire since the mid-80s. There are some bands I listened to back then that are only pleasant memories now, but Wire is not one of them. Chairs Missing sounds as fresh and invigorating as it ever has. The songs have a timeless quality. Each time I hear it I'm blown away. I believe that this record, along with 154 and Pink Flag, stands unequalled even today. Compelling, uncompromising, and sonically interesting. No wonder so many bands cite them as an influence, this stuff makes me feel like dropping everything and making some tunes of my own.

There are some records that changed my life forever, and Chairs Missing is one of them. I first heard this record when it came to this country as a U.K. import over thirty years ago, and it is still as fantastic to me now as it was then. It certainly pointed me in a different direction and showed me the possibilities of what a band could be and do. From the moment I heard it, I was off down a new road, and I've never looked back. Sadly underrated, do yourself a favor and get this incredible album by an amazing band that was truly decades ahead of its time. It is wonderful to have this record on my iPod. And don't forget Pink Flag and 154, Wire's other great records that are required listening for lovers of modern music. Happy listening. Cheers, Robert Darlington (Singer/songwriter and guitarist for Translator)

This is my favorite of Wire's '70s albums. Several songs on the album retain the punk approach of _Pink Flag_, but with tighter playing and an increased openess to experimentation ("Sand in My Joints", "Too Late", "I Feel Mysterious Today", and "From The Nursery"). Those are all excellent songs that aren't too different from the best tracks on _Pink Flag_ even if they are a bit longer. The band stretches more on some songs ("Practice Makes Perfect", "Being Sucked in Again", "Men 2nd") to good effect. A few tracks are quite arty but work well (such as "French Film Blurred", and the wonderful "I Am the Fly"). "Outdoor Miner" is a great pop song with typically wierd lyrics. "Used To" (a personal favorite) has slow, drawn out guitar chords, under a very melodic vocal. There are a couple of good bonus tracks added to the album as well. This is one of my desert-isle discs ("Marooned" would be appropriate).

'Chairs Missing' is yet another of those unfortunate "transitional" albums, that tend to get somewhat overlooked. 'Pink Flag' was a punk classic, and '154' widely acknowledged as a post-punk masterpiece, but 'Chairs Missing' sometimes falls between the cracks a bit. But this is arguably their best album, certainly it's their most diverse, retaining the energy of their debut while incorporating synths, studio effects and different shades of production.

There are a few energetic punk anthems worthy of 'Pink Flag' here; 'Men 2nd', 'From the Nursery', the proto-noise-rock 'Sand In My Joints' and the frenetic closer 'Too Late'. Elsewhere, the songs and arrangements are much more ambitious. The highlights are the defiant punk/pop declaration 'I Am The Fly', and the suprisingly sunny pop of 'Outdoor Miner'. 'Heartbeat' and the opener 'Practice Makes Perfect' are unsettling slow-burns, while 'Marooned', 'French Film Blurred' and 'Used To' are more subdued and accessible. The centrepiece 'Mercy' mixes punk attitude with an art-rock arrangement, while 'Another The Letter' sounds like a three-way marraige of punk, synthpop and psychadelia.

And it all works. There's not one mis-step or awkward moment here. The raw punk songs still hit hard, and the ambitious tracks never sound bloated or pretentious. And despite all the diversity, the album fits together as a whole quite well, because Wire sound so comfortable no matter what they're doing.

A great album from an legendary band in top form. Five stars.