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154 (album)

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154
Studio album by
Wire
ReleasedSeptember 1979 (1979-09)
Recorded (1979-04-00) (1979-05-{{{day}}})April – May 1979
StudioAdvision Studios, West London, England, United Kingdom
Genre
Length44:41
LabelHarvest
ProducerMike Thorne
Wire studio album chronology
Chairs Missing
(1978) 		154
(1979) 		The Ideal Copy
(1987)
Singles from 154
  1. "Map Ref. 41°N 93°W"
    Released: 26 October 1979

154 is the third album by the English post-punk band Wire, released in 1979 on EMI imprint Harvest Records in the UK and Europe and Warner Bros. Records in America. Branching out even further from the minimalist punk rock style of their earlier work, 154 is considered a progression of the sounds displayed on Wire's previous album Chairs Missing, with the group experimenting with slower tempos, fuller song structures and a more prominent use of guitar effects, synthesizers and electronics.

The album is so named because the band had played 154 gigs in their career at the time of the album's release. The unusual title of the track "Map Ref 41°N 93°W" was based on a guess of the centre of the American Midwest by bassist and singer Graham Lewis; the location of these coordinates is coincidentally close to Centerville, Iowa.[4]

Following the album's release, a falling out with the band's record label, EMI, as well as creative differences led to their breaking up in 1980,[5] making 154 the band's last album up until their eventual reunion in 1985 and subsequent release of The Ideal Copy in 1987.

Release

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154 peaked at number 39 in the UK Albums Chart, the highest position the band has achieved.[6] It was first issued on CD in 1987 by EMI Japan and later reissued by Restless Records in 1989. First editions of the vinyl album were accompanied by an EP, the tracks from which are included on the Harvest CD, issued in 1994, along with an additional bonus track. The 1996 remastered release, released on Wire's Pinkflag label as a digipack, does not contain any extra tracks, because, according to the band, such additions dishonour the "conceptual clarity of the original statements."[7] In 2018 Pink Flag release a 3-CD Special Edition of the album. The first disc contains the remastered album, while the second disc includes 11 non-album tracks including the 4-song 154 bonus EP, two non-album singles and additional b-sides. The third disc contains the 16-song "Sixth" demo session.

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[9]
The Guardian[10]
Mojo[11]
Pitchfork9.1/10[12]
Q[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[14]
Spin Alternative Record Guide7/10[15]
Uncut[16]
The Village VoiceB[17]

In 1979, shortly after the album's release, notable NME critic Nick Kent wrote that "154 makes 95 percent of the competition look feeble,"[citation needed] Chris Westwood of Record Mirror stated that "Wire [were] achieving a lot of things other–and more recognized–names have been striving for," in a review of the album,[citation needed] and Melody Maker writer Jon Savage called the album a "musical tour de force."[citation needed] In a 1980 The Village Voice review, Robert Christgau wrote: "Predictions that these art-schoolers would turn into art-rockers no longer seems so cynical. Their gift for the horrifying vignette remains. But their tempos are slowing, sometimes to a crawl, as their textures venture toward the orchestral, and neither effect enhances the power of their vignettes, which become every more personalistic and/or abstract."[17]

In a retrospective review, Steve Huey of AllMusic wrote: "154 refines and expands the innovations of Chairs Missing, with producer Mike Thorne's synthesizer effects playing an even more integral role; little of Pink Flag's rawness remains." He continues, "If Chairs Missing was a transitional album between punk and post-punk, 154 is squarely in the latter camp, devoting itself to experimental soundscapes that can sound cold and forbidding at times."[8] Rolling Stone wrote that the album "continued to complicate their [Wire's] sound with more elaborate arrangements, a thicker sound, and more complex, studio-enabled melodies."[14] The Guardian critic Dave Simpson called the album "an unexploded firework in that no one dares return to it" and "a benchmark for unsettling adventures with guitars."[10]

Influence and legacy

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Guided by Voices frontman Robert Pollard has cited the album as an influence, stating "154 was a bolt of lightning. When we started, we wanted to sound like a bunch of different bands. The songs were going to be short, sound like they were recorded in a bunch of different places. That was the Wire influence."[18] In a 2014 interview with Magnet, he expressed his fondness for the album: "I've decided that the greatest album of all time is Wire, 154. Yeah. That's not even a top-20 band, but that's the greatest album. I listened to it again the other day, and it's the most intelligent, rewarding-with-repeated-listenings album that I … it just never fails."[19]

Guitarist Johnny Marr of the Smiths cited the album as a significant and long-lasting influence on his approach to guitar playing, stating that "Wire’s approach to guitar was just something I couldn't ignore. It was a real pointer away from the blues-based guitar playing which dominated pop music – including punk – since rock music had started. As a young guitar player, discovering 154 showed me a world that was an alternative way of looking at the instrument. It has stuck with me all the way through my career."[20] Lead vocalist and lyricist Michael Stipe of R.E.M. said that the track "The Other Window" "provided, in the early '80s, something to aspire to lyrically, [...] [a]nd the mood of the [track's] music is chilling and beautiful, like a memory."[21]

One of My Bloody Valentine's last releases prior to reconvening in 2007 was a cover of "Map Ref 41°N 93°W" for a Wire tribute entitled Whore, along with other artists for other 154 tracks, including "40 Versions" by Godflesh and "The 15th" by Minutemen bassist Mike Watt.[22] The song was selected as a favourite cover of the 1990s by Flak Magazine.[23] Fischerspooner covered "The 15th" as part of their 2001 debut album #1.[24]

"The 15th" was featured as one of the earliest and most crucial examples of shoegaze by Treblezine in its list A History of Shoegaze in 45 Essential Songs.[25] In 2004, Pitchfork listed 154 as the 85th best album of the 1970s.[26]

Track listing

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Credits adapted from the 2018 Special Edition.[27]

Side one
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."I Should Have Known Better"Graham LewisLewis3:52
2."Two People in a Room"Bruce GilbertColin Newman2:00
3."The 15th"NewmanNewman3:05
4."The Other Window"GilbertGilbert, Lewis2:07
5."Single K.O."LewisLewis, Newman[nb 1]2:23
6."A Touching Display"LewisLewis6:55
7."On Returning"NewmanNewman2:06
Side two
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
8."A Mutual Friend"LewisNewman4:28
9."Blessed State"GilbertGilbert3:28
10."Once Is Enough"NewmanNewman3:23
11."Map Ref. 41°N 93°W"Lewis[nb 2]Newman3:40
12."Indirect Enquiries"LewisNewman3:36
13."40 Versions"GilbertGilbert, Newman[nb 3]3:28
Bonus EP (included on 1979, 1987, 1989, 1994 and 1995 releases)
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
14."Song 1" Robert Gotobed, Newman, Desmond Simmons3:02
15."Get Down (Part I & II)" David, Gotobed, Newman, Simmons, TV Smith4:27
16."Let's Panic Later"LewisLewis3:20
17."Small Electric Piece" Gilbert3:33
Bonus track (included on 1994 and 1995 releases)
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
18."Go Ahead" (single B-side)LewisGilbert, Gotobed, Lewis, Newman4:01
Bonus tracks (1995 Japanese release only)
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
19."Stepping Off Too Quick"NewmanNewman1:22
20."Indirect Inquiries" (sic)"LewisNewman3:18
21."Map Ref. 41°N 93°W"LewisNewman3:49
22."A Question of Degree"LewisNewman2:56
23."Two People in a Room"GilbertNewman2:02
24."Former Airline"GilbertGilbert1:12

Tracks 19–24 are demo versions that have also appeared on compilations such as Behind the Curtain and After Midnight.

Personnel

[edit]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the 2018 Special Edition.[27]

Wire
  • Colin Newman – vocals, guitar, backing vocals, distorted bass on "On Returning"
  • Graham Lewis – bass, vocals on "I Should Have Known Better", "A Touching Display" and "Blessed State", backing vocals, percussion on "Once Is Enough", sleeve concept
  • B. C. Gilbert – guitar, spoken word on "The Other Window", sleeve concept
  • Robert Gotobed – drums, percussion
Additional personnel and production
Bonus tracks
  • Colin Newman – vocals, guitar, syndrum on "Go Ahead", saxophone on "Former Airline", keyboards on "Midnight Bahnhof Cafe", production on "Get Down (Parts I + II)"
  • Graham Lewis – bass, keyboards on "Go Ahead", saxophone on "Former Airline", vocals and production on "Let's Panic Later"
  • B. C. Gilbert – guitar, bass on "Go Ahead", saxophone on "Former Airline", production on "Small Electric Piece"
  • Robert Gotobed – drums, production on "Song 1"
  • Mike Thorne – production on "A Question of Degree" and "Former Airline"
  • Paul Hardiman – engineer on "A Question of Degree" and "Former Airline"
  • Ken Thomas – assistant engineer on "A Question of Degree" and "Former Airline"
  • Wire – production on "Go Ahead", "Our Swimmer", "Midnight Bahnhof Cafe", "Our Swimmer (2nd Length)", "Catapult 30" and the sixth demo sessions
  • Nick Glennie-Smith – engineer on 154 EP and the sixth demo sessions
  • Daniel Priest – engineer on "Go Ahead", "Our Swimmer" and "Midnight Bahnhof Cafe"
  • Steve Parker – engineer on "Our Swimmer (2nd Length)" and "Catapult 30"
  • "A Question of Degree" and "Former Airline" recorded and mixed April 1979 at Advision Studios, London
  • 154 bonus EP recorded and mixed July 1979 at Riverside Studios, London
  • "Go Ahead", "Our Swimmer" and "Midnight Bahnhof Cafe" recorded and mixed November 1979 at Magritte Studios, Middlesex
  • "2nd Length (Our Swimmer)" and "Catapult 30" recorded and mixed 1980 at Scorpio Sound, London

References

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  1. ^ Kellman, Andy. "Real to Real Cacophony – Simple Minds". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  2. ^ Hart, Ron (21 June 2018). "Wire Looks Back on Its Pioneering Art Punk Trilogy". Billboard. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  3. ^ "10 Essential Album Trilogies". Treble. 16 March 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  4. ^ "Map Songs: Wire's Map Ref. 41° N 93° W". Making Maps: DIY Cartography. 11 March 2008. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  5. ^ Green, Jim (June 1981). "Colin Newman". Trouser Press. Vol. 8, no. 4. New York. p. 18. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Wire" (select "Albums" tab). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Wire: 1977 > 1979 – Pinkflag (America)". PostEverything. Archived from the original on 14 April 2006. Retrieved 2 May 2006.
  8. ^ a b Huey, Steve. "154 – Wire". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  9. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Wire". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  10. ^ a b Simpson, Dave (3 March 2006). "Wire, 154". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  11. ^ Myers, Ben (June 2018). "Wire: 154". Mojo. No. 295. p. 104.
  12. ^ Tangari, Joe (5 May 2006). "Wire: Pink Flag / Chairs Missing / 154". Pitchfork. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  13. ^ Harris, John (July 2018). "Dawning of a New Era". Q. No. 386. pp. 120–21.
  14. ^ a b Gross, Joe (2004). "Wire". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 883–84. ISBN 0-743-20169-8.
  15. ^ Weisbard, Eric (1995). "Wire". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 435–37. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  16. ^ "Wire: 154". Uncut. No. 106. March 2006. p. 106.
  17. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (25 February 1980). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  18. ^ Dolan, Jon (22 September 2004). "The Records That Changed My Life - Robert Pollard of Guided by Voices - SPIN". Spin. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  19. ^ Valania, Jonathan (19 September 2014). "Robert Pollard: Scalping the Guru". Magnet. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  20. ^ Freeman, John (16 June 2015). "Rubber Rings: Johnny Marr's Favourite Albums". The Quietus. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  21. ^ Goldberg, Michael Alan (5 September 2002). "Future Tense". Portland Mercury. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  22. ^ "Whore: Various Artists Play Wire - Various Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  23. ^ "Flak Magazine: Cover Tunes - "Map Ref 41N 93W," 1-29-01". 19 May 2011. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  24. ^ "#1 - Fischerspooner | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  25. ^ "A History of Shoegaze in 45 Essential Songs". Treblezine.com. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  26. ^ Pitchfork staff (23 June 2004). "The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s". Pitchfork. p. 2. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  27. ^ a b 154 (liner notes). Wire (special ed.). Pinkflag. 2018. PF13SE.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  28. ^ Neate, Wilson (2013). Read & Burn: A Book About Wire. London: Jawbone Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-90827-933-0.

Informational notes

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  1. ^ The songwriting credits for 154 have been modified on all reissues since 2006.[28] "Single K.O." was originally credited to Graham Lewis alone.
  2. ^ "Map Ref. 41°N 93°W" was originally credited to Graham Lewis, Colin Newman and Bruce Gilbert.
  3. ^ "40 Versions" was originally credited to Bruce Gilbert alone.
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