Not crap no way...brilliant pop songs even though they border on hallucinatory volume live. Saw them at London Polytechnic in 1978. Mr Nelson and I agree that it was the loudest thing we'd ever heard at that point. About 7 years later I finally saw Motorhead and although it wrocked it didn't make me see stars...but I digress. Saw them in A Bell Is A cup era, can't remember too well, during one of my several year binges... However, saw them again on
Send tour and it was sooooooo good and, YES! loud as hell.

Domagoj wrote:More recommendations for allegedly awful period in the eighties, between 154 and Read & Burn EPs? What and why? Thanks.

Wire weren't uniformly awful in the 80's. It wasn't until Manscape came out that the shit really hit the fan for them. "It's Beginning to and Back Again", a collection of 80's era remixes, was pretty bad too, I thought, but that is up for dispute.

"A Bell is a Cup" cannot just be thrown on the Crap pile because it doesn't sound in line with their first three albums. It's a huge departure, one which seems to have polarized fans. It seems to be the case that any kind of "mellowing out" is sure to have a good portion of the diehard fan base up in apoplectic arms. It certainly proved so with another of my favorite bands, the Stranglers.

At any rate, at least Wire went out in a new direction after reforming instead of retreading the same path they cut with their initial holy trinity albums. Plus it has at least 4 songs which, in my opinion, are just top.
The Snakedrill EP is very good as well.

i'm going to admit to loving snakedrill, read & burn, and send.

they are good.

Mazec wrote: "It's Beginning to and Back Again", a collection of 80's era remixes, was pretty bad too, I thought, but that is up for dispute.

I'll dispute that, I like it a lot.

that damned fly wrote:i'm going to admit to loving snakedrill, read & burn, and send.

they are good.

I believe they exclusively use the Line 6 pod
on those recordings.

They are brutal EPs and i love them.

glynnisjohns wrote:...brutal...

That must be Danzig.

Still, no-one has mentioned Document and Eyewitness. My favorite (nostalgia reasons).

NC. If you don't like this band, then it's your loss.

Wire is one of my favorite bands ever!

Simple, stark, at times baroque (thanks Tmidgett), angry, intense, at times annoying and beautiful.

I like that these guys don't wank. There's no showmanship in their music. None. Many of you couldn't even come close to restraining yourselves as much as these gentlemen have, and still deliver the mood, texture and intensity in such a successful manner.

Not Crap with no waffles. I've never heard Manscape though.

i like Document and Eyewitness. a lot. that was my first Wire recording. due to its so-so fidelity i traded it in though, thinking all those great songs were available on other albums. little did i know then (i was only 20) that such great songs as "Piano Tuner (Keep Strumming Those Guitars)", "Ally In Exile", "We Meet Under Tables", etc. aren't available anywhere else. needless to say i was delightfully surprised to find out, years later, that some versions of 154 include a studio-recorded "Go Ahead" single, which totally, umm, rules.

i don't have to go to the arctic to know that it's cold, either.