Pink Flag

One of my favorite albums of all time. "Mannequin" was my most-played Spotify song this year (2021). This is the album that got me into punk music. The concept of this album is a suite of 21 minimalistic tracks that come and go in a span of just over a half hour. You just get a taste of each track, each unique idea, before moving on to the next. Album starts off with a memorable and exciting build up in "Reuters" that explodes in punk madness. I love the madness in the verses (both the vocals and the distressing apocalyptic description) followed by the chorus and the melodic screaming repetition of the word "rape" that slowly mellows off. Next track, "Field Day" demonstrates one of my favorite punk techniques. Burst of explosion for 4 seconds then STOP. Explode again for 4 seconds then again stop. Happens two more times then boom next track already. Not sure who invented this, maybe the Sex Pistols, but the "fuck this let's start over" attitude is all over this album. Things like this make each of these tracks, no matter how short, memorable. "Three Girl Rhumba" starts off with a memorable yet reptitive riff, and continues with the same riff the whole track, except when it deters randomly twice in the middle then at the end. It's so unexpected and surprising. Love the "go underrrr" at the end. Invites the audience to sing along even for just a brief moment. "Ex Lion Tamer" one of the best songs, complete and lengthy. Kicks off at 12 seconds, explodes at 24 for the chorus, starts over at 48 in a perfect transition, only to do the exact same thing one more time before extending that ending for another minute. I love that technique where they repeat the melody and one lyric, like "Stay glued to your TV set" with the back vocals but change the loudness and tone, throwing in some grunts, before ending it with a satisfying decelerated conclusion. Same reason why I liked the end of "Three Girl Rhumba," and a theme we'll see again many times. "Lowdown" is the easiest to hear the very punk lyrics. Another thing I noticed is the grunge-like bass. Not sure if there's any connection to the later movement or how common it was in punk, but it really sticks out here. That halfway break following "That smell of you" is orgasmic. Then there's the other type of ending I love. Also repetitive with the same melody and lyric, but less spooky and more energetic, usually ending so suddenly before starting the next track. "Start to Move" and "Brazil" are examples of this. Still invites me to join in and burst out. "Surgeon's Girl" is my favorite of the <90 second tracks. Love how they make fun of their mumbling vocals by diverging the "go insane" into something intentionally incomprehensible. Reminds me how they often sing so much it's hard to sing along, so this gives me an excuse to just go "yayayayayayayaya." "Pink Flag" closes off the first side, with the same type of build-up intro as "Reuters." My god that when they start going "How many dead or alive" and it devolves into intense chaotic screaming, dying down only to build up again, die down then one last yell. Intense and the perfect way to wrap up the first side. An instrumental piece bridges the two sides. "Straight Line" continues the themes I love. "106 Beats That" is the first of a string of more avant-garde tracks that could be labelled as post-punk. Starts off lofi and abrasive, almost like later hardcore but not as aggressive. Then it gets weird and spooky near the middle with the use of ever increasing synths and fuzzy guitars, ending before it gets any stranger. "Mr Suit" is my other favorite short track, absolutely love the fuck you lyrics. Then we jump into our second post-punk track. A more complete piece, this sounds like something straight off their next album "Chairs Missing" (which is a crime not being on this list). Spooky and atmospheric, perfect for any Halloween playlist. Love the clinking at the end. "Fragile" is another strange one, jangly and could fool people as an alt rock track of the 80s. Stands out like their masterpiece "Outdoor Miner" in their next album. Years ahead of the scene... I guess you could call this post-punk, but it's not very punk at all besides the "fragile" vocals. "Mannequin" is my favorite song off the album. Another post-punk entry, it's the most melodic of the songs, with a perfect bridge, a lovely three part harmony, savage lyrics, with an accompanying vibrant sound. Next three tracks are good. The album ends with the highlight "12XU" which has my favorite bass, ending on a satisfying note. This album is a unique experience with nothing like it, yet parodoxically is a perfect introduction to get people into punk or post-punk, perfectly utilizing an agglomeration of techniques only found in punk-like music. This is also the most accessible of their albums. You can instantly fall in love after just one or two listens. Even the weaker tracks one can grow to appreciate. Highly influential and with nothing bad to say, it not only goes down as a 5 star rating, but as one of my favorite albums of all time.

A lot of bands have built a lot of careers on ripping off this punk classic (hello Elastica, hello Guided By Voices). Considering it has helped spawn genre after genre, DC hardcore to the early 2000s British post-punk revival, it still seems to go somewhat under the radar. They must be gutted that they sold sod all records and made no money off of it really.

Short fast loud and so good. Can hear this having so much influence on everything from Talking Heads to the Chats. Loved how the drums were mixed - the triplet cymbals in Lowdown got me good. Three Girl Rhumba and the title track were also great. Lowdown and Surgeon is my highlight.

Pink Flag is what I used to refer to my grandmother's minge as. I turned a bit darker and even green as the years went by. Still a top shag though.

instrumentals are rockin, but what the fuck is dude saying

Why has no one told me to listen to this album before? It feels so ahead of its time, and it keeps getting better as the album goes. One of the early masterpieces of punk 5/5

With (among much more) the guitar sound of grunge and the brevity of hardcore, it takes a special kind of ingenuity to make a punk album that sounds like this in 1977

British punk album. Lot of super short songs. Great energy, similar to The Clash. Which is probably the lazy comparison, but sue me. Very tight, which quick catchy riffs and tight drumming. Some songs are maybe just a little too short, but I really like it all. The guitar riffs and bass lines are GOOD.

I really enjoyed this album. I love how no song overstays its welcome. It's just this speed punch assault of energy. The music and vocals are exactly what I think of it terms of Brit punk, and it still sounds great.

I love punk. I really do. "Pink Flag" is a great punk album. But. It's missing one of my favorite aspects of punk. The sheer, nihilistic joy of punk is missing here. The classic punk stance of "the world is screwed up and screw the world" seems to be missing. Instead, Wire has leaned hard into the angrier aspects of punk. The overall theme is darker, angrier, and more raw than other punk albums of the time. This is often cited as a reason for calling this early post-punk or even pre-hardcore. And for all that, it's good. The sheer intensity of the minimally produced, almost raw sound is enticing in the same way that great hardcore is. It's compelling. But I do so wish there were some lighter moments. I prefer my punk to be delivered with a knowing smirk, not a glowering scowl.

Like the Ramones... Solid album

The members of Wire got lucky. Their music is beginner, their lead singer is unintelligible. I don't understand how they got a record contract. The mercy of this album is that every song is under 2 minutes. I think there's a political message in some of the songs, but I can't understand the words, so I have no idea. What if 4 dudes picked up instruments yesterday and started a band? This album is the result. Blech.

Another album that I've heard of but never listened to before. I'm so glad that I have finally listened to it now. This seems to straddle the line between punk and post punk, utilizing the best of both. I can hear the influence this had on a lot of bands, most egregiously Elastica ripping off the riff from Three Girl Rhumba. I've listened to this a few times now and have no doubt that I will keep coming back to it.

I used to listen to this all the time, but it's so much more eclectic than I remember - maybe it all used to blur together into what I assumed 70s British punk was, but now I hear it as like a sample platter for post-punk where you get a little taste of every sound and style that would follow - some slow chugging riffs, some funk infused beats, sped up hardcore powerchords, snarling drawled out vocals, aggressive angular guitars, grinding industrial sounds, power pop harmonies, a deadly serious but also constantly unserious affect, some hi-energy poppy jangle, lo-fi production. It really has it all and shows how much you can accomplish with minimalist instruments and more talent for song-writing than musicianship, but a huge amount of creative energy to invest in messing around and making stuff - it's dark and angry at times, but also kind of a joyous artifact of the diy spirit and ethic. Favorites: Reuters, Mannequin, Three Girl Rhumba, 12xU, Lowdown, Strange

BEAUTIFUL GLORIOUS NOISE

Personally one of the most important albums in my musical development. When I heard this album in 1980 I had never heard anything quite like it...and to this day never heard anything quite like it. In that way it is similar to Gang of Four's Entertainment; they are both of their time but also timeless. Great song after great song on this album whether it's the crunching guitar of the opener Reuters, to the 28 second assault of Field Day for the Sundays or the beautiful melodies of Mannequin and Fragile to the anthemic punk of Ex Lion Tamer to the grunge sounding Strange...this album bever fails to impress and delight. An easy 5 star album that 40 years later still gets regular play in my listening room. As an aside it is a travesty that either Chairs Missing or 154, the 2nd and 3rd Wire albums, didn't make this list.

This album is a cult classic that has a wide ranging influence that spans post-punk, hardcore, and britpop. The music itself is driving and minimalist, but unlike other British punk bands of the time, Wire is not anti-musicianship. They use their music in a way that is more in the spirit of their proto-punk predecessors and embrace the experimentally. The album is a short 36 minutes long though it is made up of 21 songs. Many songs are short impressions that link together to drive the disconnected bits forward as the album progresses. It is this experimentation with form that set Wire apart from their contemporaries who were more concerned with being perceived as anti-establishment and anti-rock and roll. It can be argued that Wire is bucking the British punk attitude and aesthetic perhaps making them the most punk of them all. Having said all that, calling them a punk band feels like a disservice. They occasionally have an almost Beatles/Byrds like guitar sound with layered vocal harmonies that betray their punk credentials. The acrobatic bass imparts a new wave/post-punk feel at times that would be at home on a Smiths record. Overall, I find that this album sounds at home in just about any decade.

Punchy, fun songs tightly coiled in a record with no filler in my opinion. Great punky stuff.

Definitely needed to be in 1001 Albums with the amount of influence this album has had on punk rock. Also it slays.

Punk is always great. End of review.

Discovered this one in college and was a favorite among friends and roommates. Wish punk on the whole sounded more like this than say The Ramones or The Sex Pistols. So many ideas crammed into such a tight space. Love the way it moves along. So efficient and refined in it's execution. No fat to be trimmed here. Many songs are short but all completely satisfy. Art-punk at its finest. The song "Strange" is in my musical spank bank. The album leaves me wanting more.

Amazing. True punk. Can hear all the influence on music through the decades. Catchy, long, short. Has it all. Three Girl Rhumba stopped me and my jaw dropped. Had no idea where that riff came from. Loved Field Day for the Sundays. Totally content with a 28 second song. Damn, how amazing.

Short, sharp, and great. Punk at its best. 21 songs in 36 minutes is impressive feet. I had never heard of Wire or pink flag before, but I was impressed. It seemed very ahead of its time for a 1977 release. Favourite song: Three girl rumba and ex lion tamer. Least favourite: Nothing was long enough to not like Album artwork: Cool cover

Very very good. Hard to pick out standouts because a lot of the tracks are snippets, but the flow is great.

The best and worst thing about short awesome punk songs like these is that they always leave me wanting more. I knew some of these songs already (the algorithm has been pushing Fragile on me for years) but this was my first time listening to this album in full. It definitely sounds way ahead if it's time.

A great punk album that was ahead of its time. I had listened to this a few times before and like it a lot, but I was surprised to see this was released in 1976. What a great preview of the Clash’s best a few years later and of some of the better arty punk rock of the 80’s. Fragile and Ex Lion Tamer are my favorites but it’s a solid record from beginning to end.

Punk started shifting here. I dig the groovier stuff over the more by the numbers punk stuff. From reading up on the band, will be checking out their catalog at some point.

Punk usually ends up gradually annoying when the innate anarchism of the genre starts seeping into what should still be good music. Pink Flag vibes some kind of excellence here that seems missing from a lot of punk music, and maybe that begs the question if this album is really punk? The album is certainly a band doing their own thing, their lyrics seemingly everywhere, their sound incorporating short and chaotic messes, but then there's also something else. Intention, as though they are also thinking about making the music good. There is a melodic tendency in their songs that temper the rebellious undertones, that remains a welcome stranger even if they do not care about you.

Pink Flag is by no way an easy listen. The production is extremely raw and bleak. The songwriting is uncompromising and the length of most tracks forces you to be bombarded by new impressions almost every minute. What a ride! I am not as blown away as I was the first time I listened to Pink Flag almost a decade ago; maybe I’ve just been exposed to more (and more extreme) punk since? Nevertheless there’s no denying the influence this would’ve had 45 (!) years ago - and still has to this day. And while its the few longer songs that lingers after, it’s the shorter ones that truly binds it all together. This is also the first appearance of “Strange” on this list. Already looking forward to listening to it again when Document appears.

Startlingly still relevant 70s punk I’ve never heard before? The dark and foreboding lyrics paired with the fast and raw musicality really worked for me. I’m going to give this one multiple listens.

I’ve wanted to listen to this for a while but never got round to it… The album opens with Reuters, quite a cool heavy little rocker and at 3:03 the album’s third longest song! Field days for Sundays is a little rocker not amazing but feels like more of a bridge between songs 1 and 3. Oh it’s connection ( well actually 3 girl rumba but elastica stole the guitar riff) and it’s good nothing amazing but a nice song. Ex loon tamer is a rather good song, I like the use of backing vocals on this one. Lowdown opts for a spoken word style at the start which makes the song sound really unique amongst its peers. Start to move is a proper punk riot with brilliant guitars. I like the drumming of brazil. It’s so obvious has a cool little guitar riff. Surgeons girl is good but I don’t really like the random African sounding drum bits that don’t really fit in with the tune. Side one ends with the title track pink flag and it’s the second longest song on the album, a song that really feels like the climax to the album best part is the mental outro that it has! The commercial starts off side two with a short instrumental, meh but I get it’s inclusion. Straight line is probably my favourite out of the “microsongs” good tune! 106 beats that manages to fit in a nice guitar solo but the last verse sounds really crammed, cool. Mr suit is a very angry thing indeed. The longest song on the album is strange a dark slow rocker, really dug this! Fragile is a violent sounding love song and it’s cool. I’ve herd the Carter USM cover of mannequin before so I have some vague ground with the tune and well the original wire version is better a very good song. Different to me is the last really really short under 1 minute song and it’s okay these short songs are a cool idea but go in one ear and out of the other. Champs has some great guitars work and listenable lyrics but the hand claps… not for me. The penultimate track feeling called love is a great tune I love the super muffled guitars that pop in the later part of the song. 12 X U closes the album and I kinda get it as a closer but it’s not an amazing song to be honest? This has gotta be the shortest 20 song album ever.

Hey, this is the album that birthed Elastica! But, in all seriousness, I struggle to classify Wire as a full on punk band. More like an art rock group that saw the punk explosion as an opportunity to get their foot in the door and get their foot in the door they did. Mixing short songs with harbingers of what they would later come up with, Pink Flag remains Wire's defining statement forty-five years on through sheer invention and aplomb. Yet another example of 1977 being a sublime year for music. Favorites: Reuters, Three Girl Rumba, Ex Lion Tamer, Lowdown, Pink Flag, Strange, Fragile, Mannequin, Feeling Called Love, 12 X U.

If there is one thing this whole exercise has taught me, it's that I am a fool for having ignored punk music from the 70's for this long. Shame on me! This album, with its 21 songs in 37 minutes, is a whirlwind of musical thoughts. Don't conflate that for a lack of quality though. In contrast to my equal appreciation of prog-rock, I also appreciate that Wire didn't feel the need to draw anything out. If they could get the idea across with a single verse and 40 seconds, then sobeit. Each track, be it an entire song or a segment, is complete and stands on its own. If you're only glancing across the album, you would be forgiven for thinking much of it is all the same, but a closer listening reveals the contours of something unique in every song. Some of the brightest spots for me, which also show the diversity of sound across the album, are 'Three Girl Rhumba', 'Lowdown', 'Mr Suit' and 'Champs'.

A fascinating missing link between the early stages of punk and post-punk and the following hardcore, new wave, and alternative scenes. At times Pink Flag sounds like traditional punk, reminiscent maybe of The Sex Pistols whose debut album dropped the same year. Other times, dark, distorted guitars bring to mind the brooding of The Stooges. Midway through the album, I hear a seed of Talking Heads. Other songs foretell Black Flag or The Dead Kennedys. Wire moves effortlessly and fluidly between genres and probably spawns a couple along the way. Even lyrically, they move between smart, political lyrics (see "Reuters") to more lager-soaked, in-your-face, punk-grousing with songs like Mr. Suit ("Take your fucking money and shove it up your arse"), depending on the sonic profile and intent of the song. The effort in their shifting lyric styles and music approaches is worth noting. It is what elevates this album to more than the average quality of its individual songs. Pink Flag is not an easy listen. Few of the 21 tracks could be singles (though you will likely note that "Three Girl Rhumba's" excellent guitar is sampled on Elastica's "Connection"). Rather, the album is an intersection and likely origin point of many emerging styles of the late 70s and beyond. Wire is at once slavish and subversive to genre conventions as they present archetypical sounds and subjects and then utterly ignore precedent on how to piece them together, assembling component parts of countless styles in new and novel ways. As a result, Pink Flag is a genre-defying musical madhouse.

Very, very good. I've listened to it roughly twice now. I feel like there's a lot going on in this cluster of little nuggets. No song outstays its welcome; in fact, some would be welcome to stay a little longer. But that's the point, I suppose. These are finely polished little gems - it takes a lot of buffing to make these gems sound so unpolished.

There are 21 tracks on the album and the album is 35 minutes long. Quick and fast and no messing around

Good raw punk

Where has this album been all my life? Post-Punk in its purest which is one of my favorite genres. Brilliant!

An album I revisit fairly often, fairly unlike anything else as it just flows from short song to short song. The first stretch from "Reuters", to "Field Day for the Sundays", to "Three Girl Rhumba" ending in "Ex Lion Tamer" is a huge opening sequence.

Love this mix of punkish-indie rock. Both the bite-sized and longer tracks alike share a kind of spastic energy reminiscent of acts like Squid or black midi today, and the remaster on this thing is insane - sounds like it could have been recorded today. The sludgey guitar tone that features on many of the tracks is absolutely perfect to boot.

Enjoying this one a lot, punky messy, great sound and style to it. Have definitely slept on these guys and I'm pleased its on the list!

Deconstructing punk almost as soon as it's born is cool. Manufacturing said de-punk brand as ready made detritus is art school cool. Doing it all without melody or groove is high stakes. A few times here the payoff is exponential, a bunch more it's handsome, but a few too many you don't leave the bookies with much more than you walked in with.

Enjoyed cooking veggie meatballs to this

Fav Song: Three Girl Rhumba

The whole experience is so flat.

Une série d'interludes punk aussi insupportables que ceux des Minutemerdes. Je savais toutefois à quoi m'attendre puisque les noms de groupes constitués d'une couleur et du mot flag s'inscrivent tous dans ce style musical considéré par les gens intelligents comme un errement dans l'histoire du quatrième art.

Bien essayé de la part des Minutemerde mais la couverture ne prend pas, ils sont très facilement reconnus et jugés comme il se doit. 2/5, et qu'on ne les y reprenne plus.

Excellent album. This is my first time with this one, I will add it to my favorites.

I'd forgotten how good this album is.

Pocas bandas fueron tan influyentes para la construcción del sonido "indie-alternativo" como Wire. Siendo el debut de la banda, "Pink Flag" propone una lista de canciones cortas que empujan los límites del punk, el post-punk y el new wave. La producción esquelética, con guitarras reventadas y baterías inexactas le dan un olor a "garage" a todo el LP, inspirando a cientos, especialmente a algunas propuestas britpop como Elastica y bandas como The Strokes. Un trabajo realmente increíble que a la vez es esencial para entender como fue evolucionando la escena musical global.

I am part of the cult following now.

really raw punk album, this is probably my favourite punk album on par with london calling, this is great, really full of energy, really good listen

Mannequin = catchiest song ever?

The best Post-Punk albums in this list so far. Great energy.

If there’s one thing, this serious has taught me, it’s that I’m a way bigger fan of punk, and post-punk than I ever thought I was before. It’s easy to see why so many other bands were cribbing from this template in the years that followed. What a fantastic album.

One of my favorite albums of all time. Their rules of negative self-definition from 1977 that formed the basic framework of the band said it best: No solos; no decoration; when the words run out, it stops; we don't chorus out; no rocking out; keep it to the point; no Americanisms.

Parmi les groupes "punk" de la deuxième moitié des années 70, il y a les incontournables "Sex Pistols", les plus commerciaux "Clash", et puis il y a les autres... Sorti en décembre 1977, le premier album de Wire est un chef d'oeuvre punk de 21 morceaux et 35 minutes (le morceau le plus court ne fait que 29 secondes). Album révolutionnaire et minimaliste, album fondateur de la culture punk, "Pink Flag" ouvrira par la suite la voie aux groupes "hardcore" avec ses 21 morceaux taillés à la hache. Plus de 45 ans après, "Pink Flag" reste toujours aussi frais et efficace et s'impose comme un bon et grand disque de punk anglais. Et nous prouve que le plus important n'est pas la musique en elle-même, mais plutôt comment on la joue. Un gros 5/5 pour un incontournable du punk Britannique.

One of those albums I ask myself every time I listen to it, "Is it as good as I remember?" and then I hear the opening of "Ex Lion Tamer" and I'm all revved up again. Certainly sowed the seeds for a lot of other music I like, but more importantly it's harder to find finer art punk than this.

Incredible from start to finish. The guitar tones on this album are just unreal. Hardly anything on this list will be able to top this.

Fantastic record.

This album fucking rules. I knew it already, but really it grows in my ratings every time I listen. 4.5/5

I can punk to this.

Yeah, one of my most favourite albums of all time.

A landmark punk release that can only be described as the UK's response to Television. Wire has a knack for making great songs that were over before you knew it. Only the opening track breaches 3 minutes in length, giving itself some space to establish Pink Flag before the hit-and-run songs. Every song is great. Even if it's not great, it just moves on to the next one. That's punk, baybee. Fantastic.

First time hearing but I loved it! Maybe it’s a punk thing to have lots of short tracks, but it really serves as a nice intro Punk 101 sort of thing, cool riffs that don’t overwhelm/overstay. Also loved the production, gave it an underground feel, whether this is deliberate or showing its age doesn’t matter. 5/5

This is a real fun album, I've listened before but nice to revisit it today.

Going all in with Pink Flag as my favorite album by Wire. Direct songwriting with acerbic wit, propulsive rhythms and impactful guitar will win me over every time. This record consistently delivers it all at a high level.

Punk-rock flat-out classic that basically wrote the code for what would become hardcore. What's not to like? I don't care if I can't understand what he's saying, this is great.

Such an influential album for punk and post punk. Personal enjoyment: 5/5 Relevance to this list: 5/5

Such a fantastic record, everything that's right about punk. Smart in it's dumbness, massive in how concise it is, just a brilliant record that was way ahead of its time.

awesome !

This was a great surprise. Loved it. Everything I like about that old school punk sound is here, I’m actually surprised I’ve never heard it before.

Wow thos album was so hard to find before streaming and iphones. Could never find it but first time listening to all the songs in their order and its just beautiful. Love it, this album is very important for the development of post-punk and influential to all the most important bands of post-punk, new wave and other generes. Songs are short amd sweet very clean punk and clear lyrics its like punk but cleaned and shinny. Really really good

Punchy, creative, and feels fresh. If there is an album marked as an origin point for emotional hardcore and post hardcore from the 80s and early 90s, I'm pretty sure this would be it.

One of my favourite albums of all time. A 21-song punk suite that redefined the genre and brought an art school attitude to it. A band that took a minimalist approach to their music writing and played around with song structure to create songs that only lasted as long as they needed to, just keeping the essential parts. “Think of a number and divide it by two” is the philosophy of this album.

I liked this! I like the crunchy/fuzzy/grungy britpunkyness. Especially "Strange." Wtf is 1 2 x U about tho.

Great. Pow.

Knowing how influential they were to post punk, I've listened to a bit of Wire but never heard this whole album. Definitely should've checked them out earlier. Musically they're like a mix of The Damned and The Ramones with the lyrics and attitude of the Sex Pistols and The Ramones (depending on the song — at times they're serious and political and at other times more inane and silly). The album has a mix of catchy and harder punk songs. It's 21 tracks, but a lot of them are more like snippets than actual songs. The whole album flies by in only 35 minutes, and the pace never lags. Highlights: Reuters, Three Girl Rhumba (which you might recognize from the riff that Elastica ripped off in the 90s), Pink Flag, Mr. Suit 5/5 just a really good punk album

verey good 5/5

Cut and burn. Punk not punk. Satirical masterpiece. Saturday night jitters. Sweetened bitters. Feeling called love be bop a Lula your hula hoops. 12XU. Wire moved on quickly from there adrenalised debut and are still a tour de force today. Individual members have made numerous records. Genius band, starting out on a high, before morphing into individual brilliance, solo and collaborations. Still relevant. Abstract mappers headed off the grid. Essentially yours!!

5/5. There are about 5 actual songs here but it makes for a really easy listening experience as there is just enough energy put into each song as deserved, never overstays their welcome but gives the listener something to think about for about a second before throwing a new idea at you and the suddenly the album ends and you want to throw it back on because you didn't get everything, repeat process. An excellent formula and although unconventionally enjoyable, it was a good album, no notes. Best Song: Ex Lion Tamer, Lowdown, Champs

Totally unique and awesome.

Super fun punk album. Straightforward and catchy. It feels like this band epitomizes the phrase "bring it back to basics" and just writes good songs.

Tiny punk rock amuses-bouches. Get in mah belly.

Elegant & angry. Rough & refined. Catchy & cacophonous. Trendsetting & timeless.

Punk? Post-Punk? Proto-Post Punk? Proto Crank Wave by-the-way-of-post-punk? Who the f*ck cares? It's a f*cking masterpiece. How terrifically abrasive and yet effectively "moody" are its obvious highlights, having a somewhat "normal" length for a song (opener "Reuters", "Ex-Lion Tamer", "Lowdowm"," the title track, "Strange" and, of course, "Mannequin" and its infectious backing vocals), and looking like long epics next to the many one-minute angry bursts also bringing their fair share of gems:"Three-Girl Rumba", famously plundered by Elastica, prophetic "It's So Obvious", foretelling the importance of year 1977 for culture overall, raging "Mr.Suit", probably against music industry goons, or closer "1 2 X U" and its homoerotic context--possibly a comment on internalized homophobia--covered by Minor Threat, by the way. In that particular league of songs, everyone will have their favorite. But they're all objectively good. To put it in a nutshell, this record is like no other--not even the two awesome albums following this debut (which Dimery should have included as well). Its off-kilter concept makes it timeless, and its overall effect is both mysterious and exhilarating. As seen on the wikipedia page for this record, one Pitchfork writer called it an explosion of "song-fragment shrapnel". Can't do any better than this to conclude this tentative review. Number of albums left to review: less than 200, approximately - I've temporarily lost count here. Number of albums I'll include in my own list: half so far, approximately (including this one) Number of albums I *might*  include: a quarter, approximately Number of albums I'll never include: another quarter, or just a little more (many other albums are more important to me)

A completely under appreciated album that is unapologetic, energetic and...I dunno...enigmatic? Top tier dirty punk with some of the crunchiest guitar tones this side of the Mississippi. I've been struggling with simplicity in my own music lately, so this album was a swift kick in the ass reminder that great music = simple music.

An audacious album that’s slick yet grimy, minimalistic yet complex, fragmented yet cohesive, and still somehow underrated despite its considerable influence.

great memories!

i love wire, i think their first three albums are all amazing but this one easily stands as the best imo. its really fun to listen to and its so eclectic it never gets boring. strange is probably my favorite track but there isnt a single low point on the entire album. 9/10

often I'll just leave the review blank for 5 star albums where i have nothing to add that hasn't been said a million times already here and elsewhere, but sometimes i need to write something just to emphatically underline that sentiment. this is one of those times

Fuck yeah

Cracking debut album, punk but also post-punk before post-punk became a thing.

One of the best albums of the post-punk era. Structured, but noisy and angular in the best way.

This is the third best punk album I've ever heard after the Sex Pistols and London Calling. The singing voices/styles are the most immediately recognizable elements of punk, but these bands are so incredibly good at their instruments. If an album's instrumentals alone could be 5 star, you've got a pretty god damn good one. Favorite track: Champs

Think of a Number. Divide it by 2. Five stars. <first 3 Wire albums all 5 stars - this is number 1>

According to my last.fm account this is my most listened to album (since 2014 when i reset my plays), so you could say i kind of like it. Barely a month can go by without me giving it a spin, I genuinely believe it's one of the best rock albums of all time. Incredibly catchy, short punk bangers that just fly through in half an hour. The two longer cuts of the title track and 'Strange' show their versatility that would become more apparent on their next two albums (which are also incredible). Thank god for Wire.

106 Beats that Mr. Suit Mannequin 1 2 X U Punk

The most influential, timeless, essential punk album of all time.

It was great!