Reviews (page 3 of 9)
1st reaction: 21 tracks? 2nd reaction: 35 minutes?? 3rd reaction: this from 1977??? 4th reaction: hm, not bad. 7/10
Good never heard before 8/10
First ever listen to this. None of the songs hang around too long. Will need to listen a few more times but enjoyed this
3/6
Spodobała mi się jedna piosenka, po czym okazało się, że płyta się skończyła i to już inny album innego zespołu. Ileż przeciętnych albumów muszę jeszcze przesłuchać na tej liście rzekomo najlepszych albumów? Doceniam rytmiczność kawałków i… tyle. 6/10
I've listened to a few of their bigger tracks previously, but not any whole albums. I regret that. You can literally hear the 90s UK indie scene being formed out of it. Short, sharp tracks, phenomenal guitar sound, nothing outstays its welcome. Clearly punk, but also post-punk. Listened to it four times already today.
This starts promising. Probably a 4.
3/5
Beautiful punk record. A pure essential that combines the soul of the OG punk ethos and the acrobatics of dissecting the body of it and just running with it. Minimalist riffs, krautrock rhythms, and noisy backgrounds, you can find all the good stuff It has a dark presence around it. Not like This Heat with its apocalyptic portrait through music, but like a decrepit lived-in basement type of presence. I love how while listening, you can think two diametrically different things about it: 1. This is punk and 2. This is not punk And I think that conundrum is one of the most beautiful aspects of it.
One of my favorite post punk albums. 21 tracks packed into a 35 minute span. This rules. Favorite track: Mannequin 4.5/5
It's okay
Good album, Ex Lion Tamer & Mannequin are standout tracks.
Very good. I was afraid to listen to this when I was younger because I was worried I wouldn't like it. Partly that and I would have had to buy it (these days it's so much easier to enjoy music as a listener!). Anyway, too bad I didn't get it, because it's great!
Please: Stop giving me punk. It's all bad, the opposite of what I like. Whineshoutwhineshoutsomemore.
Pretty good!
not for me
I knew this was gonna be amazing, and it reeeally was. It's the exact punk (post-punk?) that I love. Non-stop action and incredible guitar sounds, especially for the time. Loved everything about it. Probably a more fitting 4, but I just don't have anything bad to say about it, so it's a 5 for me.
Praticamente o que o punk já faz Não gosto que nessa lista tem poucos álbuns que eu realmente deveria ouvir antes de morrer, quase são bem mais do mesmo Poucas foram as descobertas realmente fodas que eu tive Música de filme adolescente estadunidense meio anos 80 (não é algo necessariamente ruim, me sinto nessa época e parece que estou em um filme) Se pá até por isso as músicas são bem curtas Como enjoa rápido, as músicas serem curtas torna ouvir um álbum um processo mais prazeroso é criativo sim vai Meio viajão esse pensamento, mas dá pra se identificar por conta da simplicidade vocal e instrumental, que se enquadra naquela mesma vibe adolescente BRAZIL MENTIONED??? e porque o nome de uma música de menos de 1 min se chama Brazil é um questionamento interessante viajão de forma bem curiosa esse álbum curto, adolescente, barulhento, meio sem sentido e não se importa de ser assim - intencional self titled foda mta informação nessas musicas curtas, dps de um tempo não é um ponto que agrada tanto 3.5/5 / 7/10 seria a nota perfeita, 3 por não ter sido marcante mas não memorável o suficiente para estar no 4 / 8
Not great - shouty vocals, scratchy guitars, basic progressions.
3/5
Brilliant
Love the distorted bass lines, it’s got some catchy punk ideas on top of pop licks
This is what punk should be. Uncompromising, primal, messy. Some songs could be longer for my tastes, so there’s more time to develop ideas, but this would undermine the whole ethos of the band. Essential.
Super cool record. It reminded me of Joy Division, but arguably more palatable. I like the heavy drudge songs, but also loved how it would shift to be more upbeat. This is exactly the kind of punk music that pulls me in and makes me want to listen to the record a few times (which I did). I also really like the early hardcore elements.
Was totally unfamiliar with this and was hooked immediately. Good thing I didn’t know about this album in high school- I would have been insufferable. This kicks ass.
Underrated album and band. Nice new acquaintance for me
Not bad. Certainly ahead of its time in 1977.
What I find incredible about this album is that it was released mere weeks after the debut from the Sex Pistols. In punk's heyday, Wire were already post-punk. "Pink Flag" sounds like it fits in with early 80s, proto-new wave. I can easily imagine them opening for Talking Heads. I also have a soft spot for this album ever since I saw Wire play a free show in New York's South Street Seaport. I knew nothing about them, I just wanted to hear some music outside on a nice summer evening. It was possibly my first ever punk show, as it's not a genre that I used to listen to. In retrospect, having heard a lot of other artists from the era now, it's maybe not the best example there is. But there are still some great tracks here, particularly "Three Girl Rhumba" (criminally too short, in my opinion) and "Mannequin".
all-time fav
some nice loud muddy fast punk, i like it!
When I got to the end of this album, I was surprised to realise it was released in 1977. It really has that 90s maybe early 2000s grunge sound to it. I've never heard of the band before but it's definitely punk/grunge, wouldn't be surprised if they inspired a lot of that genre later in the 90s. Anyway, not really into grunge but it was an alright listen.
You can hear a lot of what britpop was influenced by but for some reason I can’t get into it
ni siquiera senti el tiempo pasar de lo bueno que fue
A lovely, zippy energetic album. A bit variable in quality, but when songs are this short that’s not a massive problem.
Fuck yeah... aggressively British aggressive shouting... for better or worse, I really do eat this shit up. Punchy! Fun!
A bit of a mixed bag! Some songs I really enjoyed, others were shit. Hard to rate overall so will just bang it in the middle 3 ⭐️
Nope
favs: lowdown rating 0.1/5
Not a bad track.
Based on past reading and talking with folks who love Wire, this was not as high quality as I'd expected. The singing is mediocre at best and often leans towards annoying. But, I get it, punks don't care! Most of the music seams all too similar across the board. Hard to tell one song from another. I really gave this a few tries, but nothing ever really jumped out at me. The best thing about their songs is that they're short. Calling it a 2 and never coming back.
I didn't hate it. That says alot for a punk band.
Did not like. Just not a genre for me
I liked the fact that they sounded like a perfect sonic transition between Punk and Post-Punk, like a mix of Sex Pistols and Joy Division (with all due respect to the differences). Other than that, there's not much to see here. 3 stars.
If you’re expecting 180 bpm thrashing for 60 minutes, you’ll be disappointed (although there are a couple of songs to get you sweating). Wire has some surprises, and you can hear seeds of grunge pop up some 15 years before it officially hatched. These guys are definitely influential and were actually looking to help punk evolve.
Ett band jag inte hört förut, gillade albumet. Kul med brittisk punk från 70-talet. Flera låtar gillade jag lite extra: Mannequin, Pink Flag och Surgeon's Girl.
4.9
Now this is punk I can get behind
If I have to listen to British punk, I’m his is what I wanna listen to. Fun and not offensive. The best version of a bushwick concert. FOUR
Preferred the second half, felt a bit more droney and experimental. Thought the brevity of the tracks was occasionally frustrating but generally not bad.
Hell yeah liked this a lot more than I was expecting
This feels like a very toned-down version of Double Nickels on the Dime by Minutemen. That's also on this list, funny enough. instead of 40-ish songs in 70-ish minutes, this is 20 in 30. I feel like the album as a whole is much more influential than good. I can hear where a lot of Post-Punk bands come from in this album, along with the general shortness that defines bands like the Circle Jerks. I feel like it's a lot more "blink and you miss it" than that Minutemen album. The really similar sound between every song and the same general song structure outside of a few songs draws my attention to when every song ends moreso than what's actually in the music itself. The really different-sounding songs like the title track or Strange stick out to me in a better way, though.
Actually starts pretty good, with some punk songs that are listenable. But there a ton of songs, trying out one different punk approach after another. Most of it is a simple idea or rift. I can see why this is placed as a transition from early punk. Later bands maybe picked one idea in the whole album and ran with it. But in the end still middling punk. Just don’t like the genre enough to come back to it.
It's not too often you encounter an album where the average track length is 1:42. Couple that with the unpolished, abrasive punk-in-its-prime sound, and Wire's debut acts as the perfect antithesis to the progressive rock that took the music world by storm earlier in the decade. But punk is nothing new. The late 70s were bustling with so-called English "rebels" that had zero musical talent but a good deal of motivation and alcohol. Wire is just another one of these. Do you think these young British blokes recognise how absolutely horrendous they sound? Especially their vocals? There's nothing good about the congested swamp of anti-establishment faux-musicians during this time period, apart from the sentiment itself, and a few select bands that composed and produced their music better than the pack. But, in general, my ears are not those of a 70s rebellious tween. This genre, for the most part, has not aged well – particularly when the melodies, harmonies, lyrics, and instrument-playing are all crap. The music is extremely simple – almost minimalistic. The first track that could qualify as a proper song is Three Girl Rhumba, but even that isn't particularly strong, with its two-note main riff and shallow drumming being the two most interesting features. Its successor, Ex Lion Tamer, is much better. The interacting vocals and thick wall of guitars make for a rowdy atmosphere that's perfect to dance along to. Following this song is a slew of short snippets of (essentially) weak musical ideas. Low Down, Start To Move, Brazil, It's So Obvious... yeah, It's So Obvious that these songs are pointless and contain nothing of substance. The title track is a big improvement, though: it has this ferocious rise in energy and tension in the second half, making use of heavily distorted guitarwork and rowdy crowdfunded vocals. The following instrumental, The Commercial, is pretty good too. It helps to not be subjected to Colin Newman's voice. The gritty riff in Strange is pretty good. And the singing tone is alright, but I can't get past the godawful enunciation ("Thare's sahmthing gowin awn thass nawt quoit roit!"). Still, one of the standouts so far. The following track, Fragile, continues the unusually long streak of bangers, which ends with the excellent, polished Mannequin. Champs is also strong. Why is all the best material bunched up near the end of the record, instead of fleshing them out and removing the ten-plus tunes that have no reason to exist? There's a lot of good music here, and it would've been so, so easy to make this into a solid album. But artists who shoot themselves (and their record) in the foot deserve no sympathy. 1/5 Key tracks: Ex Lion Tamer, Fragile, Mannequin, Champs
moeilijk te overschatten
Brittiläistä räminää mikäköhän Lontoon aksentti tässä aina kuuluu. Oasis? Bur?
It’s a mix of disquieting and charming to hear lyrics about the evil magnetism of TV from back in the day. Oh buddy just you wait. Quick, catchy, no-bullshit punk rock. Rapid and fired-up.
12XU
Good old Punk
Great driving punk, influenced by the British scene and in turn influencing Talking Heads and R.E.M.. These songs have a punch and a drive that sticks in your head.
I need to listen to this more, but it feels like something up my alley.
Bit too repetitive sometimes, but I like the vibe
I certainly enjoyed listening to this album. It could as well have been published in the 2020s. If I hadn't read the year of publishing, I wouldn't have noticed it's age. Apparently punk hasn't changed much in the last 50 years :-) My highlights are "Mannequin", "Mr. Suit" and "1 2 X U".
Never heard of this before, but really enjoyed it. Wouldn't have thought it's as old as it is.
Super fun and unorthodox album. Has been a regular listen for a while.
Varied - Grimy - great listening experience (remaster)
Think of a number (ten) Divide it by 2 (that's five)
Pretty simplistic, but also fun punk album. Not my favorite genre by any means, but this album is one of the best punk records I have ever listened to. Standouts: Mr. Suit, Strange, Fragile.
Wowsers
wow 5
corte ramones una pija salva 2 o 3 temas
A highly influential record, with everyone from Elastica to Minor Threat taking something from this album. Packing 21 songs into a tight 35 minute package, some of the more brief songs pass without being able to make much of an impression. The angry cuts 'Surgeon's Girl' and 'Mr Suit' work best in this format, with the influence on hardcore punk being very clear. The vocals here are at their best when they are shouty and snarling. We do get a glimpse of their poppier side with 'Fragile' and 'Mannequin' both having catchy melodies without jeopardising their punk sound completely. The album gets at its most chaotic on the title track, with an lengthy breakdown to close off the first side of the album. The burst fire delivery of the riffs are loud and the bass grooves pop. Released only a year after punk broke, these lads released an intense fully formed album which built upon everything that first wave of punk bands laid out.
I've never heard of Wire, was all set for it to be 'meh', but I actually enjoyed it.
This one disappointed me a bit, was waiting for it to kick in, but it never did.
I've definitely heard worse punk rock, so that's something.
I had no idea R.E.M. were doing a cover with Strange, how cool to stumble onto the original. It took me a while to grow into this album, but it sucked me in eventually. The early songs were in the hard rock vein that I'm not a fan of, but as it progressed, it was more like early Clash UK punk rock which I resonate more. I can definitely see why this is on the list.
old school british punk - like it, putting 5 starso to revisit
a short sharp shock, full of ideas and urgency, packed with excellent brief songs -
Reuters - 4/5 Field Day for the Sundays - 3/5 Three Girl Rhumba - 3.5/5 Ex Lion Tamer - 4/5 Lowdown - 3.5/5 Start to Move - 3/5 Brazil - 3.5/5 It's So Obvious - 3/5 Surgeon's Girl - 3.5/5 Pink Flag - 4/5 The Commercial - 3.5/5 Straight Line - 3.5/5 106 Beats That - 3.5/5 Mr. Suit - 3.5/5 Strange - 4/5 Fragile - 3.5/5 Mannequin - 4/5 Different to Me - 3/5 Champs - 3.5/5 Feeling Called Love - 3/5 1 2 X U - 3/5 You can definitely hear the shift going on from punk to post-punk here. I can't understand anything the guy is saying but the instrumentals are driving. Definitely more of a 3.5/5 but I'm rounding down because punk really isn't my thing, Overall: 3/5 Favorites: Reuters, Ex Lion Tamer, Mannequin, Strange
Punk greatness
Well shit. This was great. I don't know if I'll ever loop around to listening to this again, but it sounds so timeless that I would have never guess it was from the 70s. It honestly sounds like early 2000s in the vein of Vine and The Strokes.I'm not saying this is my favorite album, or even the best discovery I've made while doing this project. But I *will* say that this is one of the albums that I can 100% understand why it was included because I hear the bones of SO MUCH music that came later. This is one of those albums that influenced bands who've never even heard of them, simply by the fact that they influenced so many other bands. Top notch, and definitely an album I'm glad I listened to before I died.
Liked some bits of it, it's influential given the way Guided by Voices and Elastica used bits of their songs to make some of their own. But at some point the singer became some kind of white noise to me.
9/10
Pretty cool band I hadn't heard of. 3.7/5
Fast loud and short but oh so good. Can hear this having so much influence on in a lot of bands that followed Less well known than the more Punchy Pistols
Etwas stampfend, aber ganz nett
Decent punk album for 1977. 3/10
Some of the guitar sounds on this are great. Heaps of energy and some interesting songs. This definitely isn’t just mindless punk screaming.
Smart Punk in short bursts. No GbV without this band IMO. Belongs on the list. Great listen
Fun, fast passed, but a bit forgetable.
Album No. 0152 on my list. This was good stuff. I had never heard of the band Wire before, so “Pink Flag” was completely new territory for me. And I enjoyed it listening to it. “Pink Flag” is a decent punk/post-punk album with a very characteristic sound and cool, short (sometimes very short) songs. While no song really stuck out for me, the whole album presented many of punk’s best qualities: the aggressiveness, the boldness, the precision. Good stuff, really! I’ll add “Reuters”, “Ex Lion Tamer”, and “Mannequin” to my playlist. Could have added other songs as well, but I should note that many of the songs here feel like sketches, exploring new musical ideas. That’s not a bad thing, but they also don’t necessarily feel like full-scale songs. So, there is a lot of potential on this album, and certainly some good stuff. Anyway, I’ll leave it at that: 3/5 stars!
Fast and punky
Alright Dimery, I'll allow it. 3.5, would listen again.
I mean, sure? Y not Se escucha como creí que sería mi adolescencia. Dos estrellas porq no es el tipo de música que escucho.
I'm a simple man. You speak sing at me, you get 1 star
Structure of this was so interesting i wanted the songs to be slightly moreso but its falling on the 4 side of 3.5
Very into the album name and album art synergy, love literal design choices so much sometimes! The music itself was interesting and abrupt and grating at points. It felt quite modern to me in a way that surprised me, which for an album almost 50 years old probably means I just don’t know enough about 70s rock. Different Like Me reminded me of Someday by The Strokes in particular, and guess that’s the cycle of music inspiration for you! This is a high 2, but it was grating enough to drop below recent 3s.
Sonically, I liked this but not enough to go back to try and decipher the lyrics.
please get me out of the 70s! I write this before I’ve listened to a single note but this is how I feel. But it could be great! Ok I really enjoyed the sound of this and you can’t say that it overstayed its welcome. Songs were punchy and catchy, lovely fuzzy quality. Ex Lion Tamer was great! Edit again: I was still ready for it to end because I guess it didn’t feel like it progressed too much, but still some great punk (?) songs in there
Hell yeah
A fun album, great energy! Though a lot of the songs did sound very similar, still enjoyable
Really fun early punk.
Decent.
Just how many english punk bands are in this list?
Good Especially for that year. Ahead of much more famous stuff in the dame genre Good
High energy and gritty from start to finish. Such pure punk in a quirky package.
Early punk. I like it. 3.5/5.
Ex Lion Tamer // Mannequin //
Muy muy punkpadour... No me llama mucho. Temas cortos rápidos y con poco sentido. Está bien, para punk, pero no es tanto lo mío.
Fun album, and how can you not love "Ex Lion Tamer"?
Three girl rumba is definitely an improvement of the riff stealing Elastica. Overall i didnt mind it but songs like Mr Suit and Different to me just made me anxious so i dont think it is something i would ever seek to revisit
I had never heard of Wire before this, but very quickly I learned they were not for me. They took my “keep songs under 3mins long” instruction to heart, that’s for sure, but those songs were so short it was almost jarring how quickly they ended. This is probably a 1.5* album, and I didn’t hate it as much as some of the other 1* ones.
I like the vast majority of punk and therefore I unsurprisingly liked the vast majority of this. I knew this album as "the one Elastica completely ripped off for Connected" but hadn't listened to it before. And yep, Elastica very much ripped off Three Girl Rhumba and because I'm a 90s kid at heart, my brain kept adding the "nee-naa, nee-naa" bit in. It's a funny experience listening to this, because I kept thinking it sounded like one band or another, and then realising it predated all of them. It was really influential in it's own quiet way. I cannot tell what he's singing approximately 80% of the time, which would normally drive me nuts, but it was somehow charming. I did pick up "Take your fucking money and shove it up your arse" as a lyric though. I really liked Ex Lion Tamer, 1 2 X U, Champs, Mr Suit, and Strange. Should really be a 3.5 but I liked it enough that I'm rounding up. 4/5
Don't like the guitar Sound...
Don't know this group at all, loved it
Nice album, first time I heard that, thanks!
Acceptable rock 'n roll. Nothing at all memorable.
ONETWOEXYOU!! Not my favorite Wire: their second and third albums are the ones that really move me, where they back off the punk attack quite a bit. But you can get a sense of their painterly approach here, not to mention a subtle tone to the music that might best be described as "sinister." My favorite song is "Strange," which I first heard covered by R.E.M.. "Mannequin" is great too, and you can really hear their influence on 80s and 90s groups on that one. Wire are also a rare example of a group still producing relevant and intriguing music almost 50 years after they formed. Can't recommend their stuff from the last 10 years enough--it is fantastic.
Another of those classic debut albums & one of my all time favorites. Some considers Wire post punk but this one is all hard-core punk! Absolutely brilliant record!
Nothing gripping.
Not a dull moment.
I hear a lot of grunge to come in this - impressive in 1977. Definitely can see how they were influential. Songs are ok.
It's perfect.
Real punk
35 minutes of absolute heat. I'm fascinated by how every song has a different guitar tone. It's incredible to believe this came out a year after the first Ramones album because it changes the game so hard
Didn't really get much of anything out of this. Tried it twice.
I was confused at the start of Three Girl Rhumba and had to go hum the song into google to remind me where I had heard the riff before. A lot of it just kind of blended together making it hard to stick. My mind easily wandered.
guess I don't like post punk?
How did I know know this band. Ive heard the clash, sex pistols, Ramones etc, but nobody I know has talked about wire. This was an unknown gem. Listening to their later stuff they were also post punk pioneers.
Oh baby we love and respect a short song. Thank you This was fun! I would have eaten this up as a wean. I'd probably like it more if I listened to it on headphones instead of speakers but that's a choice that I made 3.5/5 Songs added to playlist: - Ex Lion Tamer - Mannequin
I can hear how other, better bands built on this sound to create better music but I'm only so willing to grade on a curve here
didnt fully listen but was nice i think
Pink Flag is one of those albums that I've been meaning to listen to for a long time. It has such a strong legacy and influence on some of the bands I love that has just made me a little cautious about listening and being underwhelmed. I needn't have worried, Pink Flag rocks. There's such a fantastic energy and variety to this record despite it being just 35 minutes long. A strong argument that sometimes brevity is best.
This is a good one. Love the quick hit songs. Classic.
A lot of the songs sounded the same to me. 3.5
This early punk stuff is not really my favorite genre, and I didn't love this. I was humming along for the first third of the album, but then it kinda dried out and I didn't really enjoy it very much, it just became kinda like rhythmic noise. I understand that it was probably pretty revolutionary stuff for 1977, so I respect and acknowledge that. Three stars.
There are a lot of short, similar songs here that aren't very memorable, but the instrumental and overall sound are okay. There's nothing special about this album, just one of the average ones. Rate 5/10
1/25 Punk music from the 70's. Never really was a fan of punk music, they all sound the same and are always so short
Sounded like he was choking on his own vomit
A band I probably should have paid a bit more attention to at some point, I hear a lot of good things about them but I've never really found the time for them. This debut album is proper old school punk rock, energetic and angry.
Too shouty
not a fan
Well I can honestly say that I'm wired for this album. It's simply electric. 🥁 I guess the best way for me to describe this is pre-postpunk. It still has a few songs that are pretty much straight up punk those are probably my least favorite but a lot of it was more Forward Thinking some things that I can tell that some of the Post Punk groups of the late seventies in the early 80s really took notice. Definitely Chrissy Hines delivery comes from a little bit of this album. I actually enjoyed this pretty much most of this album. The only parts that I really didn't like was when it was pretty much straight up punk, but that was really few and in between. Favorites "Reuters", "Three Girl Rumba" (which the riff reminded me a bit of Elastica "Connection" some twentyfive years later), "Pink Flag", and "Strange". (9.25) ★★★★½
I really like some of the more unconventional punk songs on this. 3.5 stars
This is an interesting album as it both fits within the U.K. punk scene that was happening at the time, but also kind of predicts the post-punk scene that would follow it. There's an artiness that separates it from their peers and the result is something really cool. It sounds great too and the guitar tones here are amazing. It's a really modern sounding album for 1977. I don't love everything here, and I think the songs where they deviate more from standard punk are the best, but it's still a great album. Lots of awesome tunes here including "Reuters", "Three Girl Rhumba", "Pink Flag", "Mannequin", "Fragile", and my personal favorite, "Ex Lion Tamer". High 4.5 stars.
Need to wave a white flag at this one. The riff that Elastica nick for their song Connection is the closest this album should get to for 1001 representation.
The tracks come at you rapid fire and seem to alternate between seething and wondering. Knowing very little about Punk as a genre, I'd say the overall listen feels experimental, riffing off of a recognizable foundation. Favorite song: Mannequin.
mid
L'album est vraiment étrange. 21 titres sur 35min, de l'anglais difficile à comprendre (du punk londonien apparemment), un son très dur voir dissonant. Mais ça prend bien et ça se démarque.
Loved it, short songs that make an impact. A great foundation for all the stuff I like, but hadn't heard this before
Great surprise
I liked the instruments but not the singing...
Fico, ora so da dove viene la musica dei blink-182 e dei Green Day
Blimey, they don't fuck about. Enjoyed that a lot for punk
A classic post punk album that could rival gang of four’s that’s entertainment.
A punk manifesto.
Eh, this isn’t terrible but I don’t think it does anything to warrant being considered an album that one would NEED to listen to. 3/5
Like most punk, some bangers and some bombers.
Lots of good riffs here. The production is nice and full sounding, I like the thick guitar tone and there's a nice solid backbone from the rhythm section. It's just pleasant to listen to somehow. I don't love all the songs but there are 21 in 35 minutes, so if something isn't working, just wait 90 seconds... I think Strange is my favorite, a really sludgy, heavy riff with spooky backing, but Mannequin is as light and fresh as Strange is dark. Lots of variety in tempo. Tight songwriting. This exceeded expectations. Other highlights: Reuters, Ex Lion Tamer, Start to Move, 106 Beats That, Fragile, Champs &&& 12 X U.
Interesting
Such a great.
I will never really understand the appeal of music that sounds like it was written by middle schoolers. Midtempo punk is absolutely that way most of the time to me. This is no different, though Mannequin was a pretty good song.
i’m on week 3 of daily alliums from this list, and i finally got an album i’d never heard but now love! i was familiar with a few wire songs, but never listened to this album in full
Giving this 3 stars, but I do want to come back to this when I have more brain energy, because there was a lot here that I liked, but it also feels more like a tasting menu?
Great little album that I don't think I ever listened to. Fits right in with The Clash and other post punk of the time. Fuzzy guitars, help tell the stories on each song. It's short and sweet, with some songs you wish stayed longer than they play at. When I hear Three Girl Rhumba, I hear Connection by Elastica (at least that little intro) This one is right in my wheelhouse. Biggest Hit - Pink Flag Biggest Miss (if I had to choose) - Lowdown Hidden Gem - Ex Lion Tamer
No private session used for Spotify. Didn't know what I was getting into. With its straightforward simple rock and the singer's over the top British punk voice and fuzzy guitar, this feels like it could be from some movie made in the 90's, but takes place in Camden in the 70's but the movie didn't have the budget to get rights to the Sex Pistols and The Clash so they hired some group of talented musicians and told them to write some songs that sounded like British punk songs from the 70's. It's a roundabout way of saying the music seems to exemplify that genre. I had no idea "Strange" wasn't a REM original.
This is just a very solid punk album, one of my favorites of '77. Need to listen to it more often.
no songs
not huge into punk/industrial, but this was good. if i was a barista i'd put this album on to impress my cool coworker
Les Ramones en moins bien
Good energy and not so "post punk" that it's not punk at all. In fact, it's mostly just punk, which is a good thing for me. Probably a high three, and something I might go back to. Songs are all super short.
Not sure why but I read this as Pink Floyd and thought this should be good. Spoiler: not Pink Floyd and not good.
there sure is a lot of punk on this list... they can't all be THAT influential right? this was ok (less grating than some other punk albums) but not rlly my thing
Decent, but mostly forgettable
Mochte ich, aber noch nicht durchgehend. Gebe ich mir nochmal.
The instrumentation on this is fantastic, the discordant guitar is 👌 - I'm not crazy about the vocals, but the energy is awesome
The album had its moments but overall I found it rather repetitive and boring, not outright bad too.
Enjoyed it. I hear the punk influence, but it was melodic enough that it was easy to have playing in the background. I found this to be an easy listen even though it’s got 21 tracks. I didn’t grow up listening to much punk but with what I know now, I can hear the influences this album had on post punk.
Álbum punk divertido. CVJ Night elf.
Mass experimentation, shortened by incomprehensible vocals. And not in a good way.
Raw and fun, you can feel its influence in other acts.
Perfect songs. Short & sweet.
A very solid punk crossover album- the more melodic songs are the highlights. "Mannequin" is of course the big track here, just impressively influential. The whole thing never made me feel anything more than respect for how ahead-of-its-time it was
okay
Raw, concise, important. One of the more interesting and important albums to be released in the 1977. Pushing against punk with punk is punk.
More punk music. The most notable thing for me is that the song Three Girl Rhumba seems like it was more than inspiration for Elastica's Connection.
One of my reoccuring complaints in activity is that a lot of the albums are overly long. But 21 songs covered in 25 minutes *might* be swinging too far in the other direction. That said, I flirted with giving this a 5, just because A) its the type of album I'd hoped this list would introduce me to and B) this is something so immediate and "shoot from the hip" about the whole thing that is sort of exciting and addictive.
Early hardcore/punk. Similar feel to bands like Sparta, or the early At the Drive-in albums.
One of the better punk sounding albums I’ve received.
I've never listened to them before but was open to it. It was great to see the beginnings of the post punk era.
1/3. Album moves along sooooo fast, feels hard to keep up with it. The vocals are terrible in my opinion, but there are some nice riffs on songs like Lowdown and Strange. Overall, it's a miss for me; I never really understood the whole punk thing anyway.
This rocks.
You know, with all of the unnecessary punk and post-punk albums on this list, it's always nice to go to one that is undeniably a must-listen. Case in point, Pink Flag! This thing is a post-punk pioneer and I really like it. I say "post-punk," but this thing REALLY puts the "punk" in "post-punk" and reminds you that the two genres share a common root. This thing has a lot more common elements of punk than post-punk. The shorter songs, the chanting vocals, the political/social themes, and the general energy can bring to mind bands like the Clash and the Ramones, but there are some subtle things here that helped pave the way for post-punk bands. I didn't really get much here that made me think of the darker bands like the Cure or Joy Division, but some of the songs here definitely reminded me a bit of an album like Television's Marquee Moon from the same year, so that's cool. Songs like "Three Girl Rhumba" have that feel in a way. You know what else "Three Girl Rhumba" reminds me of? Elastica. Yeah, I mentioned this in the Elastica review, but those guys totally ripped off this song's riff for "Connection." They did change things up a bit and the two songs are both good listens in their own right, but the main riff is damn near identical and I find that hilarious. Back to Wire, the vocals are solid. I can't fully tell what he's saying sometimes, but I think the vocals and instrumentals fit pretty well with each other. The writing is interesting, but in a good way. I think the "many short songs" approach is used well here. I'm not sure if this is my favorite execution of the idea. The Minutemen album comes pretty close to this. Pink Flag is still super cool though. I totally get why so many people adore this album. I don't think I can go all the way for a 5, but it's a closer call than I'd like to admit. High 4/5.
I wanted to like this more but there is just so much filler in here. It has a bive sound but so much extra short tracks that amount to nothing
This was cool. Energetic, memorable, evidently quite influential. There wasn’t a track that overstayed its welcome. I saw a review refer to the micro-songs as “punk shrapnel,” which I think describes it well. Cool album cover too.
Crap punk
I appreciate the seminal nature of this band, pioneering post-punk when punk itself was still young. I like it and would have been into it if I was a teen at the time (and was exposed to such a cool scene, a big caveat,) but these days I don’t feel like listening to this so much. So, 3 it is.
Didn’t hate it but would turn it off if I heard it again
New to me, and I enjoyed it. Can hear the punk influence. Reminds me a bit of Television. 3.5/5 Probably will listen again
A long time ago I was at a party with a lot of people who were much cooler than me. There were electric guitars and somebody said, "Hey, let's play!" I said, "I don't know how". He said, "We'll play a Wire song. Anybody can play Wire".
more music need this type of pacing. fast and to the point i fuck with it
For an album that’s only 35 minutes long, it seems to drag on. I liked it for the first fifteen, maybe twenty minutes, but then was ready to be done with it.
Short little album, always a treat. I absolutely could see this as being seminal for a lot of bands I enjoy.
solid record, tehy went really straightforward with the name and cover
Too screamy for me, The Doors yesterday were better!
21 songs in 35 minutes—blink and you’ll miss half the album. It’s punk boiled down to quick jabs and odd angles, like someone speed-running music theory. Not every track sticks, but the audacity does. A decent listen, even if it feels like the band was paid by the song, not the hour.
A punk/post-punk touchstone, Pink Flag captures Wire as a blur of serrated riffs, deadpan wit, and art-school minimalism—35 years ahead of the early-’00s indie wave it helped inspire. If The Clash stripped away their reggae detours and pop instincts and leaned into raw nerve, you’d land close to this record’s skeletal charm: most tracks duck out before the three-minute mark, leaving behind nothing but hooks, attitude, and smoke trails. “Three Girl Rhumba” rides a distinctive, instantly memorable riff, while “Lowdown” walks in with a cool, head-nodding strut. Instrumental oddity “The Commercial” feels like The Ramones and mid-’60s Who fused in a test tube, and the jangly pop kiss of “Fragile” arrives like it wandered in from a different album entirely. “Mannequin,” with its bouncy bass and harmonized vocals, reveals the band’s buried melodic instincts. Elsewhere, “Strange” stomps harder and grimier than R.E.M.’s later cover, and “Feeling Called Love” channels Velvet Underground sleaze with murmured vocals and droning tension. It’s not as cohesive or emotionally gripping as the best punk albums of its era, and the barrage of micro-songs can feel like sketches rather than statements. Still, Pink Flag remains a raw, clever, and deeply influential blueprint—one whose echoes are still rattling through rock history.
Very different from the Wire I listened to in the eighties. Punk but with hints of the indie band to come.
Lite skränigt och alla låtar lät likadant fast ändå kunde jag urskilja några likheter med Ebba grön och Winnerbäck. När första låten slogs på igen (utan att jag visste om det), tänkte jag: "men den här känner jag ju igen!". Så några fler lyssningar kanske gör att det växer på mig.
Yes! Så ska det låta. Ytterligare ett band och en skiva som jag känt till men inte tagit mig tid att lyssna på innan. Väldigt svag för soundet och produktionen men flera starka låtar i sin egen rätt. Kommer återvända!
Wire var faktiskt lite av en kunskapslucka inom den här musikfåran som jag rotat runt i så mycket, har aldrig lyssnat och kände mest till dom som en referens. Jag gillade det mycket, stundtals briljant men ibland lite för odynamiskt. En stark trea!
ÖS! Aldrig hört förut, men gillar skarpt! Föredömlig längd på både låtar och album!
Hade aldrig hört tidigare måste jag erkänna. Aldrig varit punknörd, mer dragit åt metalhållet. Tycker mycket mycket om detta. Föredömlig albumlängd. Lowdown, vilken JÄVLA låt
Rivigt men blir lite tråkigt trots den korta längden. Bra omslag.
Känns som Rimbo Starr också skulle kunna ha en låt som heter Brazil. Den hade dock varit bättre.
lite för torrt och stramt för min smak. lite bjäring som jag förstått att man säger. ändå har det något!
While contemporary British acts in the so called "first wave of punk" explored, and exploited, themes like anger and rebellion through raw energy The Wire paved their on way forward with the highly influential debut album Pink Flag. Not in a completely different direction but towards what may be seen as a wider horizon. And they were soon to be followed by many indie rockers and art school dropouts marching on these paved streets bearing their own pink flags. And soon the greatest rocker born would make this road his own. The man we today know as Bert 3000. Released in 1977 Pink Flag is fueled by the power of the punk explosion but focuses it's energy in a more artsy direction. What might at a first listen sound like a harsh collection of simple punk rock soon unveils itself to be much more. Beneath the simple rock group setting lies a tenderness in themes and melodies most significant in songs like the heartwarming Fragile or the welcoming diss track Mannequin. Pink Flag didn't have the commercial success of some of their contemporaries but it's influence on what came after is unmatched. Most obvious in some of the greatest bands of the 21th century like Cat Princess and Alpha Pet.
Nearly all of my knowledge of Wire comes from reading about them rather than listening to them - when I learned about this band/album and their importance, the internet did not yet exist to make it easy (and free) to listen to it. Wikipedia classifies them as "post-punk" but 21 songs in 35 minutes sounds pretty punk to me, particularly from 1977. Apple Music classifies it as "Rock," which of course most of what we call punk basically was, musically at least. It's interesting to me that we are retroactively calling this "post-punk" when it was released about a month after Never Mind the Bollocks. Nomenclature aside, I like this more than I expected to in my old age. I read on the Wikipedia page that "Three Girl Rhumba" influenced Elastica's "Connection" and wondered if I would be able to pick it out, which is kind of hilarious now listening to it. This is very close to 4 stars for me.
Some interesting sounds here but didnt get me too excited. Work a listen but probably wont re-visit.
I'm so sick of punk music, I have only a few more albums left, I have only a few more albums left, I have only a few more albums left....
# Album Name: Pink Flag # Artist: Wire # Rating: 4/5 # Comments: Its a tale of two sides. Theres some good tracks on this thing. But its surrounded by lots of small / short instrumental tracks. I felt like thealbum should be condensed to 12 tracks and it would be much better. Id give it a 3.5 if i could. # Top Tunes: reuters / 3 girl rumba / lion tamer / low down / Mr Suit / mannequin # Would I listen to it again? Yes
I LOVE old school punk... And these guys were never on my radar, but I'm firmly impressed by this album.
Ok, perhaps I was a little unfair on Wire when I said that I liked Elastica's homages/rip-offs "miles more." Because this album is pretty fucking great. I still stand by liking Connection more than Three Girl Rhumba though.
Screaming garbage
interesting. I can hear many influences coming from this?
It's not bad, Britt rock, reminds me of bands like The Clash, but the album is mainly composed of songs that last under two minutes and it's difficult to engage with any of them. It's sounds fine, but just that. 2,75/5.
man, it's taken me a long time to get around to Wire. stylistically punk but missing a lot of the edge and fire and aggression. not bad at all, though. i can see the links between this and indie rock. not a personal favorite but a fine listen and one that i probably should've gotten around to years ago but eh. c'est la vie. deserves to be one of the 1001? yes, and i'm a little surprised it's just the one. i've seen Chairs Missing and 154 get a lot of acclaim elsewhere
Groupe inconnu. L'album présente un punk plutôt mou, à part quelques morceaux plus dynamiques qui lui évitent la note minimale. Je n'ai pas vraiment trouvé de 'post punk', à moins que justement ce soit ces morceaux mous ? En tout cas rien ne me donne envie d'y revenir. =>2/5
Short tracks and many pass by with little fuss but overall some nice punk ideas
Muito bom! Punk ingles dos anos 70, achei bem moderno, ate mais que the clash! Gostei!!! Vou ouvir mais 3,5
Very good Reuters is like my everyday doomscrolling
I didn’t warm to this. Never heard of this band before. Won’t be seeking it out again to listen to.
we need to stop labelling punk albums as post-punk just because they have like three melodic choruses
Really fucking good. I've never listened to the whole album, just a couple of tracks. Love the raw guitar. Love the fact that it's loads of short songs. I'll be coming back to this.
Fast.
Fuck yea. How does this album sound this good? It sounds perfect. I love what they've taken from punk and what they left behind, as well as what they added. Totally unique and great on its own. Art punk maybe. Full listen is fun and you can't get bored (35 min and 21 songs...), but some individual songs stand out on their own. Very excited for this.
Think I’m missing something here. You ok Sean?
Sounds like the boys had a good time. I did not. Can definately hear the influence on later bands though.
Fun but not life changing
Probably was great and revolutionary at the time but now its good but left me wanting.
Two things I know going into Pink Flag: R.E.M. covered “Strange” on their 1987 album Document, so I already know where we’re headed, and second, “Mannequin” is a song that I thought was great, but listening now in full, is only great because of the spooky off tune background vocals. This album does not do it for me. I’m sure it sounded great in 1977, but every rock band since The Strokes sounds mildly like this so it feels washed out and used up.
I enjoyed the music, but most of the songs were so short that they left me wanting more. Pink Flag, one of the few "full-length" songs on here, had time to rage and really rock out. Most of them didn't have much room to breathe, but it was still a fun listen!
3/5
👍
I enjoyed it!
Tight drums, cool bass and guitar riffs...but the lyrics are almost unintelligible. Maybe British Punk isn't my scene? Mannequin and Three Girl Rumba were my favourites musically.
I liked it after the second listen, punky and raw, quite brash sound. Can tell it's influenced the Arctic monkeys.
Points for influencing almost every band I listen to. There aren’t any tracks that really stand out to me but the whole thing is consistent and sounds good. Light 4.
Pretty good punk music. I hear early Talking Heads to Sex Pistols in this.
21 "songs" in 36 minutes. Wow. Reminds me of Television, the Sex Pistols, and Talking Heads all fused together. The guitar tone on "Lowdown" sounds great. It’s unusal to hear such clarity in punk and I really liked that. There was a bit more musical depth here than in other punk albums I heard, but it’s ultimately not sometihng I truly would expect to return to on my own. All of the other bands I named above are better. Low 4.
Much like the other Wire album we did, the music here is pretty good, but I really don’t get on with the vocals. I didn’t realise that REMs version of Strange was a cover, but that negatively impacted this record but it made me wish is was listening to Document instead.
Standout Songs: Ex Lion Tamer The Commercial Strange
Started off really strong, then just ended...ok. The post-punk brits get old pretty quick.
I liked the sound. Kind of like a smoother version of The Ramones.
Short quite abrupt numbers...punk vibe
Listening Setting: In my office at school. Overcast, low 50s. Quiet work day. I've listened to this album previously, and it didn't connect with me then. I can feel a bit more of the energy this time around, though I do feel it suffers from being a "proto-" hardcore album. Those that came after it expanded upon the core sound in a way that makes this one feel redundant. I'd imagine this would be a fantastic summer road trip album to just jam to. The tinkling guitars almost suggest a jangle pop slant, but it never really loses that punk edge. 3/5
Solid debut that covers multiple subgenres of punk. At best worth more than 3/5, but there are quite a few songs that don't stand out from the rest of stuff made in this era
Post-punk, or proto-punk as I like to call it, has never been my thing, apart from very few exceptions. I prefer my punk angry and vicious, not restrained and with apathy. To put it another way, this is just rock music with variables moved around. English street punk a.k.a. hardcore punk is more my thing, especially the stuff that's now referred to as '82 HC. Personal favourite of the early lot is G.B.H. who were formed in 1978 and still deliver a hell of a punch.
What an interesting album. THIS is why I signed up here. I completely missed Wire in period. Wikipedia gives the gnomic utterance, 'Although the album has received acclaim, it was not a big seller.' That'd be why. Urgh... Robert Christgau liked it, that's usually a red flag. I shouldn't like this. It's really not my thing, I don't like 'punk', 'post' or otherwise. I especially don't like it at 7am on a Sunday morning immediately after listening to W.A. Mozart's 'Mass in C major, K. 220 "Spatzenmesse"'. Yet... somehow I found myself switching to a better amp and set of headphones and nodding along. It kept me intrigued. Oh, sod it. A very surprised 4/5 from me.
Len Houmous used to always carry a pink flag with him. It was like his safe word for the bedroom. He never waved it. 4.1 3/21 Three Girl Rhumba
Kind of cool, but it feels like there are 10 albums on this list that sound pretty similar. Not bad, but probably won’t revisit. 3.5/5
I listened to this while driving on GA-400 (IYKYK) and it was the perfect soundtrack to navigating Atlanta traffic. However, the vocals are pretty weak sauce despite the awesome instrumentals.
Pretty greta post punk
Not in the mood for this crap
S'alright. Bit samey and a shotgun of ideas, but it does work at times. I think the vocals really bring it down overall for me though.
Like 1st album Clash without any of the hooks. 2/5
Pretty good - lots of short sharp tracks - enjoyed
it was ok I suppose, nothing great. Im not a fan of the pseudo london punk accent. It only worked for the Clash. Didnt turn it off but wished it had finished a couple of times
This was alright. Suitable for driving to. It was probably better at the time, because I couldn't get the idea that I was listening to a random band in a pub out of my head. Nothing felt special about it.
Decent post punk, but formative.
3,3/5
2.5 Fine, first half stronger than the second. I feel like I’ve heard a lot of these songs in, like, cell phone commercials nowadays lol. The ultimate journey of punk.
Punk, london(?) 1977. Familiar, but unknown band. Positive surprise.
Excellent
i'm not gonna go look but i feel like every time we get something even approaching "21 songs in 35 minutes" it rules. this ruled.
I did not enjoy the vocals after a handful of songs but I did like the music and I could imagine enjoying a couple of songs here and there.
Beginning to understand why a lot of American 1001’s complain about the excessive amount of British post punk bands on this list. All much of a muchness. Was just about OK back then but has not stood the test of time. 1/5 13/11/25
Great album, and not heard it before either, the system works!
My favourite 1001 album discovery so far. One of those bands I’d heard of but never listened to. 21 songs with an average length of 1min40. You’d think that means it’s frenetic or full of half baked ideas but it isn’t. Every song is just about long enough to feel complete but never a second more. Snarling and aggressive but still accessible and catchy. This is what pop punk should be. Almost every song on this album sounds familiar. Which is either a sign of brilliant songwriting or how often Wire have been ripped off. Maybe a bit of both.
Wi re they so good?!
I enjoyed the overall rawness of this album. That is all.
Well, it's an album on the list. Punk has never spoken to me at any level.
Nothing bad about it, even enjoyed some songs but nothing memorable here.
Didn't grab me on first listen but found some tracks I really liked on repeat. Namely the longer, slower songs. 3.5.
Didn’t know what to expect but enjoyed it nonetheless
This is such a great album.
Ironic and quirky punk rock. And hugely influential on future music. “Lowdown” is a standout.
Didn’t like punk when it first started, this is however a fine example
Pretty good
another post punk shouty album. meh.
Love this album. Very fast and high intensity. Guitar riffs are also excellent. In my opinion, one of the best post-punk albums ever made.
I can hear how this band influenced so many punk bands. I am a punker at heart and thoroughly enjoyed the album.
Sparse, terse, tense, taut. Brilliant.
Fucking Perfect. There are punk albums that are just as good; but none better.
PUNK ROCK! Okay.
Often cited as a big influence on postpunk. This Album is not only influential but also a great listen all around. Really cool sound with a lot of cool moments.
Reuters - 5/5 Field Day for the Sundays - no rating Three Girl Rhumba - 4/5 Ex Lion Tamer - 5/5 Lowdown - 5/5 Start to Move - 4/5 Brazil - no rating It's So Obvious - no rating Surgeon's Girl - 3/5 Pink Flag - 5/5 The Commercial - no rating Straight Line - 4/5 106 Beats That - 4/5 Mr. Suit - 5/5 Strange - 5/5 Fragile - 4/5 Mannequin - 5/5 Different to Me - no rating Champs - 4/5 Feeling Called Love - 4/5 1 2 X U - 4/5 Average score: 4.4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’m just not much into the classic Brit-pop punk scene. The singing is flat and goofy, and the music is just ok; it doesn’t blow me away. Idk why I just can’t connect with this.
Fav: Ex Lion Tamer Least Fav: Mr Suit 500th album reviewed! And not a bad one to reach this milestone
Love post punk, but DC punk > London Punk
Lowkey skeletal.