History Music / Wire

** WordPureeTitle: "12 X U". "Map Ref. 41°N 93°W" is a subversion, though it certainly looks like it at first glance.

* LyricalDissonance: Even at their poppiest, they still manage to include lyrics like "Please take your knife out of my back"

** WordPureeTitle: "12 X U"

* SynthPop: Their mid-to-late 80's material.

* HardcorePunk: TropeMaker with "12 X U" and ''Pink Flag''. Their brevity and aggression were heavily influential to Hardcore Punk bands such as Music/MinorThreat.

* PostPunk: TropeCodifiers with ''Chairs Missing'' and ''154''

----

In 2003, Bruce Gilbert, grown bored of playing guitar and interested in pursuing his solo work, amicably left the group; Margaret Fiedler [=McGinnis=] of Laika was recruited to replace him as touring guitarist. Subsequent albums, such as 2007's ''Object 47'', have been more subdued and widely spaced, though the band's touring schedule remains formidable. For their 2010 tour, [=McGinnis=] was replaced by Matt Simms of It Hugs Back.

Wire are a LongRunner PostPunk band formed in Watford, England in 1976 by Colin Newman (vocals, guitar), Graham Lewis (bass, vocals), Bruce Gilbert (guitar), and Robert "Gotobed" Grey (drums). [[hottip:*:There was also George Gill (lead guitar), [[ThePeteBest who was thrown out before their first release]] [[OldShame and henceforth rarely spoken of]].]]

Wire are best known for their 1977 debut album ''Pink Flag'' and specifically [[EnsembleDarkhorse the B-side "12XU"]], which, in a roundabout way, [[TropeMaker pretty much started the entire genre of]] HardcorePunk; to a lesser extent, they are also well-known in certain circles for their next two albums (1978's ''Chairs Missing'' and 1979's ''154''), both of which, while quite different, [[TropeCodifier helped define what we now know as]] PostPunk. All three are universally regarded as classics of the New Wave period, and each set the trend that Wire would later become notorious for: Every album a NewSoundAlbum, every tour a showcase of new material, regardless of fan or critic's opinion.

Aside from the occasional remix project and an epic performance of "Drill" commemorating Bruce Gilbert's fiftieth birthday in 1996, Wire remained silent until 1999, at which point they reformed for a series of retrospective shows. Soon, they began to perform and release new material again, starting with the release of the ''Read & Burn'' EP series and culminating with 2002's ''Send''. The new releases saw a return to the raw ferocity of ''Pink Flag'' married to the lyrical and technological advancements of their '80s releases and production influences taken from modern drum'n'bass and {{noise rock}}, and were greeted with massive enthusiasm from fans and critics alike.

* ''Pink Flag'' (1977) — Arguable TropeMaker for HardcorePunk; contains [[EnsembleDarkhorse "12XU"]].
* ''Chairs Missing'' (1978) — One of several {{Trope Codifier}}s for PostPunk.

* ''Snakedrill'' EP (1986) — Begins Wire Mk. II; also, the first appearance of [[SignatureSong "Drill"]]

* ''It's Beginning To And Back Again'' a.k.a. ''IBTABA'' (1989) — A "live" album consisting mostly of new versions of older songs based on portions of live performances. There are also a couple studio recordings of new material on the album, and one of those songs, "Eardrum Buzz", is the band's most successful single.
* ''The Drill'' (1990) — [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Multiple remixes (by the band) of "Drill",]] [[InNameOnly some bearing no resemblance to the original.]]
* ''Manscape'' (1990) — FanonDiscontinuity / LoveItOrHateIt.

* ''Read & Burn 01'' (2001) — Begins Wire Mk. III.

* ''Read & Burn 03'' (2004) — First release without Bruce Gilbert.

-->--Wire, "40 Versions"

->''I never know which version I'm going to be''
->''I seem to have so many choices open to me''
-->Wire, "40 Versions"

Wire are best known for their 1977 debut album ''Pink Flag'' and specifically [[EnsembleDarkhorse the B-side "12XU"]], which, in a roundabout way, [[GenreLaunch pretty much started the entire genre of]] HardcorePunk; to a lesser extent, they are also well-known in certain circles for their next two albums (1978's ''Chairs Missing'' and 1979's ''154''), both of which, while quite different, [[TropeCodifier helped define what we now know as]] PostPunk. All three are universally regarded as classics of the New Wave period, and each set the trend that Wire would later become notorious for: Every album a NewSoundAlbum, every tour a showcase of new material, regardless of fan or critic's opinion.

* ''It's Beginning To And Back Again'' a.k.a. ''IBTABA'' (1989) — A "live" album consisting mostly of new versions of older songs based on portions of live performances. One of the new songs on the album, "Eardrum Buzz", is the band's most successful single.

From 1986 to 1989, the band released three albums of darkly satirical SynthPop, to the chagrin of many of their punk-minded fans and varying critical opinion. Undeterred, the band soldiered on, experimenting with drum machines, early MIDI technology and remixing, their interests culminating in the 1990 releases of ''The Drill'' (consisting of numerous, wildly different versions of their '80s SignatureSong "Drill") and the [[{{Synthesizeritis}} much-derided]] ''Manscape''.

[[redirect:{{Wire}}]]

[[redirect:Wire]]

->''I never know which version I'm going to be''
->''I seem to have so many choices open to me''
-->Wire, "40 Versions"

Wire are a band from England. They are into {{Deconstruction}}. They have been around [[LongRunner a long time]].

These are the main members of Wire:
* Colin Newman - Sings, plays guitar, writes most of the music.
* Graham Lewis - Play bass, sings less often, writes most of the lyrics.
* Bruce Gilbert - Plays guitar, sings very infrequently; left recently.
* Robert Grey - Plays drums, [[TheVoiceless speaks very infrequently]]; also known as Robert Gotobed.

Now, to the hard part.

Wire was formed in 1976 by a group of students at the Watford College of Art and Design in Hertfordshire, just north of {{London}}. Inspired by PunkRock, they began to play music together in spite of having very little musical knowledge or, initially, skill. Early on, Wire's music was dominated by the lengthy solos of [[ThePeteBest lead guitarist George Gill]]. Then he broke his leg, rendering him unable to attend rehearsals, during which time the rest of the band realized that their songs were often less than half their original length when Gill's solos were removed. They were also, for the most part, a lot better. He was fired soon after.

In April 1977, only a month after Gill's departure, Wire played two gigs at punk club The Roxy, both of which were recorded by an A&R man for EMI's Harvest imprint, Mike Thorne. Thorne immediately saw the band's potential, including them on a live compilation and, soon after, signing them to EMI. By November of that year, they had released ''Pink Flag'', an album so brief and fast (21 songs, 35 minutes) that [[GenreTurningPoint it all but started]] HardcorePunk ''[[GenreLaunch by itself]]'', with lead-off not-a-single "12XU" leading the way.

This, in and of itself, confused a lot of people. [[{{Foreshadowing}} This would become]] [[RunningGag a running theme]].

Never content to stay in one place, Wire began to change their style. They started incorporating new and exotic guitar effects into their music; they began to write longer and longer songs; they began to use two guitars instead of one, neither used as lead; and they began to incorporate keyboards, played by Thorne, which at that time were considered anathema to punk. A year after their first album, ''Chairs Missing'' was released. Some hailed it as a crowning masterpiece of the emerging PostPunk genre; others were less thrilled. [[BrokenBase In one year, the base had broken with a vengeance]].

After failing to breach the Top 40 with the [[EarWorm utterly irresistable]] "[[SurprisinglyGentleSong Outdoor Miner]]", then getting booed nightly on their tour opening for Roxy Music, a band they once adored, Wire became embittered and slowly divided. Guitarist Bruce Gilbert and bassist/vocalist Graham Lewis were increasingly interested with sound experiments and abstraction; producer Thorne and guitarist/vocalist Colin Newman, on the other hand, were far more pop-inclined. This showed in force on 1979's ''154'', which simultaneously showcases Wire's most ("The 15th") and least ("The Other Window") accessible sides. In the process, Wire had, once more released a stupidly influential album, predicating everything from synth-pop to prog-metal to minimal techno.

Then they imploded in a series of wild live performances that got them thrown off of EMI and shunned by everyone else. See the TrueArtIsIncomprehensible page for details.

Wire remained silent for several years, with Newman continuing along the poppy path with several solo records in his own name and Gilbert and Lewis continuing along the MindScrew path with a truckload of albums under various names, Dome being the most prominent.

And all of a sudden, in July 1985, they were back together, playing live. In an art museum.

Wire's second phase is generally considered to be less overtly innovative than their first, with the albums marred by slightly dated '80s production - at the time state-of-the-art and fairly unique - and [[WordSaladLyrics lyrics that are very hard to understand]], requiring [[GeniusBonus some serious lit knowledge]] and [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike some very odd conclusions]] [[hottip:*:Actually another Wire given, but especially pronounced during this period.]]. The music itself was generally less dubious; many critics described it as resuming where ''154'' and their last few singles left off, gradually incorporating dance and electronic elements but remaining identifiable[[hottip:*:General consensus is that they were better live, especially around 1988, as is evidenced by various live recordings.]]. In any case, YourMileageMayVary. The albums from this period are:

* ''The Ideal Copy'' (1987) - Generally the fan favorite. Contains "Ahead" and "Ambitious", both of which are singles that scream "dance floor fodder". Also has [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel "Feed Me"]]. Generally packaged with...
** The ''Snakedrill'' EP (1986) - Has [[SignatureSong "Drill"]] and "'A Serious Of Snakes...'", which translates from Wire-ese to MadeOfWin.
* ''A Bell Is A Cup... Until It Is Struck'' (1988) - Critically well-liked. Very poppy. Has "[[WordSaladLyrics Kidney Bingos]]", [[EarWorm which is catchy as the plague]].
** The ''Silk Skin Paws'' EP (1988) - Mostly quite pretty, with the exception of [[LyricalDissonance the vocals and lyrics to]] [[NightmareFuelUnleaded "German Shepherds"]].
* ''It's Beginning To And Back Again'' [a.k.a. ''IBTABA''] (1989) - A {{Deconstruction}} of the live album, half studio-reconstructed live recordings, half live-in-the-studio. YourMileageMayVary. One of the studio recordings, "Eardrum Buzz", is their biggest hit in the United States (#2 on the [[AlternativeRock Billboard Modern Rock]] chart).
* ''Manscape'' (1990) - The electronic album. Many critics and fans consider it SoBadItsHorrible; others are [[BetterThanItSounds less]] [[SoBadItsGood critical]]. The only known common ground is found with "Torch It!" and "You Hung Your Lights In The Trees". Very much LoveItOrHateIt.
* ''The Drill'' (1990) - A collection of digital remixes and re-recordings of "Drill" made by the band in 1989 to test out the new digital recording techniques they were exploring. Also LoveItOrHateIt.

After recording ''Manscape'', drummer Robert Gotobed, feeling that he had been made obsolete by drum programming technology, fired himself. In his honor, the remaining band membered re-christened themselves Wir. They released one album of experimental dance-pop, ''The First Letter'', in 1991; the result is BetterThanItSounds. They also released a single, "So And Slow It Grows", which became very popular for a very short time. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYxRb1axy_A You might have even heard it.]]

Then, they dropped off the radar, again, only reassembling once to play a twenty-minute version of "Drill" for Bruce Gilbert's 50th birthday in 1996.

At least, until 2000.

At the turn of the millennium, Wire reunited ''again'', playing a series of retrospective shows, incorporating songs from nearly every album they'd yet done, as well as debuting some new material. They released two [=EPs=], ''Read & Burn 01'' & ''Read & Burn 02'', both all new, both displaying a new style similar to the aggressive punk of ''Pink Flag'', but harder and more modern. [[AndTheFandomRejoiced The fans went crazy.]]

In 2002, they released the album ''Send'' (basically a truncated recap of the previous [=EPs=] plus a few new songs), then went on yet another hiatus in order to remaster their first three albums. By the time they re-emerged in 2004, Bruce Gilbert had left, deciding to focus on his solo work as a DJ and [[EarRape ear-raping]] noise musician. Live, his position was taken by Margaret Fiedler-[=McGinnis=] (of Laïka), who then left and was replaced by Matt Sims. The name did not change.

Of late, Wire's releases are much more sporadic, with each of their recent albums (2004's ''Read & Burn 03'', 2007's ''Object 47'', 2011's ''A Red Barked Tree'') spaced out by about three and a half years each. In spite of this, the group is still highly active and tours frequently.
----
<<|{{Musicians}}|>>

->''I never know which version I'm going to be''
->''I seem to have so many choices open to me''
-->Wire, "40 Versions"

Wire are a band from England. They are into {{Deconstruction}}. They have been around [[LongRunner a long time]].

These are the main members of Wire:
* Colin Newman - Sings, plays guitar, writes most of the music.
* Graham Lewis - Play bass, sings less often, writes most of the lyrics.
* Bruce Gilbert - Plays guitar, sings very infrequently; left recently.
* Robert Grey - Plays drums, [[TheVoiceless speaks very infrequently]]; also known as Robert Gotobed.

Now, to the hard part.

Wire was formed in 1976 by a group of students at the Watford College of Art and Design in Hertfordshire, just north of {{London}}. Inspired by PunkRock, they began to play music together in spite of having very little musical knowledge or, initially, skill. Early on, Wire's music was dominated by the lengthy solos of [[ThePeteBest lead guitarist George Gill]]. Then he broke his leg, rendering him unable to attend rehearsals, during which time the rest of the band realized that their songs were often less than half their original length when Gill's solos were removed. They were also, for the most part, a lot better. He was fired soon after.

In April 1977, only a month after Gill's departure, Wire played two gigs at punk club The Roxy, both of which were recorded by an A&R man for EMI's Harvest imprint, Mike Thorne. Thorne immediately saw the band's potential, including them on a live compilation and, soon after, signing them to EMI. By November of that year, they had released ''Pink Flag'', an album so brief and fast (21 songs, 35 minutes) that [[GenreTurningPoint it all but started]] HardcorePunk ''[[GenreLaunch by itself]]'', with lead-off not-a-single "12XU" leading the way.

This, in and of itself, confused a lot of people. [[{{Foreshadowing}} This would become]] [[RunningGag a running theme]].

Never content to stay in one place, Wire began to change their style. They started incorporating new and exotic guitar effects into their music; they began to write longer and longer songs; they began to use two guitars instead of one, neither used as lead; and they began to incorporate keyboards, played by Thorne, which at that time were considered anathema to punk. A year after their first album, ''Chairs Missing'' was released. Some hailed it as a crowning masterpiece of the emerging PostPunk genre; others were less thrilled. [[BrokenBase In one year, the base had broken with a vengeance]].

After failing to breach the Top 40 with the [[EarWorm utterly irresistable]] "[[SurprisinglyGentleSong Outdoor Miner]]", then getting booed nightly on their tour opening for Roxy Music, a band they once adored, Wire became embittered and slowly divided. Guitarist Bruce Gilbert and bassist/vocalist Graham Lewis were increasingly interested with sound experiments and abstraction; producer Thorne and guitarist/vocalist Colin Newman, on the other hand, were far more pop-inclined. This showed in force on 1979's ''154'', which simultaneously showcases Wire's most ("The 15th") and least ("The Other Window") accessible sides. In the process, Wire had, once more released a stupidly influential album, predicating everything from synth-pop to prog-metal to minimal techno.

Then they imploded in a series of wild live performances that got them thrown off of EMI and shunned by everyone else. See the TrueArtIsIncomprehensible page for details.

Wire remained silent for several years, with Newman continuing along the poppy path with several solo records in his own name and Gilbert and Lewis continuing along the MindScrew path with a truckload of albums under various names, Dome being the most prominent.

And all of a sudden, in July 1985, they were back together, playing live. In an art museum.

Wire's second phase is generally considered to be less overtly innovative than their first, with the albums marred by slightly dated '80s production - at the time state-of-the-art and fairly unique - and [[WordSaladLyrics lyrics that are very hard to understand]], requiring [[GeniusBonus some serious lit knowledge]] and [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike some very odd conclusions]] [[hottip:*:Actually another Wire given, but especially pronounced during this period.]]. The music itself was generally less dubious; many critics described it as resuming where ''154'' and their last few singles left off, gradually incorporating dance and electronic elements but remaining identifiable[[hottip:*:General consensus is that they were better live, especially around 1988, as is evidenced by various live recordings.]]. In any case, YourMileageMayVary. The albums from this period are:

* ''The Ideal Copy'' (1987) - Generally the fan favorite. Contains "Ahead" and "Ambitious", both of which are singles that scream "dance floor fodder". Also has [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel "Feed Me"]]. Generally packaged with...
** The ''Snakedrill'' EP (1986) - Has [[SignatureSong "Drill"]] and "'A Serious Of Snakes...'", which translates from Wire-ese to MadeOfWin.
* ''A Bell Is A Cup... Until It Is Struck'' (1988) - Critically well-liked. Very poppy. Has "[[WordSaladLyrics Kidney Bingos]]", [[EarWorm which is catchy as the plague]].
** The ''Silk Skin Paws'' EP (1988) - Mostly quite pretty, with the exception of [[LyricalDissonance the vocals and lyrics to]] [[NightmareFuelUnleaded "German Shepherds"]].
* ''It's Beginning To And Back Again'' [a.k.a. ''IBTABA''] (1989) - A {{Deconstruction}} of the live album, half studio-reconstructed live recordings, half live-in-the-studio. YourMileageMayVary. One of the studio recordings, "Eardrum Buzz", is their biggest hit in the United States (#2 on the [[AlternativeRock Billboard Modern Rock]] chart).
* ''Manscape'' (1990) - The electronic album. Many critics and fans consider it SoBadItsHorrible; others are [[BetterThanItSounds less]] [[SoBadItsGood critical]]. The only known common ground is found with "Torch It!" and "You Hung Your Lights In The Trees". Very much LoveItOrHateIt.
* ''The Drill'' (1990) - A collection of digital remixes and re-recordings of "Drill" made by the band in 1989 to test out the new digital recording techniques they were exploring. Also LoveItOrHateIt.

After recording ''Manscape'', drummer Robert Gotobed, feeling that he had been made obsolete by drum programming technology, fired himself. In his honor, the remaining band membered re-christened themselves Wir. They released one album of experimental dance-pop, ''The First Letter'', in 1991; the result is BetterThanItSounds. They also released a single, "So And Slow It Grows", which became very popular for a very short time. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYxRb1axy_A You might have even heard it.]]

Then, they dropped off the radar, again, only reassembling once to play a twenty-minute version of "Drill" for Bruce Gilbert's 50th birthday in 1996.

At least, until 2000.

At the turn of the millennium, Wire reunited ''again'', playing a series of retrospective shows, incorporating songs from nearly every album they'd yet done, as well as debuting some new material. They released two [=EPs=], ''Read & Burn 01'' & ''Read & Burn 02'', both all new, both displaying a new style similar to the aggressive punk of ''Pink Flag'', but harder and more modern. [[AndTheFandomRejoiced The fans went crazy.]]

In 2002, they released the album ''Send'' (basically a truncated recap of the previous [=EPs=] plus a few new songs), then went on yet another hiatus in order to remaster their first three albums. By the time they re-emerged in 2004, Bruce Gilbert had left, deciding to focus on his solo work as a DJ and [[EarRape ear-raping]] noise musician. Live, his position was taken by Margaret Fiedler-[=McGinnis=] (of Laïka), who then left and was replaced by Matt Sims. The name did not change.

Of late, Wire's releases are much more sporadic, with each of their recent albums (2004's ''Read & Burn 03'', 2007's ''Object 47'', 2011's ''A Red Barked Tree'') spaced out by about three and a half years each. In spite of this, the group is still highly active and tours frequently.
----
<<|{{Musicians}}|>>

After failing to breach the Top 40 with the [[EarWorm utterly irresistable]] "Outdoor Miner", then getting booed nightly on their tour opening for Roxy Music, a band they once adored, Wire became embittered and slowly divided. Guitarist Bruce Gilbert and bassist/vocalist Graham Lewis were increasingly interested with sound experiments and abstraction; producer Thorne and guitarist/vocalist Colin Newman, on the other hand, were far more pop-inclined. This showed in force on 1979's ''154'', which simultaneously showcases Wire's most ("The 15th") and least ("The Other Window") accessible sides. In the process, Wire had, once more released a stupidly influential album, predicating everything from synth-pop to prog-metal to minimal techno.

* ''A Bell Is A Cup... Until It Is Struck'' (1988) - Critically well-liked. Very poppy. Has "Kidney Bingos", [[EarWorm which is catchy as the plague]].

* ''It's Beginning To And Back Again'' [a.k.a. ''IBTABA''] (1989) - A {{Deconstruction}} of the live album, half studio-reconstructed live recordings, half live-in-the-studio. YourMileageMayVary.

** The ''Snakedrill'' EP (1986) - Has "Drill" and "'A Serious Of Snakes...'", which translates from Wire-ese to MadeOfWin.

* ''Manscape'' (1990) - The electronic album. Many critics and fans consider it SoBadItsHorrible; others are less critical. The only known common ground is found with "Torch It!" and "You Hung Your Lights In The Trees". Very much LoveItOrHateIt.

At the turn of the millennium, Wire reunited ''again'', playing a series of retrospective shows, incorporating songs from nearly every album they'd yet done, as well as debuting some new material. They released two EPs, ''Read & Burn 01'' & ''Read & Burn 02'', both all new, both displaying a new style similar to the aggressive punk of ''Pink Flag'', but harder and more modern. [[AndTheFandomRejoiced The fans went crazy.]]

In 2002, they released the album ''Send'' (basically a truncated recap of the previous EPs plus a few new songs), then went on yet another hiatus in order to remaster their first three albums. By the time they re-emerged in 2004, Bruce Gilbert had left, deciding to focus on his solo work as a DJ and [[EarRape ear-raping]] noise musician. The name did not change.

Of late, Wire's releases are much more sporadic, with each of their recent albums (2004's ''Read & Burn 03'', 2007's ''Object 47'', 2011's upcoming ''A Red Barked Tree'') spaced out by about three and a half years each. In spite of this, the group is still highly active and tours frequently.