This deluxe 5xCD set acts both as a box for collectors wanting some restored concert recordings and a fantastic archive of Wire's 1970s studio albums all in one place for those who might not own them already. While the covers are artfully restored, the accompanying booklet is immaculate, and the mastering is stunning, it doesn't make the 1995 Japanese CDs nor the Behind the Curtain release obsolete (yet).
Live at the Roxy, London - April 1st & 2nd 1977 is the first CD in the box, capturing two identical sets five months before Wire recorded their debut LP Pink Flag. These are undeniably the "early versions" of some of the songs, as Wire would play them over and over again until they were completely pleased with the songs. Some minor changes were made: tempos and words got modified slightly: "one dimensional man," for example in "Straight Line" became "one dimensional boy" and "Mr. Suit" is noticably faster on the LP. This was a new lineup for Wire, after losing member George Gill, but the band was tight, well-rehearsed and comfortable enough to speak boldly to the audience from the stage in rare terse comments between songs like "If you want it louder, go see the sound man back there," Graham telling the audience to "pay attention," and "12XU" being introduced as a single (yet there's no indication that I can find that it was at the time). Mike Thorne, acting as producer and EMI talent scout managed to get the recordings to become Wire's demo and the rest is history.
The joy in these recordings is that the concerts are completely full and unedited, despite only amounting to about 25 minutes each. Just like the recording of Pink Flag, one song nearly always starts on where the downbeat of the last song just ended would have been, confusing any newbie to their music into wondering where the songs end or begin! Cherry picked from the April 1st date to fill bonus tracks on the 1995 Japanese CD of Pink Flag were "Mary Is a Dyke," "Too True," "Just Don't Care," "TV," "New York City," and their cover of J.J. Cale's "After Midnight," all tracks never commercially appearing on any studio LP. Additionally, the version of "12XU" from the second night was the version which appeared on the Restless compilation On Returning and with "Lowdown" on The Roxy, London WC2 from EMI, a top 20 various artist LP released in August of 1977. The concert recordings are well-preserved, probably hanging around in EMI's vaults for years before they finally gave up, perhaps EMI conceded that they can't make any money off Wire despite the amount of publicity Wire always seem to get!
samples:
Live at CBGB Theatre, New York - July 18th 1978 wasn't recorded or preserved as well. The CD was recorded for a Live at the CBGB series that aired on WPIX radio in NYC and wouldn't have even survived had the tape not been handed to one of the Wire members after a radio session. It doesn't play the role of a fine live recording nor a hidden gem, but serves as a document of their brief US visit, where they played a couple shows, missed a few shows, and did a radio session. It's not a disc that I can imagine going back to for a lot of listens. The recording sounds as gritty as CBGB's was. An important club, CBGB's was never known for its sound or sanitation, and in the '70s, Wire weren't nearly as popular with the audiences in the US as they were in the UK and Europe. Missing flights and missing shows, the recording comes from the second set scheduled for the second night, featuring songs that all appeared in studio versions at some point. But the band seemed tense, tired, and sounded like they were rushing through the songs to try to get the whole damn thing over. A better Chairs Missing material document is by far the CD/DVD release from the performance on Germany's Rockplast TV program, On the Box.
samples:
Discs 3, 4, and 5 in the box are restored versions of Pink Flag, Chairs Missing, and 154: albums that have been reviewed by people worldwide for nearly three decades at this point. Basically, you should own them by now if you don't. I won't say anything more about their content or worth, you'll just have to believe me. What you get with this release is a deluxe booklet that contains lyrics that didn't appear on some of the previous pressings, back stories of the band and their experiences during the time of the recordings, tours, and various other tidbits. Absent are all bonus tracks, as the CDs represent the LPs in their original state. I understand the respect for purity in this decision, but the songs that are gone are important pieces of Wire's history and I would hope a compilation will be forthcoming to tell those stories. "Dot Dash" and "Options R" were the studio recordings initially released on Pink Flag; the extended (and far superior, in my humble opinion) single version of "Outdoor Miner," "A Question of Degree," and "Former Airline" are absent from Chairs Missing, but the four songs absent from 154: "Song 1," "Get Down parts 1&2," "Let's Panic Later," and "Small Electric Piece" are a different story as they were actually released with initial copies of 154 as a bonus 7". Of course, Wire/Pink Flag could be gearing up to compile these with the post-EMI single tracks "Our Swummer," "Midnight Bahnhof Cafe," "Crazy About Love," "Second Length," and "Catapult 30," along with some other leftover bits and pieces floating around.
For samples of these classic recordings see our Wire Sound Archive site.
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