This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2016) |
Wire on the Box: 1979 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Live album by | ||||
Released | 4 October 2004 | |||
Recorded | 14 February 1979 | |||
Venue | WDR Studio L (Cologne, Germany) | |||
Genre | Post-punk [1] | |||
Length | 58:07 | |||
Label | Pinkflag | |||
Wire live album chronology | ||||
|
Wire on the Box: 1979 is a live album and DVD by English rock band Wire. Whilst recorded in 1979, it was released on 4 October 2004 as the first in a series of archival releases on Wire's own Pinkflag label. [1] It features the complete live television recording for the German Rockpalast music television show, broadcast by Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). [2] The live set consists largely of tracks from 1978's Chairs Missing and the then-yet-to-be-released 154 , [3] and is the second live recording to be released from Wire's original phase since 1981's Document and Eyewitness . [2]
Wire performed on Rockpalast at the invitation of Alan Bangs, a German-based British disc jockey and radio/TV presenter. "What's remarkable about it was that it took a Brit living in Germany to get Wire on the telly. Nobody in Britain would do it at the time," Wire's Colin Newman said in 2012. "He put us on when The Old Grey Whistle Test wouldn't have us ... and if it wasn't for that there'd be no serious visual record of us playing in the 70s. For that, we're really grateful." [4]
The Rockpalast recording was released by Wire themselves after being in the WDR archive for years. The band discovered that "as artists you have the legal rights to release it - another company couldn't, but the artist could," Newman said. [4]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
The Austin Chronicle | [1] |
Pitchfork | 8.1/10 [2] |
Prefixmag | 8.0/10 [5] |
AllMusic found Wire's performance to be "energetic and dynamic," writing, "On the Box catches Wire at the height of its powers and this material still sounds remarkably fresh." [3] Pitchfork also noted the band's "energy and passion" as well as being "tight, focused, even demented in their intensity at times." They described the performance as "spot-on" with a "spectacularly clear" sound. [2]
The Austin Chronicle was less positive, feeling that "without the bold psychedelic flourishes of the Mike Thorne-produced Chairs Missing, ... this rather skeletal set rings hollow." They felt, however, that the band's performance on the release "brims with punch and fire ... and with decent fidelity to boot." [1]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Introduction" | 0:50 | |
2. | "Another the Letter" | Bruce Gilbert, Colin Newman | 1:07 |
3. | "The 15th" | Newman | 2:29 |
4. | "Practice Makes Perfect" | Gilbert, Newman | 3:00 |
5. | "Two People in a Room" | Gilbert, Newman | 1:59 |
6. | "I Feel Mysterious Today" | Graham Lewis, Newman | 1:44 |
7. | "Being Sucked in Again" | Newman | 2:49 |
8. | "Once Is Enough" | Newman | 2:47 |
9. | "Blessed State" | Gilbert | 3:00 |
10. | "A Question of Degree" | Lewis, Newman | 2:44 |
11. | "Single K.O." | Lewis, Newman | 2:24 |
12. | "Mercy" | Lewis, Newman | 5:44 |
13. | "40 Versions" | Gilbert, Newman | 4:06 |
14. | "Former Airline" | Gilbert | 1:08 |
15. | "A Touching Display" | Lewis | 6:14 |
16. | "French Film Blurred" | Lewis, Newman | 2:34 |
17. | "Men 2nd" | Lewis, Newman | 1:39 |
18. | "Map Ref. 41°N 93°W" | Lewis, Newman | 3:37 |
19. | "Heartbeat" | Newman | 4:42 |
20. | "Pink Flag" | Lewis, Newman | 3:26 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Interview" | 19:35 |
Wire are an English rock band, formed in London in October 1976 by Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert (guitar), George Gill and Robert Grey. They were originally associated with the punk rock scene, appearing on The Roxy London WC2 album, and were instrumental to the development of post-punk, while their debut album Pink Flag was influential for hardcore punk.
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, are an American alternative rock band from Austin, Texas, formed in 1994. The band's earliest stable lineup consisted of Conrad Keely, Jason Reece, Kevin Allen and Neil Busch, though for most of the band's history Keely and Reece were the core members with other musicians serving for varying lengths of time. Trail of Dead had a cult following and were known for their energetic and protracted live performances. Between 1998 and 2023, the band released eleven studio albums and five EPs along with one live album and twenty-two singles. The artwork for all of the albums was created by Keely using various media. This artwork has recurring mythical and historical themes.
154 is the third album by the English post-punk band Wire, released in 1979 on EMI imprint Harvest Records in the UK and Europe and Warner Bros. Records in America.
Chairs Missing is the second studio album by English rock band Wire. It was released on 8 September 1978 by Harvest Records. The album peaked at number 48 in the UK Albums Chart.
Anacrusis was an American progressive/thrash metal band from St. Louis, Missouri. Anacrusis was one of the first bands to attempt to blend thrash and progressive metal. Their albums Manic Impressions and Screams and Whispers are considered as classics of the progressive thrash metal / prog metal genre.
Colin Bass is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Since 1979, he has been a member of the British progressive rock band Camel, who, after a ten-year hiatus due to the ill health of bandleader Andrew Latimer, returned to active touring in 2013. From 1984 to 1992, he was also a core figure in the pioneering World Music group 3 Mustaphas 3. He has also made two solo albums under his own name and three albums recorded in Indonesia under the name Sabah Habas Mustapha. The title track of the first, "Denpasar Moon", became a hugely popular song in Indonesia in the mid-1990s and has been covered by over 50 Indonesian, Malaysian, Japanese and Filipino artists. As a record producer he has worked with a diverse range of international artists including: the Klezmatics (USA), SambaSunda (Indonesia), Daniel Kahn & the Painted Bird (USA) Krar Collective (Ethiopia), Etran Finatawa (Niger) and 9Bach (Wales) amongst others. As a guest artist he has appeared on albums by a number of internationally acclaimed artists including top Malian singing star Oumou Sangare, playing on all tracks of her 1993 Ko Sira album.
Aynsley Lister is a British blues-rock guitarist/singer and songwriter.
Githead is a musical collaboration that includes Wire's Colin Newman as well as electronic musician Robin Rimbaud (Scanner) alongside Minimal Compact members Malka Spigel and Max Franken.
Document and Eyewitness is the first live album by the post-punk band Wire, released in July 1981 by Rough Trade Records. It marked the end of the first period of Wire's activity (1977–1980) and the end of their association with EMI. Recorded in February 1980 at the Electric Ballroom in London – at the final gig of Wire's first period – the original release came with a 45 rpm 12" EP that featured recordings from a July 1979 show at the Notre Dame Hall in London, along with one track from a March 1979 gig at Le Pavillon in Montreux, Switzerland.
Send is the tenth studio album by the English rock group Wire, released in May 2003 through their own Pinkflag label. It was their first recording as a four-piece since Manscape (1990) and the first full-length release by any incarnation of the group since 1991. The album contains seven songs previously released in 2002 on the EPs Read & Burn 01 and Read & Burn 02, and four songs exclusive to this release.
The Brew is a British rock band consisting of Tim Smith (bass), Kurtis Smith (drums) and Jason Barwick. They were voted "best band" 2006/7 by "It's Only Rock & Roll" magazine. The band was described by rock critic Michael Arens as "earthy, fertile, and sometimes wonderfully grainy" and creating "flawless rock" with a "touch of Psychedelic," and described by RockTimes critic Joachim 'Joe' Brookes as a "bridge between the sixties and seventies".
The Band of Heathens is an American rock and roll band from Austin, Texas. The band was originally formed by Colin Brooks, Ed Jurdi and Gordy Quist in 2005.
Red Barked Tree is the twelfth studio album by the English post-punk band Wire--digitally released on 20 December 2010, and as a CD on 10 January 2011 on the Pinkflag label. Featuring eleven tracks covering a diverse range of musical styles, the record was well received by critics, who found the record "representing the essence of their best work" and covering "virtually all aspects of Wire's varied history to create a stylistic best-of new material".
Saint Jude were an English, London-based rock and soul band, fronted by the vocalist Lynne Jackaman.
Change Becomes Us is the thirteenth studio album by British post-punk band Wire. It was released on 25 March 2013 through the band's own label, Pinkflag. It is the first studio album to feature guitarist Matthew Simms, who initially joined Wire as a touring guitarist in 2010.
Steppin' Out is a live album by the British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. The title is taken from her song of the same name which was first released in 1975 on her second studio album Back to the Night. A DVD with the same title, containing concerts recorded by WDR in 1979 and 1980, was released in 2004.
Metal Meets Classic Live + All G.U.N. Bonustracks is a live concert recording by German heavy metal band Rage, released as a DVD in November 2001 under name Rage & Lingua Mortis Orchestra.
Peter Rüchel was a German music journalist, producer and founder of the WDR show Rockpalast, which since the mid-1970s has been hosting concerts by national and international bands and solo artists and broadcast them on German and European television.
Alan John Bangs is a British music journalist, disc jockey and presenter on radio and television. He has lived and worked in Germany since the 1970s.
10:20 is a compilation album by English art punk band Wire, released on 19 June 2020 through their own Pinkflag label.