It's the WIRE PHASE TWO Albums Poll!

Ah.. NOTE: To vote, click the radio button BELOW the album of choice.

Not on the list, but I vote The A List. Anything worth hearing on those albums that the comp doesn't include?

Hmm.. I might do comps another time.

Oooh. Goody goody goody! A Wire Phase Two poll!!

IBTABA all the way, baby.

The Ideal Copy

A Bell Is A Cup from the above choices. But, right, The A List is best.

Ooh! This is so exciting! Do you think Bell Is a Cup will get more votes than Ideal Copy!???

The video for "Ambitious" is great: presages Lost Highway by ten years!

Nah. The Ideal Copy will no doubt win.

xp

And where's Send? Or is that part of the Phase Three period of their career?

'80s Wire >>>>>>>>> noughties Wire

Which album has "Kidney Bingos"? That's the one I'll vote for.

A bell is a cup has Kidney Bingos.

xpost yes.

Alfred, that video link is for "Ahead," not "Ambitious." But yer right about the similarities to Lost Highway, fer sure. Also, has anyone else ever started sub-conciously singing the chorus to NO's "Temptation" every time the bass/guitar thrum at the beginning of "Ahead" comes on (just before the vocal), or is it just me?

A-List sums it all up fine for me.

it won't win, people, but i'm telling you: The First Letter is better than you think. more minimal; for my money it's held up better than the others here.

and i agree--they're all better than Wire Mk III.

song id! can anyone identify a song that i think is by wire. It has that thing where the drums hit and the music stops for a beat and the lyrics sound like "somethin' in the way, somethin' in the way sunday mornin'" does anyone know the song/what its on. Apologies if it's not by wire at all.

the first letter is underrated

Also, has anyone else ever started sub-conciously singing the chorus to NO's "Temptation" every time the bass/guitar thrum at the beginning of "Ahead" comes on

Oh, definitely; I also hear echoes of the goth they helped invent six years earlier, updated with synths for the Sisters of Mercy age.

song id! can anyone identify a song that i think is by wire. It has that thing where the drums hit and the music stops for a beat and the lyrics sound like "somethin' in the way, somethin' in the way sunday mornin'" does anyone know the song/what its on. Apologies if it's not by wire at all.

-- I know, right?, Monday, September 17, 2007 5:11 PM (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

"field day for the sundays," 2nd song off pink flag

first letter is good, but who will defend manscape? (not me).

bell is a cup wins this easy, my first and favorite wire album.

Manscape was interesting, but, unfortunately, I got rid of it before I could decide whether I liked it or not (so maybe not that interesting after all).

You guys are wrong about recent Wire - the two _Read And Burn_ EPs are stunning! And it's got to be _The Ideal Copy_, much as I love the next two as well. _Manscape_ is something I go back to now and again but it feels like it's been getting worse as it ages - aside from "Torch It". The JP-only bonus tracks that later showed up on _Coatings_ are actually pretty good. _The First Letter_ is the only Wire product I've never deigned to physically own.

The FIRST Read & Burn EP is fantastic ("I Don't Understand" ranks with their very best), but Send meant nothing to me.

Ideal Copy? Isn't that an odds and sods comp? Bell Is A Cup is the best choice, coming from a household that owned Copy through The Drill while growing up (which was why I didn't get into Wire until much much later—after years of The Queen of Ur and King of Um, I had a hard time understanding why they were so venerated… Then I got Pink Flag and was like, Oh, Yeah, I get it).

the ideal copy was the first "comeback" release, not an odds n' sodds comp.

Well, actually, the Snake-Drill EP preceded it by about a year (and was later incorporated into The Ideal Copy CD--hence the confusion, I think).

Those of you old enough to remember: what was the "eardrum buzz" when Wire refomed and played quasi-New Order/Depeche Mode dance-pop?

i don't understand your question, alfred.

They kind of went for the NO/DP money for about a minute there, Alfred, but soon enough realized they weren't ever going to get loads of teens to listen to their records. Then they made Manscape (real teen fare there for sure, guys).

were the three canonical Wire records easily available?

I wonder if R.E.M.'s cover of "Strange" helped.

Nope. Most '80s kids knew about Wire by way of that there pesky R.E.M. cover (and whatever new stuff KROQ was playing at the time), in my experience. I don't think the big three had much impact until they were re-released on CD in the mid '90s.

I'd just as soon pretend that this Wire era never existed. My guess is that the band probably wishes it as well.

"Well, actually, the Snake-Drill EP preceded it by about a year (and was later incorporated into The Ideal Copy CD--hence the confusion, I think)."

Yeah, that and my cassette has a bunch of live tracks on there as well, and anything with live and studio versions I tend to think of as odds and sods.

A Bell Is A Cup..., for some reason, would be my most played of all Wire albums. And it's fucking great.

Noughties Wire is good too. I saw them in 2004, and was disappointed that they played too much 70's stuff. (10 new songs, 6 from Pink Flag). It's all about 'Spent' and 'Raft Ants' though, the latter of which sadly wasn't on Send.

the omission of "Raft Ants" was the only thing i didn't like about Send.

i pretty much like all eras of Wire. they're pretty close to being my favorite band.

I've often defended Manscape. You do have to get through some crap/very dated production, but songs are there if you dig. "Small Black Reptile" is pretty awesome and almost jaunty, too bad the extended live version never got released. "Morning Bell" always reminded me of Wire attempting doing a bossa nova/samba tune (in a very cold, arty way of course). And if you can make it to the end of the disc, the 10 minute epic "A Craftsmen's Touch" is a bit of a lost Wire classic for me.

I voted for 'The Drill'

CD version of 'Send' extended the 'Read and Burn' tracks into a phase two type of album, but the vinyl version is 16 short tracks, more modelled on 'Pink Flag', you want the vinyl version

.. and it is lovely.

I bought "drill" on CD, but on strolling out of the HMV (PicCirc), I noticed a lovverly big box of "Drill" which was the LP, along with "IdealCop" and "BellStruck" and "IBTABATA" all in with it. And a 7" of "In every city".

So I immediately swapped the CD against the price of the lovverly big box!

I listened to "A Bell Is a Cup" a few months back, for the first time in years, I've always thought of Wire as one of my favourite bands and "A Bell" as being the best of their "Phase II" albums but I was so disappointed in it. It's so bland and 80s and dated - "Kidney Bingos" is one of the greatest things ever and I like that song Graham Lewis sings but that's about it, the rest is blancmange really. I like the guitar on "A Public Place" too. "Manscape" is the album that stopped me listening to Wire, I haven't bothered with anything they've done since.

I somehow completely missed out this phase of Wire. I only know the song Eardrum Buzz. I love Send though.

Hey Dadaismus, pretty much agree with you about Bell Is A Cup, and Manscape was the low point. But if you see a copy of The Drill used somewhere, I'd say go for it

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

i still can't decide between "a bell" and "ideal copy". so i'm going to go for "the drill", because it's the ne plus ultra of the "experiments in monorhythmic repetition" wire that i love so much. and it's a bit wilfully perverse, which seems fitting too.

dugga dugga dugga.

I know, I know, but grimly dear, the correct answer is Bell Is A Cup! SHHH don't tell anyone!

If Bell gets more votes than Ideal, I'll be such a good happy camper!

is there some other version of the drill that wasn't on that ep/album? because I remember hearing one on the radio and was disappointed it wasn't on there (i seem to remember it ending with the words, maybe the only words, "could this be a drill")

The original EP version is on The Ideal Copy CD, the later version would be on The Drill I imagine.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

...is anyone else just seeing this as:

8
5
4
2
2
0

?

yep, and it's right.

With nothing next to the numbers, I mean? Or am I to suppose that eight won?

Polls using photos instead of text end up a complete mystery when they close, because the images disappear!

Whoa, 2112 in a landslide, wasn't expecting that

hmm, results show up perfectly in ie 6, but not ie 7 or firefox

http://www.pinkflag.com/assets/cover-art/a-bell-is-a-cup-until-it-is-struck.jpg 8

http://www.pinkflag.com/assets/cover-art/the-ideal-copy.jpg 5

http://www.pinkflag.com/assets/cover-art/the-drill.gif 4

2

2

0

Bloody hell! Here's the bottom three again:

http://www.pinkflag.com/assets/cover-art/ibtaba.jpg 2

http://www.pinkflag.com/assets/cover-art/the-first-letter.gif 2

http://www.pinkflag.com/assets/cover-art/manscape.jpg 0

Bimble must be one happy lad right about now!

poor ol' manscape :/

i'm surprised -- i didn't think many people rated "a bell is a cup" all that much. then again: it's not exactly going to win many records for voting numbers, this poll. sadly.

' manscape :/

That's exactly what it was, poor.

surprised -- i didn't think many people rated "a bell is a cup" all that much. then again: it's not exactly going to win many records for voting numbers, this poll. sadly.

Suggesting that, in retrospect, 80s Wire wasn't that good? They were fucking immense live tho.

no: suggesting that people just don't get the genius of this particular incarnation.

i'd love to have seen them live playing this stuff; was a bit young, though. saw them a couple of years back at the tramway and spent a lot of time shouting -- pointlessly -- for "drill". they didn't play it. they were godlike anyway.

They played Drill all the way through the eighties!

no: suggesting that people just don't get the genius of this particular incarnation.

No, MY suggestion is they weren't that good, in retrospect, on record. I find the records a bit too bland.

Wait - the pictures are gone - how do we know who won, etc?

I mean I realize this is a real arty exercise in Wire-ness, these numbers, but I need more information.

So Bell Is A Cup won, is that what you're saying? Gosh, that makes me so happy! :) :) :) Gosh, ILM is a lovely place to be.

I'm a bit too late for this (dunno how I missed it), but "A Bell" for me also.

I wanted to expand on the greatness that is _Coatings_. Sadly, it's out of print like all the WMO material. Here's the details:

COATINGS

(WMO—WMO 14CD—October 1997) 2CD

Ambulance Chasers (original version), A Serious of Snakes (alternate mix), Ambitious (alternate mix), Madman's Honey (alternate mix), Kidney Bingos (original mix), It's A Boy (instrumental), German Shepherds (John Peel Session), Boiling Boy (John Peel Session), Drill (John Peel Session), In Vivo (club mix), Who Has Nine?, It Can't Be True Can It?, Gravity Worship :: Ambitious (MiddleSex Gorge)

back then, Wire fans called it "MACH TWO" Wire... Anything "Wir" is defo MACH 3. (This poll is showing up really strangely in firefox/osx).

I would have to listen to all of them again to make a choice and I don't really think I could do that now but I think now what I thought then which is that some Wire is always better than none!

I thought some of the side projects of the era were pretty cool and "He Said" sounded an awful lot like Mach 2 Wire. I am sort of a freaky Bruce Gilbert kind of guy anyway tho. ;-)

It's hard to believe that Coatings thing slipped past me. I'll have to check that out.

I am very surprised that Grimly says they didn't do Drill...I just kindof thought they *always* did that live.

The He Said material has aged VERY badly, I must say. Colin's solo albums, however, still hold up for the most part. Not that they're nearly as engaging as Wire, but then again, they serve a different sonic purpose.

<i>The He Said material has aged VERY badly, I must say. Colin's solo albums, however, still hold up for the most part. Not that they're nearly as engaging as Wire, but then again, they serve a different sonic purpose.</i>

Agreed... just pointing out that some of it sounds like Mach 2 Wire, which I never feel like listening to either. Colin's solo is more rewarding and less specific to that period, defo.

sorry for bad tags, late here...

"coatings" is wonderful, yes, and worth it for the enormous version of "ambitious" alone. (unless, as i think someone said upthread, you don't like "ambitious".) bimble: if you can't find it anywhere, let me know.

i don't think wire MACH 4 (as i assume they are now?) have ever played "the drill". there was a one-off performance at the ICA a few years back shortly after gotobed rejoined but before "read and burn" which, IIRC, was a 25-minute version of the drill and nothing else. wish i'd seen that.

The He Said material has aged VERY badly, I must say.

Yes, at the same time I pulled out those Wire Phase Two albums to listen to and was disappointed with 'em, I listened to a lot of He Said stuff too and was similarly disappointed. "Pale Feet" is a good song tho. "Pump" remains quite hypnotic.

what the fuck is on the cover of "an ideal copy" btw?

really wire ph 2 had the worst album covers ever

"field day for the sundays," 2nd song off pink flag

Yes, that was the song! Sorry for not noticing the reply for so long. Thanks hstencil!

what the fuck is on the cover of "an ideal copy" btw?

But no one knows these things, alas. It's almost like if you have to ask... then you'll never get the Wire mystique. Wire have the most singularly bizarre lyrics I've ever come across. You either buy into it their weirdnesss or you don't, kinda. But yes it has bothered me too that sleeve for Ideal Copy. I questioned it for so many years, though that it quit bothering me. It's there to make no sense. That's what its function is, I think.

Of course I must comment on He Said if people are mentioning it...I still think the second He Said "Take Care" album from '88/'89 sounds fantastic to this day (helped out by John Fryer on production, who I seem to remember having a hand in a few 4AD records), but I must reluctantly agree that the first He Said album "Hail" has NOT age well. I was really disappointed when I heard it again recently because I really liked it when it came out. Go figure.

One day I promise I will own Commercial Suicide, then all will be right with the world.

One day I promise I will own Commercial Suicide, then all will be right with the world.

Is it just that you haven't gotten around to getting it? Because it was reissued a few years back and you can get it used for $10 or so from Amazon.

P.S. Read & Burn 03 coming in November, bitches!

REALLY? fucking SUPERB. any more info?

"Manscape" and "The First Letter" are wrongly dismissed. Not classic stuff by any means but great songs on each, and the "Vien" EP is fantastic in a soundscapey kind of way.

I found "Turns and Strokes" the other day, forgot I never found "Coatings", should keep an eyeout...

I've got both but have played them about once each

Yeah, "Turns And Strokes" would be for completists only except it's the only place on CD to find the excellent "Second Length (Our Swimmer)" and "Catapult 30", their final studio work from their first incarnation. "Coatings", though, is essential for the 80s Peel session and the "Manscape" outtakes.

Oh, we did do this, then.

Still, at least we can still see the little LP pics.

80's Peel session version of Boiling Boy is the best

^^^fishing for compliments

Often "Kidney Bingoes" is my favorite Wire song.

XP - Screw you L :)

your one needs to go on youtube acshully, don't have a recording of it to hand as I compute with a Chromebook

the whole covers album should go on youtube really. now I'M fishing dammit

The whole thing is great, ILX should do a Pt2

definitely the best ILX compilation ya, naturally it's also the only one I've contributed properly to

Do we have a speculation thread for ILX Covers projects? I seem to remember one.

if we did Wire pt2 I'd come out of retirement to cover something off Send

What's a 'speculation' thread?

Yes, there was a remarkably good ILX Wire covers album a few years back.

I still love this period even though the lads slag it off in their new book.

this period is definitely my least favourite wire period

Their current phase might be my second favorite!

although I'd put the period 2000-present day alongside the 70s or even ahead of it, so don't trust me