Remastered reissue with the original 1978 album plus 3 bonus tracks from 1979 'Outdoor Miner' (2 mins 54 secs), 'A Question Of Degree' (3 mins 9 secs) & 'Former Airline' (3 mins 20 secs). EMI. 2002.
Remastered reissue with the original 1978 album plus 3 bonus tracks from 1979 'Outdoor Miner' (2 mins 54 secs), 'A Question Of Degree' (3 mins 9 secs) & 'Former Airline' (3 mins 20 secs). EMI. 2002.
CD Reviews
If Kafka played guitar..
chris stolz | canada | 07/06/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"CHAIRS MISSING is surely Wire's masterpiece. The title suggests a bunch of people, assembled for a meeting, looking around for somewhere to comfortably sit and proceed with their business. But the chairs are missing, and so things, like Wire's music, are surreal, comical and sometimes uncomfortable, and they will require a bit of adjustment. On their debut, PINK FLAG, Wire married two minute, three-chord punk thrash with oddly allusive lyrics. Here, the band totally transcends its punk beginnings and creates something entirely new.Wire spin simple riffs into eerie and shifting dreamscapes that recall Kafka, Brazillian concrete poetry, top-40 pop and modern trance music. The lyrics are allusive, elliptical, witty and surreal. Songs that sound like they are built of one chord exfoliate into subtle and complex structures. Sometimes Wire make absolutely perfect pop-- "Outdoor Miner"-- and sometimes their work has the insistent throb of nightmare ("Mercy"). Some songs capture whimsy ("I Feel Mysterious Today") and others make you look over your shoulder to see what is hiding there ("Heartbeat").This album was created in 1978 and sounds more contemporary than the works of any of Wire's contemporaries. Its production inspired Nirvana/PJ Harvey producer Steve Albini, who was mesmerised by the layers of guitars.I listen to this often, and new ideas constantly creep out of the fascinating wordplay. Newman and Lewis trust their listeners, showing us ideas and images, and letting our imaginations, carried by the complex and powerful music, do the rest. This is essential listening."
An enduring genius
Michael Heminger | Pardeeville, WI | 03/09/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Wow, did this really come out when I was 14?!?!?!? It's just impossible to grow tired of this album, and I return to its greatness every few years (I play 154 EVERY year). The amount of experimentation with (what breaks down to be) very minimal ingredients has never been equalled by any other band. I love to sit and listen to what's really going on in Wire songs, only to discover that a song may have only one chord and almost no melody - and still sound incredibly complex and evocative. I don't know how they did it - especially as naive, untrained musicians - but too bad they stopped (all good things...) The contrasting surprise here comes in the hooks and melodies that weave through the material. Punk rarely sounded this accessible until regurgitated some 10 years later. This album does the best job of showcasing the two (present and past - or - punk spazz and arty constructivism) facets of the band in 1978, without sounding schizophrenic. My first impression of "Chairs Missing" was how visual the lyrics were, like most of Captain Beefheart's work where I feel like the artist is 'singing' me a painting. These are challenging works that don't translate well as background music, despite Mike Thorne's '5th Beatle' appearance on keyboards and such. Big Black liked "Heartbeat" so much they gave it their own twist (you can see B.C. Gilbert join them for a rendition on the live Big Black release "Pigpile") and we may not even have a Guided by Voices without the 1 min. 44 sec. nicety "Outdoor Miner". The material really starts to breathe within its own arty confines here, and is a teaser for the band's following heady masterpiece, "154". (The bonus cut here "Question of Degree" is one of their best ever, eliciting yet again my most frequent Wire-inspired question; "are those guitars??")"
Truly Moving, Truly Innovative
W. French | Carnation, WA USA | 03/21/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've been a fan of Wire since the mid-80s. There are some bands I listened to back then that are only pleasant memories now, but Wire is not one of them. Chairs Missing sounds as fresh and invigorating as it ever has. The songs have a timeless quality. Each time I hear it I'm blown away. I believe that this record, along with 154 and Pink Flag, stands unequalled even today. Compelling, uncompromising, and sonically interesting. No wonder so many bands cite them as an influence, this stuff makes me feel like dropping everything and making some tunes of my own."
Minimalism Personified
Scott McFarland | Manassas, VA United States | 03/01/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"What a great album. Wire retain the minimalism of punk, but change the form. They do something analogous to equilizing a blaring rock track and changing its nature by, say, removing the drum track so that a new sound emerges. We have the insistence and urgency of Wire's peers, but the music delves into more interesting textures and moods. This is courtesy in part of producer Mike Thorne, who worked closely with the band and lent a real sense of sonic adventure to the proceedings.Enjoy the icy textures of this record. Enjoy the quality of the material. And don't sleep on the closing track "Too Late", an aggressive outting which as others have noted almost defines the possibilities of minimalism in rock."
Wire's best
Scott McFarland | 07/19/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is an easy choice for the best album from Wire, an always interesting group. Pink Flag was an excellent beginning, but that album gave us a band that was very raw, impatient, and loud. Wire tones it down here, adds more intricate sounds and song structures, and offers a greater variety of styles. It can be bleak and melancholy('marooned'), light and appealing('outdoor miner'), amusing and silly('I am the fly') and energetic and boisterous('Too Late'). A very thoughtful and impressively laid out album, highly recommended."
Track Listings (18) - Disc #1