Title: A POST-PUNK CLASSIC
Product review: A CLIFFORD HODGE REVIEWThis is one of the overlooked classics of the post-punk era, and probably belongs on the top 20 list with NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS, the first CLASH album, PIL's SECOND EDITION, etc., yet it even gets underrated by WIRE fans. This has a dark, bass sound, associated with groups like JOY DIVISION, but with a more ominous-sounding vocal style. Probably darker than JOY DIVISION, SISTERS OF MERCY, THE CURE, etc., it may have been considered just too gloomy, although it is not so much depressing as it is oppressive, hammering at you more like a series of short Jonathan Kane compositions, but less repetitious, and with deep vocals invoking strange dream-like images. This should be the album for which WIRE is remembered 80 years from now. The LP on original release in 1979, contained a bonus 7-inch, but the CD has 4 extra tracks not on the LP. This is a must-have for fans of progressive punk/new wave.
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