Wire – 154

Love the sound on this pressing. No thoughts, just great music that keeps you "there".

A defining moment in sophisticated artful jagged post-punk/new-wave filled w/ complex deeply layered claustrophobic soundscapes embellished w/ strings & woodwinds, avant-garde dreamy psych, manic paranoic lyrics, bizarre out-of-left-field nuanced musical intricacies & memorable melodies.
The third part of the defining great album trilogies in music history alongside Pink Flag and Chairs Missing.
A musical masterpiece ahead of its time.

My Copy
• No bonus 7” (missing).
• Inner sleeve excludes “ALL LYRICS P 1979 USED BY KIND PERMISSION OF CARLIN MUSIC CORP.”
• No barcode on the back cover.
• No mention of Harvest on this release.
• Matrix / Runout Side A: [Stamped and Crossed Out]: SHVL 819 A-1 [Stamped]: SHSP 4105 A-1
• Matrix / Runout Side B: [Stamped and Crossed Out]: SHVL 819 B-1 [Stamped]: SHSP 4105 B-1

Sound quality is OK, but I suspect mastered from an original LP(!!) The play-in grooves sound quieter than when the music starts, which have an immediate increase in surface noise, and there is no play-out groove at the end of each side (the last track ends, and my turntable's record arm lifts off straight away)
Black 'Made in England' type and barcode printed in 'colour' black, not solid, so are slightly blurred.
But, a cool looking version of 154, which complements the LP cover design - Wire should consider a legit white vinyl reissue,

Some scumbag has stolen my e.p 🤬. Clearly someone desperate to listen to Lets Panic Later.

Anyone know if they ever pop up for sale by themselves?

Small varant here although I suppose I have he same version (according to matrix/runouts) : the printed inner sleeve doesn't have the credits en the lower left corner, only the catalog number on lower right corner

I have a NM copy of the 7" 4 tracker (PSR 444), but cant find a listing to sell. If anyone is interested met me know

I A/B'd this with the 2018 reissue. There's hardly a difference sonically. I honestly like the lack of a title on sleeve of the reissue better - that was WIRE's original intent. But this is an artifact of an earlier time, so I'm keeping this one.

WIRE at its finest (as they always are). 154 still defies easy categorization. I a friend calling this record goth - a pejorative to him. He's a dad who writes "content" now.

I picked up the NZ pressing, SHSP 4105 second hand a number of years ago (for A$5.00, which was pretty sweet). It also has the free 7" single with it. Was the album released with the 7" record in NZ or has the previous owner/s found a copy of the free single and just put it in with it?

Original sounds great. I did have the reissue from a few years back, but it always sounded stodgy to me so it went back. These three Wire albums are originals only for me.