Wire — 154
№ 3 In The Top Ten Most Important Albums Of All Time
Well, where to start with this one? 154 was their third album; prior to 154, Wire had given us the classic punk singles “12XU” and “I Am The Fly” as well as the albums “Pink Flag” and “Chairs Missing”. There were clues in those offerings that an album like “154” was possible, but not many clues and only in hindsight. It seems obvious now that the lyrics to “I Am The Fly” — for example, references to “the divergent wasp” were a forerunner of the much more cerebral work of 154. However, had they continued in the punk thrash vein nobody would have been the slightest bit surprised. And I suspect the band itself would be long forgotten.
Instead, though, they made the gorgeous, ethereal 154. And, yes, I do know what ethereal means. One definition states “extremely delicate and light in a way that seems not to be of this world”, which neatly describes this album full of interconnected themes, musical and lyrical, which appears to take the listener out of this world and into the strange world of Wire. I still cannot listen to the first track, “I Should Have Known Better”, without carrying on straight through to the last, “40 Versions”. It only makes sense to me as a complete work, individual tracks cannot be listened to in isolation from each other.
