I've only got Pink Flag myself (which I love, in spite of having not listened to it in an age or two). I've heard many a good word about 154 and Chairs Missing too, which I've been meaning to get for years.

This is a GREAT band. Pink Flag and Chairs Missing are unbelievably good albums, and Chairs Missing is SO ahead of its time that it just ain't fcking funny.

This would be better served in the rock section though, where more people might actually read it and take an interest.

They're not a rock band though, theyre punk/post-punk

Pink flag is superb, each song is a little bundle of energy and aggression bursting at the seams.

Chairs missing is more accomplished and more ambitious, but there really is no choosing between the two.

As I've argued before, broadly speaking, there's no compelling reason why punk should not be categorized as a style of rock music. As for post-punk, then it was post-punk as a movement that ended up becoming what was later known as 'college rock', 'alternative rock', 'new wave', even 'indie rock'. All those notions are rooted in punk music, yet they are called rock. And anyway, punk is often most commonly referred to as 'punk rock'. So to say that punk is NOT rock music is one of the most meaningless statements imaginable. To say that as a style it is not LIKE the other rock music of the mid-late 70s, that is true.

And especially when you start taking the more technically sophisticated 'punk' bands, like Television, the line becomes extremely blurry indeed. The average listener, if played Marquee Moon, would have no means of telling whether or not it should be called 'punk' or 'rock'. Same with Wire. Much of Chairs Missing is so well polished that one wouldn't even know whether it was made in the 70s or the 90s - and they certainly wouldn't be able to tell you if it was 'rock' or 'punk'.

Saying that, I appreciate that punk deserves its own section, but it's a pity that bands like this get practically no attention simply because they're in a quiet and much less visited part of the forum.

Pink Flag is my favorite. I bought all 3 around the same time, and thats the album I come back to most. However for awhile, Chairs Missing was my favorite. The thing to remember for those who aren't into it is, it's a grower. Pink Flag is very immediate, fast. They get the point across in every song, and each is so brief that there is little time for repetition. Chairs Missing tends to take a melody or chord progression and hang on to it much longer, the songs build up to these huge tense moments, rather than blowing past you.

And 154 is unfairly neglected I think. Granted it doesnt come close to the first two, but I think its just that the album isn't as consistent, considering it has more of my favorite songs than any other Wire album.

i think map ref is the only song on that album that really blows me away

I love your summary of Pink Flag. That's exactly what it is. Each song does what it's supposed to do, amazingly well, even if it's just 1 and a half minutes long e..g the second song?

Chairs Missing is a brilliant album which I have only recently been introduced to. It's a mazing how so many great albums slip under the radar. It's an album that will appeal to a wide range of fans and not just Post Punk fans.

My question about Wire:do they play stuff off of pink flag live? They were in my area recently, and I looked up the new stuff they have, and they got more electronic...

i've heard that they tend to stick to new material, which is unfortunate since i didn't really care for their newest album