WIRE Pink Flag Vinyl LP Harvest st11757 ORIGINAL VINYL LP Very Rare

$

45

Pink Flag is the debut studio album by English post-punk band Wire. It was released in December 1977, through Harvest Records.

It has been widely acclaimed and considered influential by critics.

Reception

[edit] Critical

Upon its release, Robert Christgau called it a "punk suite" and praised its "simultaneous rawness and detachment" and detected a rock-and-roll irony similar to but "much grimmer and more frightening" than the Ramones.[3] Trouser Press called it "a brilliant 21-song suite" in which the band "manipulated classic rock song structure by condensing them into brief, intense explosions of attitude and energy, coming up with a collection of unforgettable tunes".[6] In its retrospective review, Allmusic awarded the album five stars out of five, opining that it was "perhaps the most original debut album to come out of the first wave of British punk" and also "recognizable, yet simultaneously quite unlike anything that preceded it. Pink Flag's enduring influence pops up in hardcore, post-punk, alternative rock, and even Britpop, and it still remains a fresh, invigorating listen today: a fascinating, highly inventive rethinking of punk rock and its freedom to make up your own rules."[1]

[edit] Influence

Although the album was released to critical acclaim,[7][8][9][10] it was not a big seller. The album was listed at number 410 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003[11] and music journalist Stuart Maconie described it as "extraordinary" by the standards of the time at which it was produced.[12] Pitchfork ranked Pink Flag number 22 in its list "Top 100 Albums of the 1970s".[13]

The album's wide-ranging influence is exemplified by the number of bands which have covered its songs. R.E.M. reworked "Strange" on their 1987 album Document. Henry Rollins (as Henrietta Collins & The Wife-Beating Child Haters) covered "Ex Lion Tamer" on the 1987 album Drive by Shooting. Other notable covers include Minor Threat's version of "1 2 X U" on the Dischord Records compilation Flex Your Head (1982), Die Kreuzen's cover of the title track on a 7" single in 1990, and Firehose's version of "Mannequin", which appeared on its Live Totem Pole EP in 1992. Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine also did a cover of Mannequin which was included on their 1992 single Do Re Me so Far so Good. Elastica also used a riff similar to that of "Three Girl Rhumba" for their song "Connection". The New Bomb Turks covered "Mr. Suit" on their 1993 album Destroy Oh Boy! and noticeably slowed its tempo. The hardcore band Ampere also released a cover of "Mr. Suit", which can be heard on their split LP with Das Oath. "Reuters" was covered by Irish alternative metal group Therapy?, as a B-side to their Troublegum album, also by Scrawl. The Minutemen also drew influence from this album, borrowing from it the approach of recording and releasing briefer songs. The Lemonheads covered "Fragile" on their 2009 album Varshons. Moneybrother covered "Mannequin" on his 2006 album Pengabrorsan (the lyrics and title were translated into Swedish). Graham Coxon has also cited the album as an influence on his latest album A+E.[14]

[edit] Track listing

All songs written and composed by Bruce Gilbert, Graham Lewis, Colin Newman, and Robert Gotobed, except as indicated.