| Pink Flag | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 1977 (1977-11)[1] | |||
| Recorded | September–October 1977 | |||
| Studio | Advision, London | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 35:37 | |||
| Label | Harvest | |||
| Producer | Mike Thorne | |||
| Wire chronology | ||||
| ||||
Pink Flag is the debut studio album by the Britishpost-punk bandWire. It was released in November 1977 throughHarvest Records.[1] It was produced byMike Thorne, recorded from September to October, 1977, inAdvision Studios, London. The album was acclaimed on release, and has since been highly influential; today it is regarded as a landmark in the development ofpost-punk music.[8]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [9] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | A[10] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [11] |
| The Great Rock Discography | 8/10[12] |
| MusicHound Rock | [13] |
| Pitchfork | 10/10[14] |
| Q | [15] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [16] |
| Sounds | [17] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 10/10[18] |
| Uncut | [19] |
Reviewing in 1978 forThe Village Voice,Robert Christgau calledPink Flag a "punk suite", praised its "simultaneous rawness and detachment" and detected a rock-and-rollirony similar to but "much grimmer and more frightening" than theRamones.[20] In a 1978Trouser Press review, Ira Robbins said that "Wire [push] minimalism to new heights" and that the band "dredges up images of...beat poetry--short fragments of impressions set to music." He further said that the 21 tracks are "not songs...There's no easy structure or meter. Each explores or describes or electrifies or challenges. There's no easy listening ... I can't say this is an enjoyable album. Maybe it's just a stupid bit of rubbish. But you won't know unless you find out."[21]
In a retrospective review, Steve Huey ofAllMusic opined thatPink Flag 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 inhardcore,post-punk,alternative rock, and evenBritpop, 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."[9] Retrospectively, Trouser Press called the album "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".[22]Pitchfork writer Joe Tangari summarized the album as "a fractured snapshot of punk alternately collapsing in on itself and exploding into song-fragment shrapnel."[14]
Although the album has received acclaim,[23] it was not a big seller. It was listed at number 412 onRolling Stone's list ofThe 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2012[24] – jumping up to number 310 in its 2020 edition[25] – and at number 378 inNME'slist of the same name in 2013.[26]Music journalistStuart Maconie described it as "extraordinary" by the standards of the time at which it was produced.[27]Pitchfork rankedPink Flag number 22 in its list "Top 100 Albums of the 1970s".[28] The album was included in Robert Dimery's1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
R.E.M. frontmanMichael Stipe citedPink Flag as an influence.[29]Britpop bandElastica were influenced by Wire; they used a riff similar to that of "Three Girl Rhumba" for their song "Connection".[30]Graham Coxon ofBlur citedPink Flag as an influence on his eighth studio album,A+E.[31]Hüsker Dü bassistGreg Norton listedPink Flag as one of his three favorite punk albums.[32]
Credits adapted from the 2018 Special Edition.[33][nb 1] All music written byColin Newman, except where noted. All lyrics written byGraham Lewis, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Reuters" | 3:03 | |
| 2. | "Field Day for the Sundays" | 0:28 | |
| 3. | "Three Girl Rhumba" | Newman | 1:23 |
| 4. | "Ex Lion Tamer" | 2:19 | |
| 5. | "Lowdown" | 2:26 | |
| 6. | "Start to Move" | 1:13 | |
| 7. | "Brazil" | 0:41 | |
| 8. | "It's So Obvious" | 0:53 | |
| 9. | "Surgeon's Girl" | Newman | 1:17 |
| 10. | "Pink Flag" | 3:47 |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11. | "The Commercial" | (instrumental) | Lewis | 0:49 |
| 12. | "Straight Line" | Bruce Gilbert | Gilbert, Newman | 0:44 |
| 13. | "106 Beats That" | 1:12 | ||
| 14. | "Mr. Suit" | Newman | 1:25 | |
| 15. | "Strange" | Gilbert | Gilbert, Newman | 3:58 |
| 16. | "Fragile" | 1:18 | ||
| 17. | "Mannequin" | 2:37 | ||
| 18. | "Different to Me" | Annette Green | 0:43 | |
| 19. | "Champs" | 1:46 | ||
| 20. | "Feeling Called Love" | Newman | 1:22 | |
| 21. | "12 X U" | Gilbert, Lewis | 1:55 |
Credits adapted from the liner notes of the 2018 Special Edition.[33]
Wire
Additional personnel and production
Abrasive and disjointed, these 21 tracks exude a fury impossible to ignore and one enhanced by their very brevity.
The artily unintelligible lyrics and dense production marked Wire out as a sort of New WaveRoxy Music" (p. 170)
{{cite book}}:External link in|quote=The most original album of punk's first wave....The resulting sound was far colder and more brutal than anything else around at the time.
{{cite book}}:External link in|quote=This first-generation U.K. punk band made sparse tunes that erupted in combustible snippets on its 21-track debut album. America never got it, but Pink Flag – as revolutionary discs tend to do – influenced some important bands, including Sonic Youth and the Minutemen. It also might be one of the most-covered punk LPs ever: Minor Threat did "12XU", R.E.M. did "Strange", the New Bomb Turks did "Mr. Suit", Spoon did "Lowdown", the Lemonheads did "Fragile", and on and on.
ThePatti Smith recordHorses came out shortly after that. And thenMarquee Moon, byTelevision, came out. And I bought the first Wire album. Those were the big influences.
