Pink Flag is the debut album by the English rock band Wire, released in November 1977. The album was critically acclaimed on release, and has since been highly influential. It is widely regarded as a landmark in the development of post-punk music.
Pink Flag | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | December 1977[1] | |||
Recorded | September–October 1977 | |||
Studio | Advision, London | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 35:37 | |||
Label | Harvest | |||
Producer | Mike Thorne | |||
Wire chronology | ||||
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The album consists of 21 tracks; six last less than a minute, a further nine last less than two minutes.[5][6] Pitchfork noted its minimalist focus on sound rather than melody, while Allmusic described it as "The Ramones Go to Art School".
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [5] |
Christgau's Record Guide | A[7] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [8] |
The Great Rock Discography | 8/10[9] |
MusicHound Rock | [10] |
Pitchfork | 10/10[11] |
Q | [12] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [13] |
Sounds | [14] |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 10/10[15] |
Uncut | [16] |
Reviewing in 1978 for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau called Pink Flag a "punk suite", praised its "simultaneous rawness and detachment" and detected a rock-and-roll irony similar to, but "much grimmer and more frightening" than, the Ramones.[17] In a 1978 Trouser 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." Robbins concluded, "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."[18]
In a retrospective review, Steve Huey of AllMusic opined that Pink 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 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."[5] 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".[19] Pitchfork writer Joe Tangari summarized the album as "a fractured snapshot of punk alternately collapsing in on itself and exploding into song-fragment shrapnel."[11]
Although the album has received critical acclaim,[20] it was not a big seller. It was listed at number 412 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2012[21] – jumping up to number 310 in its 2020 edition[22] – and at number 378 in NME's list of the same name in 2013.[23] Music journalist Stuart Maconie described it as "extraordinary" by the standards of the time at which it was produced.[24] Pitchfork ranked Pink Flag number 22 in its list "Top 100 Albums of the 1970s".[25] The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Britpop band Elastica were influenced by Wire; they used a riff similar to that of "Three Girl Rhumba" for their song "Connection".[26] Graham Coxon of Blur cited Pink Flag as an influence on his eighth studio album A+E.[27]
Credits adapted from the 2018 Special Edition.[28][nb 1]
All music written by Colin Newman, except where noted. All lyrics written by Graham 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.[28]
Wire
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 Wave Roxy Music" (p. 170)
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(help)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.
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(help)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.