Chairs Missing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Template:DMCA Template:DMCA Script error: No such module "Unsubst-infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".

Chairs Missing is the second studio album by the English rock band Wire. It was released on 8 September 1978 through Harvest Records.[1] It uses more developed song structures than the minimalist punk rock of the group's first album. The record was met with widespread critical acclaim.

The album peaked at number 48 in the UK Albums Chart.[2] The single "Outdoor Miner" was a minor hit, peaking at number 51 in the UK singles chart.[3]

Music

Although it features some of the minimalist punk rock of the band's debut Pink Flag, Chairs Missing contains more developed song structure (taking some cues from 1970s prog-rock, psychedelia, and art rock), keyboard and synthesizer elements brought in by producer Mike Thorne, and a broader palette of emotional and intellectual subject matter. The title is said to be a British slang term for a mildly disturbed person, as in "that guy has a few chairs missing in his front room".[4]

The album was released through Harvest Records on 8 September 1978.[1][5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStarStar[6]
The Encyclopedia of Popular MusicStarStarStarStarFile:Star empty.svg[7]
The Great Rock Discography9/10[8]
MusicHound RockStarStarStarStarHalf star[9]
Pitchfork10/10[10]
QStarStarStarStarStar[11]
The Rolling Stone Album GuideStarStarStarStarFile:Star empty.svg[12]
Spin Alternative Record Guide9/10[13]
UncutStarStarStarStarStar[14]
Under the RadarStarStarStarStarStarStarStarStarHalf starFile:Star empty.svg[15]

In a 1979 Trouser Press review, Jim Green said, "Wire are disconcerting, laconic yet eloquent in fragmented visions, jarring even at their most accessible. They disdain cliche, pushing out the limits of rock; the easy way is too boring." He continued, "Their stripped-down rhythms take on the quality of being familiar yet somehow alien, just as their bleak lyrics lift the everyday from its context and illuminate its ironies." Green concluded that "[y]ou have to listen for yourself."[16] The Sandwell Evening Mail wrote that "the songs are sparse, sometimes rather frightening, but often superbly constructed."[17]

In its retrospective review, Steve Huey of AllMusic wrote: "The arty darkness of Chairs Missing, combined with the often icy-sounding synth/guitar arrangements, helps make the record a crucial landmark in the evolution of punk into post-punk and goth, as well as a testament to Wire's rapid development and inventiveness."[6] BBC Music called the album a "glorious avant-pop coup" and (referring to the 2006 edition of the album) "the most satisfying of the three reissues [the others being Pink Flag and 154]."[18] In 2004, Pitchfork listed Chairs Missing as 33rd best album of the 1970s.[19] In 2013, NME listed the album as the 394th greatest album of all time.[20]

Legacy

In 2004 the US record label Words-on-Music released A Houseguest's Wish, a CD tribute album to the band consisting solely of 19 different versions of the Chairs Missing track "Outdoor Miner".[citation needed]

In 2016, Paste named the album as the third-best post-punk release of all time. Staff writer Garrett Martin assessed: "It’s hard to imagine 'post-punk' even existing as a genre tag without this record; although a couple of songs recall the minimal, straight-forward punk of Pink Flag, the rest of the album adds synthesizers, guitar effects, a disco beat on 'Another the Letter,' and various other flourishes and experiments that clearly marked this as something new and different at the time. It foreshadowed so much of the punk-derived music that followed that you can draw a straight line from Chairs Missing to a handful of different indie-rock subgenres."[21]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the 2018 Special Edition.

All music written by Colin Newman, except where noted. All lyrics written by Graham Lewis, except where noted.

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Track listing/configuration' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Track listing/configuration' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Track listing/configuration' not found.

*The bonus tracks on the 1989 and 1994 reissues were removed from the 2006 remastered reissue because they, according to the band, didn't honour the "conceptual clarity of the original statements".[23]

2018 Special Edition

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Track listing/configuration' not found.

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Track listing/configuration' not found.

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Track listing/configuration' not found.

Charts

Script error: No such module "Music chart".
Chart (1979) Peak
position

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the 2018 Special Edition.

Wire
  • Colin Newman – vocals, guitar, backing vocals, arrangement
  • Bruce Gilbert – guitar, arrangement, concept
  • Graham Lewis – bass, vocals on "Sand in My Joints", backing vocals, arrangement, concept, original sleeve design
  • Robert Gotobed – drums, percussion, arrangement
Additional personnel and production

References

Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.

  1. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Burbeck, Rodney, ed. (16 November 1978). "News" (PDF). Music Week. London: Morgan-Grampian. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 September 2024.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Chairs Missing | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Outdoor Miner | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.DeRogatis, Jim; Neate, Wilson. "Wire". Trouser Press. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Shearlaw, John, ed. (9 September 1978). "Tours" (PDF). Record Mirror. London: United Newspapers. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  6. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Huey, Steve. "Chairs Missing – Wire". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Larkin, Colin (2011). "Wire". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Martin C. Strong (1998). The Great Rock Discography (1st ed.). Canongate Books. ISBN 978-0-86241-827-4.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gary Graff, ed. (1996). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (1st ed.). London: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 978-0-7876-1037-1.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Tangari, Joe (5 May 2006). "Wire: Pink Flag / Chairs Missing / 154". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Harris, John (July 2018). "Dawning of a New Era". Q. No. 386. pp. 120–21.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gross, Joe (2004). "Wire". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 883–84. ISBN 0-743-20169-8.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Weisbard, Eric (1995). "Wire". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 435–37. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Wire: Chairs Missing". Uncut. No. 106. March 2006. p. 106.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ian Rushby (13 June 2018). "Chairs Missing (Special Edition Reissue)". Under the Radar. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Green, Jim (January 1979). "Wire: Chairs Missing". Trouser Press. Vol. 6, no. 1. New York. p. 41. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Wire, Chairs Missing". Sandwell Evening Mail. 21 October 1978. p. 11.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Smith, Sid (20 November 2002). "Wire Pink Flag/Chairs Missing/154 Review". BBC Music. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Pitchfork staff (23 June 2004). "The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s". Pitchfork. p. 7. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Barker, Emily (23 October 2013). "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: 400–301". NME. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The 50 Best Post-Punk Albums". Paste. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Neate, Wilson (2013). Read & Burn: A Book About Wire. London: Jawbone Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-90827-933-0.
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Villeneuve, Phil (11 April 2006). "Wire Reissuing First Three LPs and Early Live Recordings". Chart Attack. Retrieved 2 October 2018.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)

Informational notes

Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.

  1. ^ The songwriting credits for Chairs Missing have been modified on all reissues since 2006.[22] "Men 2nd" was originally credited to Graham Lewis alone.
  2. ^ "Used To" was originally credited to Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis alone.
  3. ^ "Too Late" was originally credited to Bruce Gilbert alone.
  4. ^ "Options R" was originally credited to Graham Lewis alone.

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Navbox/configuration' not found.

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Authority control/config' not found.

Retrieved from "https://cosmopedia.co/index.php?title=Chairs_Missing&oldid=1187959"