''Chairs Missing'' is the second studio album by English
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Wire. It was released on 8 September 1978 by
Harvest Records.
The album peaked at number 48 in the
UK Albums Chart.
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
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
,
psychedelia, and
art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...
), 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". The single "
Outdoor Miner
"Outdoor Miner" is a song written by Colin Newman and Graham Lewis, and performed by the English post-punk band Wire. It was released in January 1979 as the band's fourth single (reaching number 51 in the UK singles chart) and appeared on their s ...
" was a minor hit, peaking at number 51 in the
UK Singles Chart.
Critical reception
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 "
u have to listen for yourself."
In their retrospective review, Steve Huey of
AllMusic gave the album five stars out of five and 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
A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were:
*Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history
*Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history
Goth or Goths may also refer to:
* Goth (surname) ...
, as well as a testament to Wire's rapid development and inventiveness."
called the album a "glorious
avant-pop coup" and (referring to the 2006 edition of the album) "the most satisfying of the three reissues
154
Year 154 ( CLIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Lateranus (or, less frequently, year 907 ''Ab urbe cond ...
'']."
In 2004 ''Pitchfork (website), Pitchfork'' listed ''Chairs Missing'' as 33rd best album of the 1970s.
[Accolades archived]
at Acclaimed Music
Acclaimed Music is a website created by Henrik Franzon, a statistician from Stockholm, Sweden in September 2001. Franzon has statistically aggregated hundreds of published lists that rank songs and albums into aggregated rankings by year, deca ...
. Retrieved 12 May 2018. In 2013 ''
NME'' listed the album as the 394th
greatest album of all time.
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".
Track listing
Credits adapted from the 2018 Special Edition.
[Chairs Missing (2018 Special Edition)]
. Discogs.com. Retrieved on 5 May 2019.
All music written by
Colin Newman, except where noted. All lyrics written by
Graham Lewis, except where noted.
*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".
2018 Special Edition
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of the 2018 Special Edition.
[Chairs Missing (1994 reissue)]
. Discogs.com. Retrieved on 5 May 2019.[Chairs Missing (2006 reissue)]
. Discogs.com. Retrieved on 5 May 2019.
; 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
*
Kathryn Lukas Kathryn Lukas (Kate Lukas) is a contemporary flute performer and teacher. She is Professor of Music (Flute) at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. She has taught at the Guildhall School of Music and recorded contemporary flute reperto ...
– flute on "Heartbeat"
*
Mike Thorne – production, keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals on "Being Sucked in Again", arrangement
*
Paul Hardiman –
engineering
*
Ken Thomas Kenneth, Ken or Kenny Thomas may refer to:
* Kenneth Thomas (chess player) (born 1938), Chief Financial Officer of the United States Chess Federation
* Ken Thomas (trade unionist) (1927–2008), Welsh trade unionist and General Secretary of the Civi ...
– assistant engineering
* Annette Green – photography
* Brian Palmer –
art direction
Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...
* Tim Chacksfield – project co-ordination (1994 reissue)
*
Phil Smee – packaging (1994 reissue)
* Chris Blair – cutting engineering (1994 reissue)
* Andrew Day – design (2006 reissue)
*
Denis Blackham –
Remaster
Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used.
Mastering
A ...
ing (2006 and 2018 reissues)
*
Nick Glennie-Smith – engineering (disc 3, 2018 reissue)
*
Jon Wozencroft – art direction, layout (2018 reissue)
* HQ – layout (2018 reissue)
*
Malka Spigel-Newman –
photo restoration
Digital photograph restoration is the practice of restoring the appearance of a digital copy of a physical photograph which has been damaged by natural, man-made, or environmental causes or simply affected by age or neglect.
Digital photograph r ...
(2018 reissue)
*
Jon Savage –
liner notes (2018 reissue)
*
Graham Duff
Graham Duff (born 13 April 1964) is an English writer, actor and producer. He was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, and lives in Brighton. He graduated from the University of Brighton. His work for TV and radio is typified by intricate plotting, ...
– liner notes (2018 reissue)
* Craig Grannell –
booklet
Booklet may refer to:
* A small book or group of pages
* A pamphlet
* A type of tablet computer
* Postage stamp booklet, made up of one or more small panes of postage stamps in a cardboard cover
* Liner notes, writings found in booklets which come ...
editor (2018 reissue)
References
Informational notes
External links
*
*
The making of Wire's ''Chairs Missing'' album
{{Authority control
1978 albums
Harvest Records albums
Restless Records albums
Wire (band) albums
Albums produced by Mike Thorne
Avant-pop albums