''Pink Flag'' is the debut album by the English rock band

Wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...

, released in December 1977. The album was critically acclaimed on release, and has since been highly influential; today it is regarded as a landmark in the development of

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

music.

Critical reception

Reviewing in 1978 for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'',

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

called ''Pink Flag'' a "punk suite", praised its "simultaneous rawness and detachment" and detected a rock-and-roll

irony Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique. Irony can be categorized into ...

similar to, but "much grimmer and more frightening" than, the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

. In a 1978 ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' review, Ira Robbins said that "Wire

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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." In a retrospective review, Steve Huey of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

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,

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

, 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." 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". Pitchfork writer Joe Tangari summarized the album as "a fractured snapshot of punk alternately collapsing in on itself and exploding into song-fragment shrapnel."

Legacy

Although the album has received critical acclaim, it was not a big seller. It was listed at number 412 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2012 – jumping up to number 310 in its 2020 edition – and at number 378 in ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

s list of the same name in 2013. Music journalist Stuart Maconie described it as "extraordinary" by the standards of the time at which it was produced. '' Pitchfork'' ranked ''Pink Flag'' number 22 in its list "Top 100 Albums of the 1970s". The album was included in Robert Dimery's ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

''. Britpop band Elastica were influenced by Wire; they used a riff similar to that of "Three Girl Rhumba" for their song " Connection". Graham Coxon of Blur cited ''Pink Flag'' as an influence on his eighth studio album '' A+E''.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the 2018 Special Edition.Pink Flag (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 were removed from the 2006 remastered reissues, because, according to the band, they did not honour the "conceptual clarity of the original statements". The tracks were also left off both editions of ''Pink Flag''s 2018 remaster, but can be found on the 2018 deluxe reissue of ''

Chairs Missing ''Chairs Missing'' is the second studio album by English rock 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 ...

''.

2018 Special Edition

The first disc of the Special Edition contains the twenty-one tracks from the original album.

Personnel

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

Bruce Gilbert Bruce Clifford Gilbert (born 18 May 1946) is an English musician. One of the founding members of the influential and experimental art punk band Wire (band), Wire,Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 180-182 ...

– guitar, sleeve concept * Robert Gotobed – drums * Graham Lewis – bass guitar, backing vocals, sleeve concept * Colin Newman – vocals, guitar, backing vocals Additional personnel and production * Kate Lukas – flute on "Strange" *

Dave Oberlé Dave Oberlé (born 9 January 1953 in Farnborough, London, Farnborough, Kent, England) is percussionist and lead vocalist with the 1970s band Gryphon (band), Gryphon. After the band split up in 1977, Oberlé went on to help launch the heavy rock ma ...

– backing vocals on "Mannequin" * Mike Thorne – production, piano on "Reuters", backing vocals on "Reuters" and "Mr. Suit", flute arrangement on "Strange", electric piano on "Options R" * Paul Hardiman –

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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 engineer * David Dragon – art direction * Annette Green – front and back cover photography * Richard Bray – back cover photography * Lynda House – back cover photography * Tim Chacksfield – project co-ordination (1994 reissue) *

Phil Smee Philip Lloyd-Smee is an English music journalist, designer and record collector, most widely known for designing music album covers and his Bam-Caruso music label, best known for the Rubble series of albums. Much of Smee's design work was done f ...

– packaging (1994 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 reissue) *

Jon Wozencroft Jon Wozencroft (born 1 June 1958, in Epsom, England) is a graphic designer, author and instructor. Wozencroft founded Touch Music, Touch, an independent multimedia publishing company. Between 1982 and 1986 Touch "released around 15 products, conce ...

– art direction (2018 reissue) *

Jon Savage Jon Savage (born Jonathan Malcolm Sage; 2 September 1953 in Paddington, London) is an English writer, broadcaster and music journalist, best known for his history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, ''England's Dreaming'', published in 1991. ...

– 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)

References

Informational notes

External links

* * * * {{Authority control 1977 debut albums Harvest Records albums Restless Records albums Wire (band) albums Albums produced by Mike Thorne