Comments for Wire, Document and Eyewitness

...but on the other hand, if you are new to Wire and are not sure whether you would enjoy an hour's worth of partially tuneless excurtions into Art, then you would be wiser to stick to studio albums such as "Chairs Missing" or "154". If you do, the risk is you'll become really hooked...

A missed opportunity and a somewhat pointless CD. The Notre-Dame set is OK and gives one an insight as to what Wire''s fourth EMI LP might have been but the Electric Ballroom set is of such low quality it sounds like a bootleg. And the music is not too hot either. This may have been a sight to watch with its chaotic madness combining with the odd sounds and ''performance art'' aspects but it doesn''t translate to stand alone audio. For trainspotters only.

This is a Mute CD reissue of a Rough Trade Double LP whichdocuments two live shows at the end of Wire`s first period.The CD also adds another live version of their Chairs Missingtrack, heartbeat, and both sides of the "Our Swimmer" 7", whichmay very well have been the last studio recording they madebefore they broke up. The Electric Ballroom gig (tracks 9-20) is the one recordingtrack that remains from Wire`s last pre-breakup gig. This gigwas partially a result of the band`s ending its contract with EMI.As a result of this breakup, the band felt they could do anythingthey liked on stage. The gig was a masterpiece of live music as confrontational art. The other interesting thing about this CD is that there are many well-constructed songs, which I personally feel would havebeen on Wire`s fourth EMI record, had such a record beenmade. If the record had been made, who knows how brilliantit might have been.Tracks 1-7: Live, Notre Dame Hall: July 1979Track 8: Live, Montreux, March 1979Tracks 9-20: Live, Electric Ballroom, Feb. 1980Tracks 21-22: Rough Trade ?, Recorded in Magritte Studio