Chairs Missing

''Chairs Missing'' is the second studio album by the English rock band Wire. It was released on 8September 1978 through Harvest Records.

The album peaked at number 48 in the UK Albums Chart.

The single "Outdoor Miner" was a minor hit, peaking at number 51 in the UK singles chart.

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".

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." The '' Sandwell Evening Mail'' wrote that "the songs are sparse, sometimes rather frightening, but often superbly constructed."

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." 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 154'']." In 2004, ''Pitchfork (website), Pitchfork'' listed ''Chairs Missing'' as 33rd best album of the 1970s. In 2013, ''NME'' listed the album as the 394th NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, 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".

In 2016, '' Paste (magazine), 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."

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.

*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

Charts

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
* Kathryn Lukas – flute on "Heartbeat"
* Mike Thorne – production, keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals on "Being Sucked in Again", arrangement
* Paul Hardiman – engineering
* Ken Thomas – assistant engineering
* Annette Green – photography
* Brian Palmer – art direction
* 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 – Remastering (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 (2018 reissue)
* Jon Savage – liner notes (2018 reissue)
* Graham Duff – liner notes (2018 reissue)
* Craig Grannell – booklet editor (2018 reissue)

References

Informational notes

External links

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The making of Wire's ''Chairs Missing'' album

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Wire (band) albums
1978 albums
Harvest Records albums
Restless Records albums
Albums produced by Mike Thorne
Avant-pop albums