Pink Flag

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/pink-flag-mw0000192366 |title=Pink Flag – Wire |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=8 February 2012 |last=Huey |first=Steve}}

| rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

| rev2score = A{{cite book |chapter=W |chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=W&bk=70 |access-date=22 March 2019 |via=robertchristgau.com |title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies |title-link=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |publisher=Ticknor and Fields |location=Boston |year=1981 |isbn=0-89919-026-X}}

| rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Wire |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music |last=Larkin |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Larkin |publisher=Omnibus Press |location=London |edition=5th concise |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}

| rev4 = The Great Rock Discography

| rev4score = 8/10{{cite book|title=The Great Rock Discography|author=Martin C. Strong|author-link=Martin C. Strong|edition=1st|year=1998|isbn=978-0-86241-827-4|publisher=Canongate Books}}

| rev5 = MusicHound Rock

| rev5score = {{rating|5|5}}{{cite book|title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide|editor=Gary Graff|editor-link=Gary Graff|edition=1st|year=1996|location=London|isbn=978-0-7876-1037-1|publisher=Visible Ink Press}}

| rev6 = Pitchfork

| rev6score = 10/10{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11866-pink-flag-chairs-missing-154/ |title=Wire: Pink Flag / Chairs Missing / 154 |work=Pitchfork |date=5 May 2006 |access-date=8 February 2012 |last=Tangari |first=Joe}}

| rev7 = Q

| rev7score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Dawning of a New Era |magazine=Q |issue=386 |date=July 2018 |last=Harris |first=John |author-link=John Harris (critic) |pages=120–21}}

| rev8 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev8score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Wire |last=Gross |first=Joe |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-743-20169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/883 883–84]}}

| rev9 = Sounds

| rev9score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |last=Fudger |first=Dave |title=Bleak, morbid, but mesmerising |date=12 November 1977 |magazine=Sounds |pages=34}}

| rev10 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

| rev10score = 10/10{{cite book |chapter=Wire |last=Weisbard |first=Eric |author-link=Eric Weisbard |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-75574-8 |pages=435–37}}

| rev11 = Uncut

| rev11score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Wire: Pink Flag |magazine=Uncut |issue=106 |date=March 2006 |page=106}}

}}

Reviewing in 1978 for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau called Pink Flag a "punk suite", praised its "simultaneous rawness and detachment" and detected a rock-and-roll irony similar to, but "much grimmer and more frightening" than, the Ramones.{{cite news |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv3-78.php |title=Christgau's Consumer Guide |work=The Village Voice |date=27 March 1978 |access-date=7 December 2015 |last=Christgau |first=Robert}} In a 1978 Trouser Press review, Ira Robbins said that "Wire [push] 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."{{cite magazine |url=https://trouserpress.com/magazine-covers-3/ |title=Wire: Pink Flag |magazine=Trouser Press |location=New York |volume=5 |issue=3 |date=April 1978 |access-date=20 December 2021 |last=Robbins |first=Ira |page=40}}

In a retrospective review, Steve Huey of AllMusic 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, post-punk, alternative rock, 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".{{cite web |url=http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=wire |title=Wire |work=Trouser Press |access-date=8 February 2012 |last1=DeRogatis |first1=Jim |author-link1=Jim DeRogatis |last2=Neate |first2=Wilson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204040037/http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=wire |archive-date=4 February 2012 |url-status=dead}} Pitchfork writer Joe Tangari summarized the album as "a fractured snapshot of punk alternately collapsing in on itself and exploding into song-fragment shrapnel."

Although the album has received critical acclaim,- {{cite book |title=All Time Top 1000 Albums |last=Larkin |first=Colin |year=1994 |publisher=Guinness World Records |isbn=978-0-851-12786-6 |page=236 |quote=Abrasive and disjointed, these 21 tracks exude a fury impossible to ignore and one enhanced by their very brevity.}}
- {{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Albums |location=Bristol |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n08ejQuhlAUC |last1=Heatley |first1=Michael |author-link=Michael Heatley |last2=Lester |first2=Paul |author-link2=Paul Lester |last3=Roberts |first3=Chris |editor-last=Du Noyer |editor-first=Paul |editor-link=Paul Du Noyer |year=1998 |publisher=Dempsey Parr |isbn=978-1-840-84031-5 |quote=The artily unintelligible lyrics and dense production marked Wire out as a sort of New Wave Roxy Music" ([https://books.google.com/books?id=n08ejQuhlAUC&q=%22The+artily+unintelligible+lyrics+and+dense+production+marked+Wire+out+as+a+sort+of+New+Wave+Roxy+Music%22 p. 170])}}
- {{cite book |editor-last=Dimery |editor-first=Robert |title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die |year=2011 |orig-date=2005 |publisher=Hachette UK |location=London |isbn=978-1-84403714-8 |quote=[https://books.google.com/books?id=PIyEkArSW0EC&dq=%22The+most+original+album+of+punk's+first+wave%22&pg=PT1014 The most original album of punk's first wave.]...[https://books.google.com/books?id=PIyEkArSW0EC&dq=%22The+resulting+sound+was+far+colder+and+more+brutal+than+anything+else+around+at+the+time%22&pg=PT1015 The resulting sound was far colder and more brutal than anything else around at the time.]}}
-NME (January 2006). 100 Greatest British Albums Ever!. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060216032154/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nmes_100_best_albums.htm#Greatest%20British%20Albums Pink Flag was placed no. 83]}}. Retrieved 6 September 2013. it was not a big seller. It was listed at number 412 on Rolling Stone{{'}}s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2012{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/wire-pink-flag-20120525 |title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time |at=412: Pink Flag – Wire |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=31 May 2012 |access-date=5 March 2017 |author=Rolling Stone staff}} – jumping up to number 310 in its 2020 edition{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/|title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|magazine=Rolling Stone|author=Rolling Stone staff|quote=This first-generation U.K. punk band made sparse tunes that erupted in combustible snippets on its 21-track debut album. America never got it, but Pink Flag – as revolutionary discs tend to do – influenced some important bands, including Sonic Youth and the Minutemen. It also might be one of the most-covered punk LPs ever: Minor Threat did "12XU", R.E.M. did "Strange", the New Bomb Turks did "Mr. Suit", Spoon did "Lowdown", the Lemonheads did "Fragile", and on and on.|date=22 September 2020|access-date=21 December 2020}} – and at number 378 in NME's list of the same name in 2013.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.nme.com/photos/the-500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-400-301-1426436 |title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: 400–301 |at=378: Pink Flag – Wire |magazine=NME |date=23 October 2013 |access-date=5 March 2017 |last=Barker |first=Emily}} Music journalist Stuart Maconie described it as "extraordinary" by the standards of the time at which it was produced.{{cite book |title=Cider with Roadies |url=https://archive.org/details/ciderwithroadies0000maco |url-access=registration |last=Maconie |first=Stuart |author-link=Stuart Maconie |publisher=Ebury Publishing |location=London |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-091-89745-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ciderwithroadies0000maco/page/108 108]}} Pitchfork ranked Pink Flag number 22 in its list "Top 100 Albums of the 1970s".{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/5932-top-100-albums-of-the-1970s/?page=8 |title=The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s |work=Pitchfork |date=23 June 2004 |access-date=2 August 2016 |author=Pitchfork staff |page=8}} The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe has cited Pink Flag as an influence.{{Cite magazine |last=Fricke |first=David |date=5 March 1992 |title=Artist of the Year: R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe on the Band's First Decade |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/artist-of-the-year-r-e-m-s-michael-stipe-on-the-bands-first-decade-83283/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216104711/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/artist-of-the-year-r-e-m-s-michael-stipe-on-the-bands-first-decade-83283/ |archive-date=16 December 2023 |access-date=19 August 2023 |magazine=Rolling Stone |quote=The Patti Smith record Horses came out shortly after that. And then Marquee Moon, by Television, came out. And I bought the first Wire album. Those were the big influences.}} Britpop band Elastica were influenced by Wire; they used a riff similar to that of "Three Girl Rhumba" for their song "Connection".Dimery, Robert, ed. (2011) [2005]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=PIyEkArSW0EC&dq=%22Elastica's+borrowing+from%22%22Three+Girl+Rhumba%22%22for+1994's%22%22Connection%22&pg=PT1015 Elastica's borrowing from "Three Girl Rhumba" for 1994's "Connection"]. Graham Coxon of Blur cited Pink Flag as an influence on his eighth studio album A+E.{{cite magazine |title=The Soundtrack of My Life: Graham Coxon |magazine=Q |issue=309 |date=April 2012}} Hüsker Dü bassist Greg Norton has listed Pink Flag as one of his three favorite punk albums of all time.{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Gavin |date=August 23, 2024 |title=(((O))) Interview: Greg Norton from UltraBomb / Hüsker Dü |url=https://echoesanddust.com/2024/08/greg-norton-from-ultrabomb-husker-du/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240905162956/https://echoesanddust.com/2024/08/greg-norton-from-ultrabomb-husker-du/ |archive-date=September 5, 2024 |access-date=January 11, 2025 |website=echoesanddust.com}}

Credits adapted from the 2018 Special Edition."[https://www.discogs.com/Wire-Pink-Flag/release/12013604 Pink Flag (2018 Special Edition)]". Discogs.com. Retrieved on 5 May 2019.{{#tag:ref|The songwriting credits for Pink Flag have been modified on all reissues since 2006.{{cite book |title=Read & Burn: A Book About Wire |last=Neate |first=Wilson |publisher=Jawbone Press |location=London |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-90827-933-0 |page=81}} All tracks were originally credited to Bruce Gilbert, Graham Lewis, Colin Newman and Robert Gotobed, except "Different To Me", which was credited to Annette Green.|group="nb"}}

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

{{Track listing

| all_writing =

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Reuters

| length1 = 3:03

| music1 =

| title2 = Field Day for the Sundays

| length2 = 0:28

| title3 = Three Girl Rhumba

| lyrics3 = Newman

| length3 = 1:23

| title4 = Ex Lion Tamer

| length4 = 2:19

| title5 = Lowdown

| length5 = 2:26

| title6 = Start to Move

| length6 = 1:13

| title7 = Brazil

| length7 = 0:41

| title8 = It's So Obvious

| length8 = 0:53

| title9 = Surgeon's Girl

| lyrics9 = Newman

| length9 = 1:17

| title10 = Pink Flag

| length10 = 3:47

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title11 = The Commercial

| music11 = Lewis

| lyrics11 = (instrumental)

| length11 = 0:49

| title12 = Straight Line

| music12 = Gilbert, Newman

| lyrics12 = Bruce Gilbert

| length12 = 0:44

| title13 = 106 Beats That

| length13 = 1:12

| title14 = Mr. Suit

| lyrics14 = Newman

| length14 = 1:25

| title15 = Strange

| music15 = Gilbert, Newman

| lyrics15 = Gilbert

| length15 = 3:58

| title16 = Fragile

| length16 = 1:18

| title17 = Mannequin

| length17 = 2:37

| title18 = Different to Me

| lyrics18 = Annette Green

| length18 = 0:43

| title19 = Champs

| length19 = 1:46

| title20 = Feeling Called Love

| lyrics20 = Newman

| length20 = 1:22

| title21 = 12 X U

| lyrics21 = Gilbert, Lewis

| length21 = 1:55

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = CD reissues bonus tracks*

| title22 = Dot Dash

| length22 = 2:25

| note22 = 1994 reissue, 1978 single A-side

| title23 = Options R

| music23 = Lewis, Newman{{#tag:ref|"Options R" was credited to Lewis alone on all pre-2006 releases.|group="nb"}}

| length23 = 1:36

| note23 = 1989 and 1994 reissues, 1978 single B-side

}}

* 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".{{cite magazine |url=http://www.chartattack.com/news/2006/04/11/wire-reissuing-first-three-lps-and-early-live-recordings/ |title=Wire Reissuing First Three LPs and Early Live Recordings |magazine=Chart Attack |date=11 April 2006 |access-date=30 August 2013 |last=Villeneuve |first=Phil |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130810083120/http://www.chartattack.com/news/2006/04/11/wire-reissuing-first-three-lps-and-early-live-recordings/ |archive-date=10 August 2013 |url-status=usurped}} 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.

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

{{Track listing

| headline = Disc two (Demos and Alternative Recordings)

| title1 = The Commercial

| note1 = First demo session, May 1977, EMI Studios, London

| length1 = 0:51

| title2 = Mr. Suit

| note2 = First demo session, May 1977, EMI Studios, London

| length2 = 1:32

| title3 = Pink Flag

| note3 = First demo session, May 1977, EMI Studios, London

| length3 = 2:34

| title4 = Surgeon's Girl

| note4 = Second demo session, May 1977, Riverside Studios, London

| length4 = 1:38

| title5 = Field Day for the Sundays

| note5 = Second demo session, May 1977, Riverside Studios, London

| length5 = 0:32

| title6 = 106 Beats That

| note6 = Second demo session, May 1977, Riverside Studios, London

| length6 = 1:15

| title7 = Fragile

| note7 = Second demo session, May 1977, Riverside Studios, London

| length7 = 1:14

| title8 = Reuters

| note8 = Third demo session, August 1977, Riverside Studios, London

| length8 = 2:23

| title9 = Different to Me

| note9 = Third demo session, August 1977, Riverside Studios, London

| length9 = 0:45

| title10 = Ex Lion Tamer

| note10 = Third demo session, August 1977, Riverside Studios, London

| length10 = 2:09

| title11 = Mannequin

| note11 = Third demo session, August 1977, Riverside Studios, London

| length11 = 3:03

| title12 = Champs

| note12 = Third demo session, August 1977, Riverside Studios, London

| length12 = 1:57

| title13 = Start to Move

| note13 = Third demo session, August 1977, Riverside Studios, London

| length13 = 1:14

| title14 = Three Girl Rhumba

| note14 = Alternative mix, September–October 1977, Advision Studios, London

| length14 = 1:23

| title15 = Ex Lion Tamer

| note15 = Alternative mix, September–October 1977, Advision Studios, London

| length15 = 2:05

| title16 = 12 X U

| note16 = Mono mix, September–October 1977, Advision Studios, London

| length16 = 1:47

| title17 = Mannequin

| note17 = Mono mix, September–October 1977, Advision Studios, London

| length17 = 2:36

| title18 = It's So Obvious

| note18 = Alternative mix, September–October 1977, Advision Studios, London

| length18 = 0:51

}}

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

Wire

• Bruce Gilbert – 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 – 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 – engineer
• Ken Thomas – 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 – packaging (1994 reissue)
• Denis Blackham – remastering (2006 and 2018 reissue)
• Jon Wozencroft – art direction (2018 reissue)
• Jon Savage – liner notes (2018 reissue)
• Graham Duff – liner notes (2018 reissue)

{{Reflist}}

{{Reflist|group="nb"}}

• {{Discogs master|50645}}
• {{Official website|http://www.pinkflag.com/read/discography/pink-flag.php|Lyrics for the album on Wire's official website}}
• {{URL|https://stereosociety.com/pinkflag/|The making of Wire's Pink Flag album}}

{{Wire}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1977 debut albums

Category:Harvest Records albums

Category:Restless Records albums

Category:Wire (band) albums

Category:Albums produced by Mike Thorne