As a band, Wire has outlived a few of my friends. Their iconic late 70s releases Pink Flag and Chairs Missing are like aged celebrities who maintain their beauty without putty knives and needles. Their newest release Mind Hive is their seventeenth.
The highest compliment you can pay a Wire record is to say that you love some of it. Their masterpieces were intentionally scattershot attempts to cram a lot into an LP.
For the fans who still dance to Wire, they put your tracks up front. The lyrics can get heavy–and there are a few lilting acoustic tracks in the middle–but the rest of it nails their roots.