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  1.  
    I like O47. But it could definitely have had a bit more spark as Dr Medulla says. I can't remember what I said about it at the time. Probably the same, but I demand the right to change my opinion on anything if I so wish. I might play it tomorrow and think the production sounds wonderful after all. So be it.
  2.  
    Aside from One Of Us, none of O47 really grabbed me at the time, and it took a number of listens before I decided I quite liked it. But it wasn't a favourite album. It randomly showed up on the Apple TV the other night and on a full listen, I liked it more than I thought I would, but I still consider it a very inconsistent album and one with a pretty soupy mix. In my opinion, RBT is a quantum leap ahead, and is one of my favourite Wire albums of the lot.
  3.  
    'Twas just an observation, not an accusation. I myself go through peaks and valleys with IBTABA depending on... well... I'm not really sure what.
  4.  
    Curiously, IBTABA, Manscape, and The First Letter have really grown for me. The Wir material in particular seems stronger than of my initial reaction back in the early 90s. As such, I'm hopeful that I'll have a similar revelation/acceptance of O47 however many years hence. I'm in complete agreement with Craig, tho, that RBT is a huge leap forward—whether it's song quality, production, lyrics or what, it's a fantastic album.
  5.  
    Object 47: I do like "Mekon Headman" and "All Fours." I probably still like the whole album. Some of the Read and Burn stuff sounds a lot different to me now. People always do this thing with contrast and compare. They would go on saying "I hate O47 or RBT, but Send is great, and PF, CM, and 154 are amazing in retrospect." The same people probably hated 154, and Send, and O47, and a few in between. Now that time has passed they don't hate those records, and save all their negativity for RBT?
  6.  
    I think i'm just out of kilter with every1 - not just in life, but on the forum as well.

    Some of RBT has grown on me a bit, but there's still 4 tracks i could do with never hearing again! & I still think the guitars are too watered down (for my liking). I rated O47 at the time & still do - in particular, the 1st 4 trax ARE Wire! Outside of 154, my preferred Wire listening remains IC, ABIAC & Manscape - Send is growing on me the more i play it. What that tells you about me & my liking for Wire I don't know, but I thought I'd share it with you!

    & to whoever said above that they 'don't understand the negativity' (or similar) about RBT, it's cos not every1 thinks the same - to which i will always raise a glass to!

    c y'all at t'Scala! (I'll be the one getting a round of drinks in during some RBT trax!).
  7.  
    I'll be in the Big Chill bar before the Scala gig (stroking my chin !!)
  8.  
    I'll be back in the King Charles. Won't tell u what i'll be stroking?!?!??!?
  9.  
    Just played O47. Yeah, I like it. Bit of a dense production and as much as I like Graham's basslines they do seem high in the mix (which is very Githead isn't it), but it works better at a decent volume. Nothing wrong with the material though - and I positively love All Fours.
  10.  
    • CommentAuthorcc says...
    • (CommentTimeJan 28th 2011)
     
    review on brainwashed - one of the best I've read. Though I'd say that the jangle of "Adapt" has precedents in "Fragile" and "Outdoor Miner."
  11.  
    It is indeed a good review, but I find it interesting that the author chooses Boiling Boy as a vehicle to pick on the construction methods of ABIAC, i.e.: "stripped of its FM synthesis and MIDI heritage". As Colin points out in Everybody Loves A History, "Contrary to all the other songs on the album, [Boiling Boy]'s all played by us."

    In fact, I always thought that its live feel (in playing if not necessarily in engineering) was one of the more remarkable aspects of the album version of Boiling Boy.

    Ah well, small detail I suppose, but if I were going to make noise about synthesizers and sequencers I'd probably lean towards Follow The Locust - one of my favorites on ABIAC, but definitely steeped in 80s studio techniques.
  12.  
    Yeah, I agree with the thrust of the review, tho the reference points cited seem a bit off. To my tin ears, "Please Take" hearkens to "Blessed State," not "The 15th"; and "Smash" makes me think of "Culture Vultures" more than "I Don't Understand." But overall the review captures my feelings about RBT.
    • CommentAuthorcc says...
    • (CommentTimeJan 29th 2011)
     
    had a quick scan of the lyrics page, though I prefer to absorb those gradually, if ever.

    ... anyone preferring to hear the first phrase of "Bad Worn Thing" as "Graham sandwich"?
  13.  
    I notice Craig has lined up some choice quotes alongside the RBT page on the site:

    http://www.pinkflag.com/read/discography/red-barked-tree.php

    I've been a fan since the early 90s and obviously there was much retrospective praise for the Harvest LPs in that time but I don't recall anything they've done since reforming getting such an overwhelmingly positive response from the music press.
    Did they get such good press for any of the 80s LPs?
  14.  
    Although I remember reading the NME review for 154 (reviewed as 159) in the NME before I was a fan I don't remember too much about the 80s press. I do recall a reasonably positive rview for The Drill in either NME, MM or Sounds ending with the comment "for completists only" and one for Manscape again in one of those three being fairly upbeat but with the thrust being "I'm glad they exist and are doing this, although I'm not sure I really want to listen"
  15.  
    My recollection is that Snakedrill and The Ideal Copy received very positive reviews and hearty welcome backs from the music press. Succeeding albums were increasingly lukewarm to negative. The sense was similar to that of Public Image Ltd at the time—once you guys were leading the way, sounding like no one else, but now you're mostly doing what everyone else is. The first two R & B's/Send received mostly universal acclaim, tho, didn't they?
  16.  
    While not all-inclusive, Metacritic currently states:

    Release / Score / Pos: Mixed: Neg reviews
    R&B 01 / 78 / 10:2:0
    R&B 02 / 82 / 5:1:0
    Send / 84 / 14:1:0
    Object 47 / 77 / 15:5:0
    RBT / 79 / 19:3:0

    For me, what's most telling about RBT is the amount of press it's getting. There are way more reviews this time, and the majority are broadly positive (8/10 being the most common rating). The album hit #13 in the indie charts, and someone put an odd comment on the PF Facebook page: "And last week they nearly missed the official Top 200 album charts !" Not sure what that means, but presumably RBT nearly or just charted.

    Here's hoping that the positive press this time will lead to some decent sales over a long period. It'd be nice to think the band's making some decent dosh off its music.
  17.  
    Got my RBT-CD exactly a week ago in Switzerland. Listened to it at least 15 times in a row. It struck me by its intensive pureness. Maybe I'm not representative with my opinion for I lost contact with Wire for some 30 years until an English friend put my attention back to the Band last fall. I love the record from A to Z. And I just can tell you: I'm counting the days to see Wire live in Zurich on Feb. 23rd.
  18.  
    I have been a Wire fan since Pink Flag (so yes an old git -head) but was always impressed more with Chairs.. and 154 as well as the great singles back then including the belated "Our Swimmer". However, RBT is a step up from the murky mix of Object47 and yet I really thought that O47 worked really well live, so it would seem a pity that they do not play "One Of Us" or my favourite song from that LP "Are You Ready?".

    That said I've played RBT in my car constantly and it grows and grows on you with every listen. My fav track is definitely "Clay" which sounds reminscent of "Outdoor Miner" or "I Am The Fly", probably the latter more, whilst "Moreover" could be "A Question Of Degree" and then there's "Bad Worn Thing" "Smash" and "Please Take". But it doesn't matter what old songs they may all sound like, this is A WIRE LP for sure even if there's a lot more swearing this time!!

    For the record (or the CD) I still love the 80's/early 90's Wire and despite some of the Harvest purists here who want it fast and loud (Send, R & B etc) Wire hit a huge vein of creativity in the Mute years with IC, ABIAC, IBTABA, Manscape and yes the one LP people seem to frown on, The First Letter. My favourite tracks up until that period had always been the 70s songs like "The 15th" and "Mannequin" but one of the most beautiful tracks they have ever written was "The Offer" only just beaten to my all time favourite of "Nice From Here", yes a ruddy so called b side! Now if they played that live I'd be in heaven.

    Oh well, here's to the Scala and some pogoing if I get down to the front once again, just mind my pint and zimmer frame.