Track Listing

1. Practice Makes Perfect
2. French Film Blurred
3. Another The Letter
4. Men 2nd
5. Marooned
6. Sand In My Joints
7. Being Sucked In Again
8. Heartbeat
9. Mercy
10. Outdoor Miner
11. I Am The Fly
12. I Feel Mysterious Today
13. From The Nursery
14. Used To
15. Too Late
16. Outdoor Miner
17. Question Of Degree
18. Former Airline

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22686 in Music
• Released on: 1994-07-18
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered

CD Description
A euphemism for insanity, Chairs Missing is an apt summation of Wire's disturbing music. A product of London's punk scene, the quartet nonetheless owed a debt to the art-school experimentation of the mid-60s, a contrast that gave their craft originality. Oblique pop songs, including 'Outdoor Miner'and 'I Am The Fly', exemplify Wire's development from the abrasive minimalism of earlier releases, while their wideningmusical perspectives are reflected in the edgy 'Practice Makes Perfect'. Producer Mike Thorne adds keyboards and synthesizer to the group's guitar-based attack as Chairs Missing established Wire as one of the most innovative bands of theirera.

Customer Reviews

A great atmospheric album
This is a great and influential record - ever wondered where Elastica got their sound from ? Something tells me they listened to this record a few times!!! It has a good mix of punk pop and atmospheric longer tracks - among the best are Practice makes Perfect, Marooned and Outdoor Miner. The lyrics are intelligent, the music veers between an atmospheric mix of synths and guitars to a few guitar driven tracks. This came out over 20 years ago and still sounds good now unlike a lot of its contemporaries. If you wanted a good introduction to Wire, or this period of music I'd say this is an essential part of anyones record collection.

Wire In A Punk Overcoat
Although Wire wore a punk overcoat, sonically speaking, on their first three albums, there is no doubt that theirs was a creativity that would have surfaced whatever the current vogue, as their relevance today shows. Chairs Missing was their Harvest follow up to the arty 21-track debut, Pink Flag, but boasting a mere 15 tracks, which ranged from just over a minute long, to an epic 5.45 for Mercy. The lyrics, printed prose fashion in the booklet, make an interesting and stimulating read even divorced from the musical settings contained in the grooves. Producer Mike Thorne adds extra coloration and texture with his synths and keyboards and Kate Lukas adds flute to one tune. 
Chairs Missing included the single I Am The Fly, although as it had been released 7 months earlier than the album and had a B-side from Pink Flag, it may be older than the rest of the album. Outdoor Miner was extracted as a single along with its flipside, Practice Makes Perfect, in January 1979. A longer version of Outdoor Miner is included as a bonus track, along with both sides of a non-album single that was released in June 1979. 
The appearance of Chairs Missing on CD in 1990 proved influential on indie and Britpop bands such as Elastica and Blur, and still sounds fresh and vital today

Possibly best ever 'difficult second album' ever
I recall two tracks on John Peel's show in the late 70s that really made me sit up and think 'I've never heard anything like that before'. One was 'Nag Nag Nag' by Cabaret Voltaire, the other was 'Practice Makes Perfect', the opener to this LP. There's nothing much to say - this is excellent from start to finish and, with Used To, has one of the finest evocations of paranoia ever recorded. If you buy just one Wire CD, though the first three are all classics, this isthe best of the bunch.