Wire

U.S. Wire fans take notice: the mid-line Harvest/EMI U.K. box that packages together Wire's peerless 1977-1979 output contains digital remasters dating from 1994. For those who own the domestic Restless Retro versions of the same titles, you'll notice that the masters on those date from five years prior. There's a big difference; the 1994 remasters make a big improvement over the 1989 versions. There's also a bit of variance among the bonus tracks tacked on to the albums. The U.K. versions give you everything that the Restless Retro versions have, as well as "Dot Dash" and the extended "Outdoor Miner" that almost hits the three-minute mark. (Both are available domestically on the On Returning compilation, which would make that obsolete.) Otherwise, the bonuses are relocated from record to record, but they remain the same. Savvy U.S. fans might already have these versions, but diehards who own the inferior copies should consider making the upgrade. These titles are available separately, of course, but you can't really justify owning just one or two of them, can you? ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide