Pink Flag

The album was critically acclaimed on release, and has since been highly influential. It is widely regarded as a landmark in the development of post-punk music.

Pink Flag
Studio album by Wire
Released	December 1977
Recorded	September–October 1977
Studio	Advision, London
Genre	Punk rock art punk post-punk
Length	35:37
Label	Harvest
Producer	Mike Thorne
Wire chronology
Pink Flag (1977) Chairs Missing (1978)

The album consists of 21 tracks; six last less than a minute, a further nine last less than two minutes. Pitchfork noted its minimalist focus on sound rather than melody, while Allmusic described it as "The Ramones Go to Art School".

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Christgau's Record Guide	A
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
The Great Rock Discography	8/10
MusicHound Rock
Pitchfork	10/10
Q
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Sounds
Spin Alternative Record Guide	10/10
Uncut

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. 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."

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". 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, 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 – jumping up to number 310 in its 2020 edition – and at number 378 in NME's list of the same name in 2013. Music journalist Stuart Maconie described it as "extraordinary" by the standards of the time at which it was produced. Pitchfork ranked Pink Flag number 22 in its list "Top 100 Albums of the 1970s". The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Britpop band Elastica were influenced by Wire; they used a riff similar to that of "Three Girl Rhumba" for their song "Connection". Graham Coxon of Blur cited Pink Flag as an influence on his eighth studio album A+E.

Credits adapted from the 2018 Special Edition.

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

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