Wire's wonderful Pink Flag and Chairs Missing albums (also reissued) are providing much inspiration for current angular guitar bands, but 154 seems to be an unexploded firework in that no one dares return to it.

By 1979, Wire had divided into pop and anti-pop factions and the tension between the two produced their most challenging work. The trademark sweet melodies came wrapped in barbed Wire. I Should Have Known Better sets the tone, increasing the tension for two minutes before unleashing the killer hook. Colin Newman's theatrical delivery is as unexpected as the breadth that allows bittersweet pop constructions such as The 15th to coexist against A Touching Display's terrorising waves of feedback.

Nearly 30 years on, with startling remastered clarity, 154 is still a benchmark for unsettling adventures with guitars.