From the Archive: A Quick Revisiting of Wire's 'IBTABA' Album

Today we're revisiting Wire's groundbreaking "It's Beginning To And Back Again" album as it takes on Laurie Anderson's Strange Angels in the battle for The Best Record of 1989

Jun 24, 2025

Good Morning!

Today we’re taking another quick look at Wire’s IBTABA as it takes on Laurie Anderson’s Strange Angels on Day 22.

Note: As many of you know, I recently wrote about a Best Record of 1989 challenge and noted that I'd be occasionally writing some of these up.

I've started doing some quick hits of each matchup and posting them directly to the page. Some will be longer, some won’t, and some might just be a handful of sentences. There'll ~~probably~~ definitely be some typos.

Check 'em out and let me know your thoughts! Chin wags & hot takes welcome! Sharing and restacks are always appreciated.

KA—

When I was a soccer coach, Most players had one or two go-to moves, got pretty good at them, and then got complacent. It was fairly predictable. It’s also incredibly easy to coach against.

Much better—and much more interesting—were the players unafraid to do what I (very professionally) referred to as trying shit. These players might not have been blessed with speed or height, but their superpower was unpredictability.

These players always had a spot on my roster.

Similarly, Wire has never been afraid to experiment with new sounds, bend genres, and ignore convention.

In other words, they've never been afraid to try shit.

Of course, Wire is the band that gave us Pink Flag, Chairs Missing, and 154, arguably one of the best three record runs of our time. They followed that by splitting up for several years.

“There are those who say Wire was the best punk band ever because it broke all of the rules, didn’t stick with any of the blueprints and did actually what it wanted…I just wouldn’t call that punk, personally. Punk is just one of those words that’s so overused that you have no idea what it means anymore.”
~Wire frontman Colin Newman

In 1985, they reunited and again tried something new, this time swapping jagged guitars and minimalism for a more electronic sound. They had found synthesizers on their hiatus and embraced them. Signed to Mute, they delivered a 1-2 punch of 1987’s The Ideal Copy in 1987 and A Bell Is A Cup…Until It Is Struck the next year. The band’s live sound was always quite different from what listeners experienced on the records—mainly because the technology they used to create the music in those days wasn’t exactly easy to load in the van and take on the road.

Nevertheless, there was a growing demand from fans for a live record. That could’ve been easy. Record a show or two, clean the tapes up in post-production, and ship units. Simple enough. But Wire’s never been one to take the easy route. Instead, they decided to try something new.

Enter It’s Beginning To And Back Again (“IBTABA”)

The quick and dirty story of IBTABA is that the record is 11 alternate takes, half from The Ideal Copy and A Bell… and the rest previously unreleased. Describing it that way is also reductive. Wire didn’t just mix things up; they took the songs, dismantled them, and rebuilt them using overdubbed guitar, synth, and vocals—most of the drum parts stayed. The results are (almost) wholly new tracks.

An album of remixes also often represents a creative drought, a cash grab, or both. And those indictments would have been justified had these been straightforward reworkings. But they’re not; they’re complete revampings and remodeling of what previously existed. In many cases, the titles are the only recognizable things left standing.

Experiments sometimes represent breakthroughs; sometimes, they end up with shattered glass on the lab floor. One of the knocks against IBTABA is that it’s a mixed bag. Some of the songs are brilliant, and some are… not.

“Finest Drops” is heavier than the originals, and that extra bounce makes for a superior version. The grit and bleak imagery of “German Shepherds” benefit similarly from a revamping here (IBTABA’s title is derived from a line in this song). And most people agree that this version of “In Vivo” is much worse than the original mix. It’s also worth noting that it wasn’t included on the original vinyl release and was only added later when the label wanted another single. If A Bell Is A Cup…Until It Is Struck represents peak pop for the band; this record represents an intentional dive back toward the experimental.

The 12” version of “Eardrum Buzz” (the second single) is here and is as radio-friendly as the band gets. In the opinion of this writer, the 12” is light years better than the original, and the original isn’t bad. It was also the on-ramp to the band for many, thanks to decent rotation on MTV. At the opposite end of the spectrum are tracks like “Over Theirs,” which was likely the off-ramp for those same fans, and why you saw so many copies of IBTABA in the cutout bin not too long after the record was released.

Distilled down, IBTABA represents some amazing results and some…not so amazing ones. It’s a signpost that marks the band’s second era and closes the book on the Pink Flag/Chairs Missing/154 triad for good. Call Wire what you will; at this point in their career, they might’ve still embraced the punk ethos writ large, but the days of playing punk music were done and dusted.

There is also a timing issue, of course. 1989 was a seminal year for albums; the calendar was packed with great releases—and IBTABA isn’t in line with any of them. If you wanted comfortable, indie, or “college rock,” this wasn’t the record for you. But if you like unpredictability and bands opposed to complacency, then IBTABA checks a lot of boxes.

(sigh)

Ok, look; I know I’m supposed to hold this album in some high(er) regard, but I just can’t. I know Anderson is a beloved figure who has long been on the cutting edge of avant-garde art and was Lou Reed’s partner, among other notable achievements.

None of that takes away from the fact that the entire time I listened to Strange Angels, I felt like I was watching a rehearsal for a play at the Learning Annex directed by someone who thinks they’re too good for the place. At its best, it felt like it was trying to punch above its weight (“Ramon”). At its worst, it was just annoying (“The Day the Devil”). I’m not trying to rain on anyone’s parade here- if you like this, more power to you! But man, life’s just too short…

Bottom Line: One of my Desert Island Discs is facing off against a record I could barely get through. Strange Angels was always going to have a steep climb, but the record’s pretentious nature didn’t help.

My vote: Bracket and vote are for IBTABA, without a second thought.