Wire's 1978 album Chairs Missing followed the band's debut album, Pink Flag. It was Wire's second studio album and showed the group moving beyond the stark minimalism of its first record.
Released on 8 September 1978 through Harvest Records, Chairs Missing was produced by Mike Thorne, who introduced keyboards and synthesizer textures into Wire's tightly controlled guitar sound. The result mixed punk's urgency with elements of art rock, psychedelia, progressive rock, and what would soon be called post-punk.
Pink Flag, released in November 1977, is famous for its short, compressed songs and 21-track structure. Chairs Missing retained some of that angular economy but used longer, more atmospheric arrangements. Tracks such as “Outdoor Miner,” “I Am the Fly,” and “Heartbeat” helped define Wire's expanding musical vocabulary.
The album reached number 48 on the UK Albums Chart, while “Outdoor Miner” became a minor UK singles hit, peaking at number 51. A common mix-up is to treat 154 as Wire's second album; 154 was actually the band's third studio album, released in 1979.