Sometimes, context has a way of tainting our perspective. When we’re in the midst of events, we’re sometimes too close to be able to see clearly.

Case in point: On a Wire, the follow-up to their classic sophomore album, Something to Write Home About. While I personally wasn’t enthralled enough by that record to follow them any further*, many die-hard fans were disappointed with this disc to the point that they felt betrayed.

But for me, having come back to this record with two decades of space between its release and my listening, hearing it without the crushing weight of anticipation and dashed hopes allows it to blossom into a wonderful collection of great songwriting and catchy pop rock.
I acquired this in a box of records that a friend offered me for a downright foolish price, alongside several emo and post hardcore classics from At the Drive In, Cursive, Rainer Maria, and others. I intended to keep what I wanted and sell the rest, and this album was decidedly in that second category. I knew its reputation well enough to know that it was as disappointing a let down as had ever been released.

But almost on a whim, I decided to listen to it before listing it. And I didn’t find anything of the dud I was expecting. From the opening acoustic strummed chords of “Overdue,” I was on board. It wasn’t the ragged, overdriven emo-pop that preceded it, but it wasn’t bad by any stretch. I thought that the first track must be a fluke, but then “Stay Gone” kicked in with a punchy verse and bonafide singalong chorus. Track after track, I kept thinking, “this must be where it goes downhill,” but it never did.

From the Dire Straits impression of “Let the Reigns Go Loose“to the sultry lead guitar of “Walking On a Wire” (my favorite track here), even the purists’ most reviled moments are rich and rewarding, offering up good pop songs with great performances and crisp production.

“But it’s not emo,” the aforementioned purists hiss through their teeth. And yeah, that’s fair. There are a few songs that sound like they could have been on Something, such as the gritty “Grunge Pig” or the incredible “Fall From Grace,” but by and large this doesn’t fit into the sonic aesthetic markers that mark emo—even as broad and loose as those parameters have been around the genre. Because really, how similar do Rites of Spring, Sunny Day Real Estate, Thursday, and Get Up Kids really sound?

At the same time, I understand why the die hard emo kids would have been disappointed with this record. In a larger context, “emo” had started gaining popularity at the start of the millennium, which brought a fair amount of resentment within the scene. On A Wire was released at the same time that a few other emo heroes also released albums that bucked emo’s conventions in favor of a wider sonic palette (notably, Wood/Water by The Promise Ring and Your Majesty by The Anniversary). Had one of these albums been released on its own, it might not have received quite as much backlash. But when it seemed like part of a wider trend, it’s easy to see how the kids who just discovered this scene that meant so much to them would feel like they had fallen prey to a bait and switch.

I won’t downplay the feeling of betrayal there. I’ve experienced similar feelings from bands I loved deeply. But, I would encourage those disappointed fans to try to separate On A Wire from the controversy of its release and approach it on its own terms. It would likely receive a warmer reception—which it deserves.

*my introduction was “Central Standard Time” from their split with The Anniversary, which I unfairly held up against the rest of their catalog and found wanting.