IBTABA

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Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	B−

It's Beginning To And Back Again, also known as IBTABA, is the sixth studio album by the British post-punk group Wire, released in 1989. The title comes from the lyrics of the third song, "German Shepherds".

The record mostly consists of reinterpretations of live performances of material from the band's previous record, A Bell Is a Cup...Until It Is Struck. The recordings are "based on performances in Chicago, Portugal and London." Live tracks were deconstructed in the studio and remixed by Wire. The record contains the single "Eardrum Buzz", which was the band's most successful single in their history, charting at #2 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and #68 in the UK.

Track listing

Original edition

1. "Finest Drops"
2. "Eardrum Buzz"
3. "German Shepherds"
4. "Public Place"
5. "It's a Boy"
6. "Illuminated"
7. "Boiling Boy"
8. "Over Theirs"

CD bonus tracks

1. "Eardrum Buzz" (12" Version)
2. "The Offer"
3. "In Vivo"

Personnel

• Engineered by Paul Kendall
• Mixing by John Fryer & Paul Kendall