On a Wire

On a Wire
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 14, 2002 (2002-05-14)
RecordedNovember 2001, January–February 2002
StudioZ'Gwonth Studios, Lawrence, Kansas;
Tarquin Studios, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Genre
Length43:28
LabelVagrant
ProducerScott Litt
The Get Up Kids chronology
Eudora
(2001)
On a Wire
(2002)
Guilt Show
(2004)
Singles from On a Wire
  1. "Overdue"
    Released: June 2002

On a Wire is the third studio album by American rock band the Get Up Kids on Vagrant Records. Released three years after their breakout sophomore album Something to Write Home About, On a Wire was a massive departure from the band's established sound, eschewing the brighter pop-punk that helped define emo as a genre in favor of a darker, more adult sound inspired by 70's rock bands like Led Zeppelin.

Reception to the album was extremely divisive, and is widely seen as having derailed the band's career just as emo was starting to break into the mainstream with contemporaries like Jimmy Eat World and Dashboard Confessional receiving extensive radio play. However, in the years since, the album has been re-appraised, with many praising its complex songwriting.