The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (UK Version)
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Artist: The Sex PistolsEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 1993-05-10
Music Label: Virgin
Soundtracks:
- Holidays In The Sun
- Bodies
- No Feelings
- Liar
- God Save The Queen
- Problems
- Seventeen
- Anarchy In The U.K.
- Sub Mission
- Pretty Vacant
- New York
- EMI Unlimited Edition
Free Music Notes for Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (UK Version)
Free Music Review: The album which redefined what being a punk band entailed. 90/100
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a review of the cd with the yellow cover and the track listing in the correct order on the back. I have seen versions of this album with either a green cover or the track listing randomised on the back, all over the place. Not sure which version sounds best, but I am quite happy with this one. The sound quality on this album is quite good, but it sort of sounds like it's all coming from middle distance. E.g. on The Ramones self-titled debut, the vocals and drums, I think, were up front, but the guitars were background, which was annoying. Here, it's all middle...would have been nice to have it all upfront.
Recently I bought this album for the first time on cd, after formerly owning the cassette. This was because recently I've been exploring the origins of punk and I wanted to revisit the album that a novice like me would have thought of as the FIRST punk album. That misconception has been cleared up in the meantime (see my reviews just prior to this one...The Damned released the first punk album in the UK, and The Saints in Australia and Ramones in the US also predated British punk with their debuts). Anyway, my general impression of this album was that it had two of the greatest songs of all time on it and...not much else, really. On first listen I was inclined to give this cd 85/100 just for the strength of those two songs, which NO punk band has matched on debut, and nearly otherwise (The Saints' "Know your product" would be my pick as the greatest punk song of all time, but the two best songs on this album are not that far behind it...they're all classics, in any case). On second listen I found more to like about this album, which I'll got into shortly.
As for The Sex Pistols, their brand of punk was not so much a shot across the bow of The Establishment in Britain as it was a cannonball in the hull. Whereas America's Ramones were pretty much urban degenerates (in tone) who moved in the demi-monde, and Australia's Saints were rebellious boys from the suburbs, The Sex Pistols were different in that they explicitly challenged The Establishment in their lyrics. It's laughable now, but The Establishment actually believed that The Sex Pistols were a threat to the 'natural' order and they were stymied wherever they popped their heads up. See the great documentary on this band "The filth and the fury", which notes how British newspapers blacked out the band's entries in the chart, even though they were top 10, if not #1.
Not being a student of this band, I can't say whether they actually believed their own publicity/posturing. They did have the unfortunate effect of side-lining REAL punks like The Saints, whose do-it-yourself ethos is still an inspirational example to would be musicians. The Sex Pistols' brand of punk required the corporate 'uniform' of safety pins and ripped designer clothes. An image which The Saints were too anarchistic to blindly follow. They fell off the radar as a result...they weren't 'real' punk by the new standard...all style and posturing. As for that posturing...anarchy...revolution...did anyone ever really take that seriously? In my soundtrack to "The great rock'n'roll swindle", there is some artwork which shows The Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious with Nazi paraphernalia. Now, what kind of dunce thinks that anarchy and fascism are even remotely compatible? When The Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten said at the end of a US concert "You ever get the feeling that you've been had?" I get the feeling that he was really asking himself that question, and not the audience, if the implication for the latter was that the audience had been had.
Back to the album...it's more interesting with the 'lesser' track the second time around, and the drumming is interesting too. It was an episode of "Classic Albums", I think, which revealed to me that their guitarist, Steve Jones, actually performed the bass guitar parts on it, after their 'manager' Malcolm McLaren's Machiavellian manoeuvring had seen original bassist Glen Matlock kicked out by Johnny Rotten, to be replaced by Sid Vicious who looked the part of a punk bass guitarist without actually been competent on the bass part of that equation.
The immortal songs:
God save the Queen - a good riff and excellent, military style drumming, I think. A bleak song with the refrain "Nooooo future". Nihilism incarnate. In fact, this song has more than its fair share of philosophically interesting lyrics and insightful observations: "When there's no future there cannot be sin" and "God save the Queen because tourists are money". The opening track also comments on tourism of a different sort. For an establishment which took the 'threat' from this band seriously, the lyric "We're the future, your future" must have seemed revolutionary. The guitar solo in this song is pure 1950s, I think.
Anarchy in the U.K. - with the iconic intro, this song swings and has a terrific, laddish singalong quality to it. The fuzzy electric guitars in this song recall Led Zeppelin to a certain extent. There is a terrific guitar break in this song which leads into some hand claps. The guitar solo in this song is cool too. Rotten gives a self-defining vocal performance here.
Songs I liked better on second listen:
Holidays in the sun - the opening track. Begins with the sound of marching boots. Has a good riff, bass, and a 1950s style lead guitar. Drummer Paul Cook begins this album with one of his many interesting beats on this album. The best part of this track are the backing vocals, I think. Lyrics include something about "New Belsen", which is reference to The Holocaust. Don't know too much about this band's 'philosophy' on such matters, apart from that drawing of Vicious' Nazi paraphernalia on that soundtrack album I mentioned earlier. American punk band The Dead Kennedys released a song which told Nazi punks where to go, exactly. Perhaps the 'marriage' of punk and Nazism had its origins with The Sex Pistols too? This is the song which also demonstrates Rotten's insight into tourism and the social order.
New York - this is a song which came out of nowhere for me. Hadn't even noted it first listen, like with Holidays, but the second listen a few days later just gave this song an appeal I hadn't noticed before. Having checked out an album by The Heartbreakers, I found out this song was an attack on one of The Heartbreakers' former bands, The New York Dolls. It's quite caustic in dealing with the Dolls. Johnny Thunders, that Doll and Heartbreaker, got his reply in on the excellent "L.A.M.F" album track "London boys", which was quite powerful in its turn. Don't know enough about Rotten, but Thunders really pulls a rock up and shine a light on Rotten. Perhaps both got what they deserved in those song. Anyway, this is a rock song with a nasty sounding riff. The lead guitar outro is very good and 1950s style. This song could be another instance of Rotten taking the high moral ground...in this case, to do with the Dolls' drug taking. But Rotten seems incapable of taking the high moral ground and applying a civil form address at the same time...he gets quite nasty in this song.
Not bad:
Submission - slower tempo song with a groovy riff to it. Not sure if you hear Rotten making kissing noises on this song or if that is a synthesiser...colourful in any case. On second listen I discovered a brief and unexpected melody at 1:38 into the song, which I quite liked and would have been a good part to have expanded on...but maybe for a more pop inclined band. Track has a buzzing guitar sound to it. Rotten's cough at the end brought to mind Black Sabbath's song "Sweet leaf" and others who have 'borrowed' this motif, like Metallica on their great album "Reload" (on the song "Bad seed", I think). Percussive keyboard note utilised.
The rest:
Bodies - gothic, grungy intro...you could imagine this being the intro to a Pixies song. A passionate anti-abortion song, it seems to me. This is the other song where Rotten claims the high moral ground and yet again turns nasty against his subject. Lots of 'F' bombs dropped, so to speak. Has that classic, punk rhythm guitar sound to it.
No feelings - Rotten puts on his snotty-nosed, bovver boy persona...vacuous, violent and narcissistic. Guitar is grungy and grating.
Liar - interesting chugga-chugga riff to start with before the mood of the song changes.
Problems - a hard rock song with a blues rock rhythm (like AC/DC do). Has a 1950s style lead guitar. Features the lyric "You don't do what you want and you fade away". Rotten also violates the word "problem" so that you get the feeling that it isn't an actual word in the English language.
Seventeen - Rotten once again assumes a persona...presumably that of the aged person referenced in the song title. He has a caricature punk accent, or perhaps that of the said 17 year old snot nosed punk. The tone might be described as 'mocking', as far as the song's subject goes. Cook's drumming is interesting times here. Whereas a band like The Ramones had descriptive lyrics, The Sex Pistols seemed to inhabit their characters more...the lyrics here are confrontational and revel in that fact. Sample lyric "I'm a lazy sod".
Pretty vacant - another song where Rotten invokes a mocking tone on the subjects of his gaze. Has an iconic lead guitar note picking introduction. Australian band The Boys Next Door (Nick Cave's old band) referenced this intro, I think, on the opening song of their debut album "Door door"...that song being "The night watchmen". The Boys Next Door are described as a 'post-punk' band. Has a catchy, laddish chorus which is very sing-a-long-able to. Cook's drumming is interesting here...sort of sounds like he is using bongos or something. On this song, or perhaps on other versions, Rotten revels on the second syllable of "vacant", making it sound like a one syllable word I really couldn't get away with typing in on this site!
E.M.I. - whereas The Saints started out, literally, as a do it yourself operation, The Sex Pistols held out to get signed for a lot of money from a big recording company. How did that work out for them? Listen to this song. They signed up with the company the song takes its title from. This track is more than just an attack on E.M.I. You do get some insight into what transpired for the brief time that they were contracted to eachother. As for the song, well, it has a bit of a foot-stomping riff to it, and the guitar solo is, once again, 1950s in style. Once again, the guitars have a sort of Led Zeppelin, heavy and metallic quality to them. There is also a little, cute keyboard melody in this song. The outro has Rotten blowing a raspberry. Maybe AC/DC's Bon Scott was inspired to end their album "Highway to Hell" in a similar vein to this album closer for The Sex Pistols? The lyrics to "E.M.I" features the phrase "The crusher", I think. There is a song by that name which is about a wrestler, called "The Crusher"...probably not about him...not sure...maybe I misheard Rotten.
In conclusion: I think that whilst this album has two of the greatest songs of all time (let along punk songs), there are other punk debut albums which stack up better, as an album experience. No debut punk album I've heard (or proto-punk album) has any songs remotely as good as the best on this album. All of the punk albums I've heard up until now have preceded the release of this Pistols album. Of the punk debut albums I've heard, I think that The Saints "(I'm) Stranded" is by far the most seminal.
Recommendations:
The great rock'n'roll swindle - contains other good songs by the band and a nice little fairy story from the band's manager, Malcolm McLaren, to open the album. Quirky.
The Saints - (I'm) Stranded. Seminal punk album which seems to me to anticipate later movements in music, like speed and thrash, at times.
Radio Birdman - Radios appear. Another Australian band, contemporaneous with The Saints. Some songs have an "Oi" punk vibe to them, and they also have some nice, jazzy sounding non-punk songs on that album too.
The Damned - Damned, damned, damned. The first British punk album. Pub rock flavoured punk music.
Ramones - Ramones. The first officially recognised punk album. Pity the guitars are so low in the mix. On occasion, they display a lovely pop sensibility, which no doubt Rotten would not have abided...perhaps. The Sex Pistols members did hang out with the Ramones when they toured the UK. Joey Ramone takes credit for ALL punk which followed in their wake in the alternative history of heavy metal edition of Classic Rock magazine which came out this year. That is a very big stretch...might be slightly true for UK punk, but The Saints weren't a part of that scene and their debut album would have been as it, even if the Ramones had never come to be.
Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers - L.A.M.F. Another band, like Radio Birdman, which get labelled as "proto-punk" even though I think they have the punk sound to them to justify being called 'punk'.
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