Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols
In order to conduct a wider range of reviews, I felt the need to analyze and provide feedback on what many in the music industry (musicians and executives) have called the Greatest Punk Rock Album of all time. For many, this is debatable. My intention here is to get you thinking and if I can help it, get you to either agree or disagree. At the very least, I want to spark curiosity.
Never mind the Bollocks is the only studio album ever released by the Sex Pistols. Recorded from early to late 1977 in London, England with producer, Chris Thomas. Thomas’ additional fame includes mixing duties on Pink Floyd’s, Dark Side of The Moon and an instrumental role on The Beatles, White Album.
I can remember being a thirteen-year old walking through Cambridge and Boston, moving from Record store to Record store. I was obsessed with discovering new music. In those days, I was most attracted to album covers. The artwork played a crucial part in my decision-making process whether I would buy the album or not. Most thirteen-year old kids do not have a lot of money to their name. Therefore, I had to be careful with my choices. I picked this album out of a bin at a small, underground record store in Harvard Square, asked the store owner if it was any good (he just nodded) and that was all I needed.
The Punk music scene is a very interesting scene to me. As a musician, I tended to find Punk music basic, uncomplicated in its true form and pretty straight forward. Three chords to each song. What else did you need? But when you dig deeper, many realize there’s much more to this music. On the surface, you hear what sounds like a straightforward bass line playing underneath a choppy guitar riff on top of a drum line that sounds like the sky is falling.
There are certainly other classic punk albums you could argue stand the test of time. The reason I picked Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols is because it was the very first punk album I purchased (and heard).
The album starts out with a sound similar to soldiers marching in unison. It reminds you of an army preparing for battle. As the opening track, Holidays in the Sun starts, the bass drum enters to match the marching beat. You’re then quickly hit in the head by the lead riff. This riff makes you feel like you’ve been shot out of a cannon. All of a sudden, you’re transformed into this other person. You find yourself thinking, “So this is Punk? OK, I’m in...”
Punk, to me is all about shock. It’s also about squeezing in as much pain, joy and aggression into two minutes and thirty-eight seconds of songwriting. Attitude is certainly on display on this album. Songs like Bodies, No Feelings, Problems and Liar follow suit as they present a fast, to the point verse that seques into a chorus that gets every first time (and long time) listener to sing along. Imagine driving in a race car, curving around tight street corners. You jerk the wheel quickly as your Ferrari takes that turn you didn’t know was there. It’s delicate and terrifying at the exact same time. As you straighten the wheel, it’s nothing but wide road in front of you. The chorus takes you the rest of the way to the end of the song.
Lead singer Johnny Rotten has a very outspoken, rebellious image and singing voice. The Pistols would likely not have achieved as much success without Rotten leading the charge on vocals. At times, Rotten sounds as if he’s yelling, whining and singing all at the same time. To me, Rotten’s voice defines Punk Rock, never forgetting to include his thick British accent into every vocal. Most British singers sing in American accents. You hear them in an interview and your reaction is, “Oh, he’s British”? Not Rotten.
Guitarist, Steve Jones carries this album adding punk riffs that jump out of the speakers, onto the top of your epidermis, then slowly but surely seep their way into your body. From the opening song, to the famous Anarchy in the UK and God Save the Queen, Jones’ guitar leads you through rebellion after rebellion, song after song, protest after protest. Coincidentally, Jones reportedly had only been playing guitar for three months when the Sex Pistols recorded Never Mind The Bollocks. Jones not only played guitar on the album but ninety percent of the bass parts as well. Arguably the Sex Pistols most famous member, Sid Vicious, was unable to play bass on any of the album with the exception to the track, Bodies.
Vicious was not only famous for being the posterchild of punk rock, he had an extremely serious addiction to Heroin, among other things. After a world-famous arrest for the death of his then girlfriend Nancy Spungen, Sid was never officially charged with her murder, which to this day is still unsolved. Sid died of a heroin overdose in early 1979. His legacy as a Punk rock badass lived on for years. Although many said his bass playing never did.
Never Mind the Bollocks closes out with E.M.I., which directly bashes the record company who quickly dropped them from their label after the band’s violent antics on and off stage damaged their relationships with virtually every Public Relations group in Europe and the United States.
Each track on Bollocks fails to disappoint. At thirty-nine minutes and two seconds, this album gets right to the point. The band’s thrashing punk rock sound takes your head and smashes it against the wall in your bedroom, only to pick you up, clean you off and then smash you into the wall again. Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols is representative of what it feels like to be fifteen, ready to stop listening to your parents and ready to be independent. Oh, and also representative of what it feels like to put your headphones on, rip your clothes and go completely nuts.
Pick up a copy if you don’t have one.
Or check out some additional Sex Pistols merch.