Sex+pistols

While mostly accurate, dismissing Never Mind the Bollocks as merely a series of loud, ragged midtempo rockers with a harsh, grating vocalist and not much melody would be a terrible error. Already anthemic songs are rendered positively transcendent by Johnny Rotten's rabid, foaming delivery. His bitterly sarcastic attacks on pretentious affectation and the very foundations of British society were all carried out in the most confrontational, impolite manner possible. Most imitators of the Pistols' angry nihilism missed the point: underneath the shock tactics and theatrical negativity were social critiques carefully designed for maximum impact. Never Mind the Bollocks perfectly articulated the frustration, rage, and dissatisfaction of the British working class with the establishment, a spirit quick to translate itself to strictly rock & roll terms. the Pistols paved the way for countless other bands to make similarly rebellious statements, but arguably none were as daring or effective.

In the fall of 1977, the Sex Pistols were the most infamous rock band in the U.K., beloved by rock & roll upstarts for their stripped-down, angry sound and outlaw attitude, while they were also hated by people who disliked their open disrespect for authority, hygiene, the Royal Family, and the accepted rules of British show business. The Sex Pistols were soon to release their wildly anticipated first album, Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols, when a mysterious bootleg, Spunk, appeared in hipper record shops. As it happened, Spunk collected the original demo recordings of the Sex Pistols' best-known songs, as recorded by their soundman Dave Goodman and featuring original bassist Glen Matlock before he was sacked in favor of Sid Vicious…

While mostly accurate, dismissing Never Mind the Bollocks as merely a series of loud, ragged midtempo rockers with a harsh, grating vocalist and not much melody would be a terrible error. Already anthemic songs are rendered positively transcendent by Johnny Rotten's rabid, foaming delivery. His bitterly sarcastic attacks on pretentious affectation and the very foundations of British society were all carried out in the most confrontational, impolite manner possible. Most imitators of the Pistols' angry nihilism missed the point: underneath the shock tactics and theatrical negativity were social critiques carefully designed for maximum impact.

For a band that rescued rock & roll from the Uriah Heeps of the world in the late '70s, and made a mark on everything that followed, the Sex Pistols left behind precious little in terms of their recorded legacy. Their only official release being the earth-shattering NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS, enthusiasts have to turn to collections of outtakes and live material to further satisfy their Pistols jones. This brings us to the mysterious NO FUTURE U.K. With virtually nothing to go on in terms of liner notes or credits, it's hard to determine exactly where these alternate version of well-known Pistols songs like "Pretty Vacant" and "Liar" are from. Are they rehearsal recordings? Demos? Outtakes? We may never know for sure, but one thing is for certain, they are relatively well-recorded, full of patented Pistols energy, and among the band's finer performances, all of which puts NO FUTURE towards the front of the posthumous Pistols pack.

When first approaching The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, it's best not to think of it as a Sex Pistols album; rather, keep in mind that it's the soundtrack to a movie that was mostly about Malcolm McLaren and only tangentially concerned the great band he managed. Only eight of the twenty-four songs on The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle feature the same band as on Never Mind the Bollocks, and most of those capture them stomping through covers in the studio, sometimes to impressive effect (Johnny Rotten sounds positively feral on the Who's "Substitute" and the whole band tears into "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone" with malicious glee) and sometimes not (Rotten reveals he doesn't know the words to either Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" or Jonathan Richman's "Roadrunner," and the band's familiarity isn't much greater).

When first approaching The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, it's best not to think of it as a Sex Pistols album; rather, keep in mind that it's the soundtrack to a movie that was mostly about Malcolm McLaren and only tangentially concerned the great band he managed. Only eight of the twenty-four songs on The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle feature the same band as on Never Mind the Bollocks, and most of those capture them stomping through covers in the studio, sometimes to impressive effect (Johnny Rotten sounds positively feral on the Who's "Substitute" and the whole band tears into "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone" with malicious glee) and sometimes not (Rotten reveals he doesn't know the words to either Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" or Jonathan Richman's "Roadrunner," and the band's familiarity isn't much greater).