After the world was still recovering from the flower children of the 1960s and vapid, boring disco was starting to invade everywhere, the Sex Pistols showed up with an absolutely furious album full of guitar-rock and furious https://lyrics. While this album still sounds powerful today, it must have caused some people to think the world was coming to an end in 1977 when Never Mind the Bollocks was released.
At its core, this album is full of expressions of rage against society and is driven home with a bunch of rockabilly guitar chords from the 1950s, only played a lot faster and with thick distortion. While there are a lot of compilations on the market featuring the Sex Pistols, don’t kid yourself -- this is the one to buy.
There are so many things that sets this apart from your run-of-the-mill punk rock albums that its hard to know where to begin. First, let’s start with the music. While a lot of punks could barely play, the Sex Pistols actually managed to put some competent, energetic music out there. Steve Jones’ guitar work might not be as flashy and complex as some other artist, but it’ll do just fine. Jones sounds like he listened to a lot of Chuck Berry and heavy metal bands, and merged the best of both worlds together in one crunchy, distorted blur.
Then, you’ve got Johnny Rotten’s vocals. He delivered lyrics in a snarling, snotty and growling warble and sounds rather like he sang through a fan running at a high speed (think about that, if you will).
And, Rotten’s vocals fit perfectly. While a lot of bands tried to match the energy of the Sex Pistols, they never quite got the message the band delivered. The Sex Pistols were flat out angry at everything. Those working-class kids were absolutely furious about the limits placed on them by the elite. They were mad about social conditions in general, and railed against them as forcefully as possible. It’s no wonder the ultra-fast rockabilly guitar riffs were utilized by the band -- early rock n’ roll hinted at rebellion, and the Sex Pistols outright encouraged it.
The Sex Pistols join the ranks of bands like the Clash, the Ramones, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Fear and a few other punk bands that really had something to say and truly were inspirational bands. In the world of rock n’ roll, there are few bands that really mattered, and the Sex Pistols are one of those rare groups that actually amounted to something more than a revenue stream for a record company.
With all the phony little punk bands running around these days singing out parties, cars, girls, being mad at their parents and other such mindless rot, I’m glad this little gem from the Sex Pistols is still in wide circulation out there. This is the genuine article, and makes all the pretenders sound like they should take their whining, cliches, fake toughness and limited musical ability and go cry in the nearest corner.