Customer Reviews

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (U.S. Version)

5 star:		(341)
4 star:		(54)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(49)

 

 

I've never seen so much blatantly false information about a subject in one place before. Some of these people need to find out what the hell they are talking about before they submit reviews. I'm guessing that many of these 1-star ratings are coming from children weened on the Green Day poseurs.

Just to set the record straight, aside from some dross that was released after their demise, Bollocks is the ONLY Pistols album. To say that it is their best album or their worst album is simply a display of ignorance. Cripes, I'm seeing people write reviews of this landmark record who don't even get the names of the band members correct. Leave the critiques to folks who have more than a passing knowledge of the band and the album and the genre, for that matter.

As for all these comparisons, The Clash were very nice indeed, but they never packed the snarling power of 'Anarchy in the UK', nor did they ever produce a signature song like 'God Save the Queen', one of the great hard-rock anthems to ever come down the pike, blowing the doors off of anything by these neo-punk revivalists. And for all this talk of filler, I'll take one 'New York' for 5 songs on London Calling.

If it wasn't for albums like Bullocks breaking the prog-rock and corporate-rock mallaise of the late '70s, we'd all STILL be listening to turgid immitators of Floyd and Zeppelin.

first, for those of you who have no understanding of punk, know that the pistols and other early punk bands were about live performance, not recordings. having said that, given that their career as a band was short-lived, try this album to grok what they were about.

the truth is these songs sound almost innocent compared to the headache rock, death & speedmetal, goth and other punk spinoffs that have sprouted since. musically the songs are simple and great rock n roll. lydon was an acidic, brilliant lyricist, as good as punk ever had, and his raw on-edge "singing" is as good as any punk vocalist ever.

In I think 1987 Rolling Stone Mag listed the top 100 lps. I believe this was #1 or #2 right behind Peppers. At a time when music was ruled by such dreck as the Eagles (post blues) Fleetwood Mac etc along came The Sex Pistols. My friends thought I had lost my mind when I said they were the future (No Future?). But,not that I needed the vindication RS showed who knew what. As for the guy who gave it one star and went on to say how the above groups represented the 70's check out his other reviews he has the nerve to give the Carpenters 4 stars and say that we all liked them. Speak for yourself pal. What are you doing listening to real rock and roll let alone reviewing it almost makes me think Lou Reed ( the real 70's) is right in his view on critics

The people who nit pick about who is "punk", who is more musically adept are missing the point with The Pistol's.
I love all kinds of music, play guitar myself and was never into the punk scene and what went with it.
However, I'll never forget the first time I heard this album and the impact it had on me. It was devastating.
I may have Mozart or Sarah Brightman or The Stones or Coldplay in the CD changer tonight. Maybe Buddy Guy or some Verdi.

Then every so often I will stick in my well worn copy of NMTBITSP and from the moment I hear those marching boots and Steve Jones thunderous Les Paul crashing out the opening chords to Anarchy in the UK ...........I am suddenly 19 years old again with "no feelings..for any body else....except for myself...my beautiful self". Utterly unique and one of rock & roll's brilliant defining moments.

God save the Queen.

I bought this when this came out in 1977 at an import shop and it was the most liberating album I'd heard in my then 16 years of existence. Quite simply the snottiest, most revolutionary and most importanly ROCKING album at a time when rock wasn't played on the radio at all. Those were the days of boring twaddle like Boston, Foreigner and the musical excrement known as disco. The Pistols brought danger back into the rock and roll equation, and inspired countless thousands of kids to pick up some instruments and play their own music. Along with the Ramones and the Clash, the Sex Pistols are one of the most influential and historically important bands of the seventies. Rock was reborn: punk, new wave, metal, post punk, pop music all either sprang from or were renewed by the big bang that was the Sex Pistols and punk rock. As for the tremendously ignorant reviewer who said something to the effect that the British didn't care about slagging the queen because she's a figurehead. Oh my, God Save The Queen was HUGELY revolutionary and offensive to the British. The Pistols were banned from the BBC and from playing live in England precisely because of the love the British have for the monarchy and tradition. Slagging the Queen is tantamount to an American covering the flag in sh*t and lighting it on fire and then dousing the flames with urine. Yes the Pistols were manufactured by ambitious and then unknown fashion designer Malcolm McLaren, well he agreed to manage them and most importantly found Johnny Rotton. No they weren't the first punk band nor were they the first punk band I'd ever heard. I heard the Ramones first album and the Dammed's first album before the Sex Pistols. But those bands, while very good, didn't have the visceral punch, and f*ck you and everything you stand for attitude. Never Mind The Bollocks was much rawer, much ruder. It was a nihilistic sound born out of the desperate state of English political and economic reality. It was a time of no future, to quote God Save the Queen: "your future gleam is a shopping scheme." The music was born of the hopelessness of the first British generation to have it (much) worse off than their parents. The empire had died. Society and politics were not to be trusted. So why should the Sex Pistols, as young Brits, attempt to belong to a society that provides no hope? As a political stance the Sex Pistols were nihilists rather than anarchists. Anarchy is a ridiculous political ideology if there ever was one, Crass' magnificence notwithstanding. Hmmm, yeah people will cooperate with one another to everyone's mutual advantage, ha! Grow up. The Pistols were not about making a statement so much as in creating chaos and holding British society up to itself in a mirror. From the beginning manager Malcolm McLaren declared the Pistols were an art project or perhaps a marketing project for his boutique rather than a band and either because of or perhaps in spite of McLaren's vision, ambition and hype, the Sex Pistols music is much more powerful than any of their contemporaries. Malcolm didn't write any of the songs. He brought the band together, but their music was their own.

BTW, for a fantastic history of this band, it's impact and times check out the documentary The Filth And Fury featuring interviews with everyone connected with band including Glen Matlock and Sid Vicious and a lot of live footage.

Give me some of that pure Rock 'n' Roll sound!
This is the only 'true'Sex Pistols album and really the only one you need.
Considered by many to be one of the front-runners of punk, but I do believe Iggy Pop and The (Mighty) Stooges did Punk better. Having said that,this has been one of my first punk albums at the tender age of 11 and it instantly opened my ears to a whole new sound of Rock that I never realized existed.
Immediately I could feel the Raw intensity of Johnny Rotten's maniacal voice, snotty, in your face type of attitude bleeds through the speakers from the Wildman that is Rotten himself. One of the first songs - "Bodies" is a perfect example of the pure punk attitude I am referring to - Animalistic fury. Screaming bloody mess! Real Brit Punk, heck Real punk period, out of 1977.
There have been many imitators since The Pistols, but why not pick up the original, in all it's aggressive devestating glory (?)

I don't think I ever heard a debut punk record as good as this. They just don't exist, but yes, this album here did help me on my search for real punk and DIY type bands.
Highlights of mine are "Bodies" - "God Save the Queen" - "Pretty Vacant" & of course the song that the band is known for "Anarchy In the U.K."- Turn it Up, Loud! (the way it's meant to be heard)
...Forget The Clash, sure they were a great band, but if Anarchy had a voice it would be Johnny Rotten's.

Firstly, for the multitude of people here crying " forget this album The Clash were the real deal", do a little research. The Clash would not exist were it not for the Sex Pistols. It was seeing the Pistols live that inspired Strummer to ditch his Pub-Rock band and jump on the Punk-Rock bandwagon. Same goes for The Damned. It was the Pistols who kick-started the scene and kicked open the doors for those bands, and those bands are always the first to admit it. And it was that scene which kicked open the doors for each 'new' variation on Punk, right through from the Dead Kennedys to Crass, Green Day and beyond.

Secondly, (...) about Sid Vicious not being able to play bass, you're right, but here's a simple fact for you. HE DOESN'T EVEN PLAY ON THIS ALBUM. Original bass player/songwriter Glen Matlock was sacked before this material was recorded, so the bass was played by guitarist Steve Jones.

The Sex Pistols didn't play on the album? Rubbish. That's a myth that came about after a lie spread by the newspapers in 1977, and only those who know nothing about the Pistols continue to spread it. Go ask the Producers Chris Thomas & Bill Price who managed to fill an entire DVD with anecdotes, explanations and examples of exactly who played what on the album...and I somehow think they know a little better than YOU!

The Sex Pistols were a manufactured band? Wrong again. The guitarist and drummer had been playing together since 1972. 'Kutie Jones & The Sex Pistols' emerged in 1975. They were hanging around Malcom Mclarens shop, and they needed a bass player. An assistant in the shop, Glen Matlock, was a bassplayer. So they asked him to join. Then THEY hassled Malcom to Manage them and he introduced them to Johhny Rotten. Hardly a 'manufactured band' eh?

And The Ramones?: Here's the HUGE thing about Never Mind The Bollocks. Play the first Ramoes album, and you can immediately hear a million over-used Doo-Wop and 1950's Rock And Roll cliches, just played at double speed. The reference points are so blatant (and un-punk) that it's laughable. Now do the same for NMTB. What reference points are YOU hearing there? There are plenty, but unlike The Ramones, they are far more complex and virtually non-existant to the casual music fan. Oh and by the way, The Ramones NEVER 'came first'. Do a little research. The Pistols and Ramones developed in parallel, but on opposite sides of the Atlantic. By the time The Ramones made it to the UK the Pistols were already ruling the British Punk scene.

Every person who reviews this album as being worthless and meaningless really has no concept about Punk and the sheer impact that this album and the Pistols had back in 1976/77. This was their only proper album, and after being signed to their first Record Company,the band lasted less than 2 years. And on the basis of this one album, almost 30 years later we're still here talking about the band and the musuc. If the whole package was REALLY that bad, and it's impact negligible, Never Mind The Bollocks - and it's creators - would have faded from public memory decades ago.

STOP loooking at this album in a MODERN context, and look at it from it's original perspective. It arrived on the scene at a time when Disco and flacid AOR ruled the airwaves, and it sounded like nothing else around. Questions were asked in the Houses of Parliment as a result of this albums release and the Sex Pistols were banned from playing virtually anywhere in the UK. They appeared on the front pages of the national press for a week due to the scandal they and their music caused. Go educate yourself. They made a HUGE difference to music, musical culture, fashion and design. Jamies Sex Pistols artwork, once considered 'weird' and 'shocking' inspired a wave of imitators, and the Punky ripped up lettering style now wouldn't have you looking twice when used in advertising or magazines.

You may not like this album, that's fair enough. But to deny it's value to, and impact upon, modern music, well, that's just showing how little you know, and how ignorant you are.

So, buy this album. It was one of the few albums in modern musical history which has not only changed the face of modern music, but had a cultural impact which continues to reverberate today, throughout the worlds of fashion, design and art. Can't really say that about The Ramones can you?

Oh yeah, and you may be pleasantly surprised to find it contains a fair few stonking tunes aswell!

So its just an average day, bored, I think "Hey! I'll look at the reviews for Nevermind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols at Amazon.com..." After reading some of these "reviews" i constantly had to scroll back up to the top of the screen so that I was sure they were still talking about Bollocks. Punk? Hell yeah! Couldn't play their instruments? What the frig are you talking about? Steve Jones was a great guitarist, influenced by Chuck Berry, Paul Cook was a good drummer, Glen Matlock, excellent bass player and songwriter. And Lydon gives a vocal performance that outdoes anything he ever did with PIL. Vicous did not know how to play bass, but he hardly shows up on this recording. Do not be mistaken - This album kicks and always will kick serious ass

The only studio album by the Sex Pistols was greatly anticipated and didn't disappoint for buyers who did not have access to the UK singles or live/studio bootlegs that were available at that time.

For those who purchased other releases, the album did not break any new ground with the songs. Most material had been part of the band's live shows or had been officially released as A- and B-sides of singles.

But here was a group who's music was banned on UK radio, its name not permitted on the UK charts and had numerous concerts cancelled because of the "threat" of violence from the fans & band members. Not only all that, the band was cashing checks from major record companies that signed 'em and dumped 'em seemingly overnight.

And through all the controversy came the U.S. album release. The power of the band - driven by the vocals of Johnny Lydon - is captured in classics like Anarchy in the UK, God Save the Queen and No Feelings. There were questions on who performed on the album, with persistent rumors that guitarist Chris Spedding played on most of the cuts.

While the album received either rave or poor reviews by the critics, a U.S. tour was in the works, with one published report stating the Pistols were going to perform at Madison Square Garden with tickets costing a couple of bucks. Like so much surrounding the band, the MSG show was 99.9% myth.

The Pistols were slated to debut in the U.S. with a performance on Saturday Night Live and then open their tour at The Agora in Cleveland, OH. Visa problems cancelled both gigs and the band that finally arrived was as fractured as any Stadium Rock "supergroup."

It became a game at the gigs where the band tried to outdo one another in the department of parody. The band broke up after an absolutely terrible performance at the Winterland Ballroom in San Fransisco, which was released as a bootleg some months afterward.

But for some brief moments in time, the Pistols demonstrated they were a great live band that could capture batches of their raw power in the studio.

The Sex Pistols album Nevermind the Bollocks is completely amazing. I would say its one of the best hardcore punk albums ever(some other ones are the Ramones and The Clashes London Calling. Every song on it is pure classic, from Johnny Rottens insane vocals on Anarchy in the U.K., to Sid Viciouss nice bass lines on Submission. Nothing has been put out that compares to it as Johnny once said in a interview, and indeed hes right. Because today in 2007 punk rock is a bunch of nice guys who where makeup. Some of these bands are Green Day, Blink 182 and soforth. These type of bands dont deserve to be called punk rock because its a disgrace to all of the grat punk bands. If your a punk fan and dont have it you need it, PERIOD!!!!!