The Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols: 1976-1977
Sex Pistols SP7677
http://www.sex-pistols.net/
"…Rotten was just an arrogant little shit who thought he knew everything. He hated their music. Cook and Jones were going for the tradition of mutated, irresponsible hardcore raw power: Iggy Pop, New York Dolls, MC5, the Faces. Rotten wanted it like the Sixties- Captain Beefheart, all weird."- Malcolm McLaren from England's Dreaming by John Savage.
That quote aptly sums up the over-told
tale between the original members of The Sex Pistols (minus Glen Matlock who
was kicked out of the band later in favor of the more marketable persona of
Sid Vicious). The truth is plain: they hated each other from the start. Despite
the hype, lawsuits, and constant back-stabbing the Pistols remain one of the
most seminal rock ensembles of all time. Their brash outfits and rowdy music
helped to define the musical movement known as Punk Rock, thus turning Pop
on its head, and making even the most hardy of rockers run screaming for their
mommys, pants soiled in fear. Between Glitterbest Productions (Malcolm Mclaren's
dubious management organization), all of the trounced record labels that signed
and then just as quickly dumped them, and the Sex Pistol's themselves the
catalog reaches for miles- a feat considering "Never Mind the Bollocks:
Heres the Sex Pistols" is the only full album they every produced as
a band. "The Sex Pistols: 1976-1977" comprises the studio sessions
complied in the dank, stinking confines of Denmark Steet Studios in London;
as well as other equally shabby recording venues around the city. The Album
packs 24 whopping studio-takes including some instrumental pieces that showcase
the Cook and Jones powerhouse, that is the foundation for "Never Mind
the Bollocks". What makes the album worth its $24.00 asking price is
that it features classics such as Submission and Anarchy in the UK but serves
them up raw and uncooked- far better than the over-produced boil-in-a-bag
of "Never Mind the Bollocks". You'll hear Rotten sneer a nice re-pack
of The Who's "Substitute" and banter through a chaotic rendition
of Road Runner and Johnny B. Goode, while Jones wails away at his axe. Then
of course you'll also get several versions of the B-side Satellite (my personal
fav.) and a wonderfully under-mixed cut of Submission where it sounds as if
Rotten is drowning (in his own ego maybe?) in a tidal wave of drums and guitars,
compounded by the doomed Glen Matlock's throbbing base. "The Sex Pistols:
1976-1977" will satiate the desires of loyal Pistols followers and maybe
convince some of their critics that, despite their over-commercialized reps.
and snooty attitudes even "the worlds most over-rated punk rock band"
deserves one more chance.
-John Southern