The Sex Pistols' debut and only studio album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols was released in 1977. The band was formed in London, England in 1975 and singlehandedly jumpstarted the punk movement in the UK. The band was composed of singer John Lydon (also known as Johnny Rotten), guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook, and bassist Glen Matlock. Matlock left the band just before the band began recording their debut and was replace by the musically incompetent Sid Vicious. Because of this, Jones recorded most of the bass parts for the debut. The Sex Pistols quickly became notorious for their vulgar behavior and controversial lyrics like "Anarchy in the U.K." and "God Save the Queen." Their highly anticipated debut went to number one in the UK and was critically acclaimed upon its release. Not long after it went on sale in October, they broke up in January 1978. The album is still considered a punk classic and one of the greatest albums of all time.
Reviewing the Modern Lovers, I noted that "later punk and proto-punk bands would show just how much more you can add by hacking off the artsy excess, unremarkable singers and all." Such is embodied by the Sex Pistols. Off stage and in interviews, Johnny Rotten's huge ego is quite repulsive--oh so "Bodies" was always meant to be a song that balances the pros and cons of abortion, eh? On the mike, he's not the best singer either. But trying to fantasize about this band with a different singer, I realized any such attempt to kick Rotten to the curb would probably take more than it gives and thus, Rotten is... er... crucial. His frantic singing is entertaining, engrossing, and whenever he acts too tough (which is almost every song), I just laugh like I did with the Ramones. His most important contribution to the band, however, is the lyrics, which tackle the confusion of young adulthood through social commentary and a political lens. Although the Pistols don't exactly bring the same resolution or focus or intelligence to their political discourse, they're worthy successors to the MC5. And similar to the Detroit band, their energy-infused messages are back by great rock'n'roll: jagged guitar tones and furious drum beats that follow Rotten to a tee and provide the proper visual for what their idea of anarchy might look like: it's scary, but not intimidating. A
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As I'm sure you are aware, my album reviews that get emailed out (like this one) are not the only album reviews I post on my blog. In fact, the majority of my album reviews are not emailed out and instead are added to discography pages that are already posted. Thus, you have to be a proactive reader and searcher to find some of the new album reviews that I post. For the almost two years that I've had this blog, I didn't particularly care because I couldn't see an easy way around this issue and because I figured my readers didn't really want to consume the obscure stuff that goes under the rug anyway. Additionally, it was sometimes nice to keep some of my more controversial reviews from being seen--I still hope some of my friends never find my Queen reviews. But recently, I came up with the idea that for every new album review such as this, I would list the album reviews that I've written and posted since the last email. Hopefully, this helps make it easier to see whom I've been listening to recently and allow you to check up on your favorite artists' most recent reviews. I won't add the grades to encourage clicking on the links. The last email was for Television's Marquee Moon so here's approximately everything I've posted since then:
George Harrison: Gone Troppo (1982)
Lou Reed: Live: Take No Prisoners (1978)
Lou Reed: Growing Up in Public (1980)
Lou Reed: The Bells (1981)
Hank Snow: The Essential Hank Snow (1997)
Dusty Springfield: Ooooooweeee!!! (1965)
Dusty Springfield: You Don't Have to Say You Love Me (1966)
Television: Adventure (1978)
Ernest Tubb: Country Music Hall of Fame Series (1987)