'' is a
1977 album recorded by the seminal British
Punk band,
Sex Pistols . It is now regarded as a classic and influential rock and roll album by many fans and critics alike.
The album was released on
October 28 , 1977 on the
Virgin Records label. It is the only "official" album recorded by the Sex Pistols in their short 2½ year career, although the songs have appeared on many compilation albums (the group had effectively disbanded less than three months after its release). Additionally, many of the songs were featured in the film,
''The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle'' , a
"mockumentary" loosely based on the Sex Pistols, but more about their infamous manager (and the film's mastermind),
Malcolm McLaren and his stated goal of "making a million pounds".
Older versions of most of these songs also appear on a
Pirated album called ''
Spunk '', which consists of recordings the band had made for
A&M Records before leaving that label.
''Never Mind the Bollocks'' was met by a hail of controversy in the
U.K. upon its release. The first documented legal problems involved the allegedly 'obscene' name of the album, and the prosecution of the owner of a Nottingham record shop (and label owner
Richard Branson ) for having displayed it in a window. However, a guilty verdict was overturned when defending
Queen's Counsel Sir John Mortimer produced expert witnesses who were able to prove that the word "
Bollocks " was actually a legitimate Old English term originally used to refer to a priest, and which, in the context of the title, meant "nonsense".
However, far more intense outrage was sparked by the lyrics of the songs ''
God Save The Queen '' and ''
Anarchy In The U.K. '', as well as
Jamie Reid 's cover art for the
Single of ''God Save the Queen''. Both were perceived as musical assaults on the
Monarchy and
Capitalistic society. In particular, ''God Save the Queen'' was viewed as a direct personal attack on
Queen Elizabeth II . Guitarist
Steve Jones , and singer
Johnny Rotten , have both insisted that it was not the Queen that the band directed their animus towards, but other members of the royal house and the British government in general. In either case, the notoriety did little to harm the record's sales in the U.K.
Rotten's bitten, over-articulated, angry vocals and his intentional avoidance of "good" singing were startlingly original in style, at that time, and his use of profanity and deliberately inflammatory language seemed downright shocking. He alternately screams and whines about corporate control, intellectual vacuity, and political hypocrisy, while guitarist Jones' multi-layered guitar tracks create a "wall of noise" to counter him. The solid rhythm section of bassist
Glen Matlock and drummer
Paul Cook provide an effective foil to Rotten's sneering, contemptuous delivery.
Producer movement.
Another standard from the album, ''
Pretty Vacant '' also earned the ire of the British music industry. In his delivery of the song's title in the chorus, Johnny Rotten heavily accents the second syllable of the word "vacant", and clips it very short in stark contrast to his drawn out delivery of the first syllable. Critics and fans alike have noted that it actually sounds like
A Vulgarity For The Female Genitalia . Some allege it was deliberate; opponents of this theory counter that it's actually Rotten's Irish
Brogue leading people to the misinterpretation. It does seem unlikely the sharp-witted Rotten would have failed to notice (and savor) the implicit wordplay.
Sid Vicious contributed little to ''Never Mind the Bollocks''; an attempt was made to have him record a bass track for ''
God Save The Queen '', but in the final mix, this is subliminal at best. By the time the album was completed, he had practiced for several months, and most sources agree he plays on the last song recorded, ''
Bodies ''. Bass duties were handled primarily by guitarist Steve Jones; original bassist
Glen Matlock played on one song, ''
Anarchy In The U.K. '', but left the group in February 1977, before the album was completed. Matlock's and Jones' bass contributions were kept secret at the time of the album's release, since Virgin had no right to reissue the recording made under the group's contract to EMI, and since Vicious was fast becoming the most popular member of the band. Vicious also contributed to backing vocals.
''Never Mind the Bollocks'' reached #1 on the official U.K. album chart, but, in the U.S., it peaked at just #106 on the
Billboard album chart. Although the album's sales were slim outside Britain, the Sex Pistols established a wild and large reputation in the burgeoning punk scene; they were never able to capitalize on their celebrity, however, and the band broke up in
1978 .
The years have been far kinder to the album, on the other hand. For example, in
1998 , ''
Q Magazine '' readers voted ''Never Mind the Bollocks'' the 30th greatest album of all time, and the
VH1 network placed it as the 17th greatest album of all time in
2003 . And, in
1987 ''
Rolling Stone '' magazine named it the second-most important album of the previous 20 years, behind only
The Beatles ' ''
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band '' album.
In general, most critics and musicians consider ''Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols'' to have been a, and perhaps ''the'', central formative influence on Punk Rock music.
#"
Bodies " - 3:03
#"No Feelings" - 2:51
#"Liar" - 2:41
#"
God Save The Queen " - 3:20
#"Problems" - 4:11
#"Submission" - 4:12
#"EMI" - 3:10
