"Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" Album Review
Alpha101 I've never really gotten into punk music, no matter how hard I've tried. I've listened to the Ramones, the Dead Kennedy's, the Misfits, the Clash, Black Flag, and, of course, the Sex Pistols. I've even listened to a few newer and poppier punk bands, such as Green Day and the Offspring. But, to no use, I just couldn't get into it. I do love the idea of punk music, with the rebellion, anarchy, etc., and I've listened to a lot of bands that had a heavy punk influence, such as Nirvana and Motorhead. But, the Sex Pistols were always a different story. I'm not really a big fan of the band, but their album is the only punk album that I ever go back to. Yes, there are some songs that I skip, but, for the most part, it's a solid album. Let me take you through the tracks."Holidays in the Sun" is the opening track, and it does its job perfectly. It's beginning claps and drumming instantly got me bobbing my head, and the lyrics are some of the best written in the genre. This is one of my personal favorites from the band, as it serves as kind of a time capsule from the era, with the Berlin Wall and the fall of communism, along with the end of the Cold War and, for the most part, nuclear hostility.
"Bodies" is my second favorite on the album. Allegedly, the song was written about a girl, named Pauline, who performed an abortion on herself, stripped naked, put the fetus in a plastic bag, and knocked on the singer's door, and presented him with the fetus, claiming that she would only have his baby, not her lovers. Pretty morbid, right? You'd be correct. A lot of people think that this song is very pro-life, and, on the surface, it does seem that way, so I don't fault those who think that, and, who knows, they might be right. But the lead singer of the band claimed many times that he was pro-choice, but he did look down upon abortion, after he had to witness his mother having a stillborn baby, which he claimed was almost the same thing as having an abortion. This song is hard hitting and gruesome, but undeniably catchy and timeless.
"No Feelings" starts off strong, but kind of loses speed from there. Like I stated above, there's only a few songs on the record that I skip, and this is one of them.
"Liar" is a solid song, but is, sadly, nothing more than that. I always listen to it, but I do, every now and then, have the urge to skip it, as it is one of the blander songs on the album.
"Problems" is another skippable track. I've only listened to it two or three times, and I plan to not listen to it again, at least not for a very long time.
"God Save the Queen" is one of those songs that almost everyone knows, and for good reason, of course. It contains very anti-establishment lyrics. It lashed out at the Queen and authority in general. It also doesn't hurt that it's irresistibly catchy, and is one of the most influential punk songs in history, as it's still covered by many bands today. This is the best song on the album, in my opinion.
"Seventeen" is a pretty underrated track. Sure, it's not one of the highlights of the album, but it is still a fine song. It's very emotional and hard-hitting, and always gets me jamming along to it.
"Anarchy in the U.K." is an overrated track, but still one of the best on the album. The opening two lines are some of the most recognizable in rock history, and, like "God Save the Queen," is still covered to this very day. It's lyrics about anarchy still affect many people, and the lyrics are very well-written.
"Sub-Mission" is another track I usually skip. It's not the worst on the album, and I do listen to it from time to time, but it's just never really stuck with me.
"Pretty Vacant" is another highlight on the album. I've loved it upon first hearing, and still listen to it today. It's annoyingly catchy and likable, and the vocals are spot-on. This is one of my favorites by the band.
"New York" has some nice drumming, and some pretty catchy riffs, but, lyrically, is nothing much. Whenever I do listen to it, I almost completely block out the vocals, and just focus on the instruments. Those alone make this song great.
"EMI" has a nice chorus, but that's pretty much it, and even it tends to get annoying fairly quickly. It was a disappointing close to the album, and left me with the question if I really wanted to listen to the whole thing again. It does have a pretty nice ending, though.
This album is, obviously, very far from being perfect. Half the songs are great, and the other half I barely remember because they're very boring and bland, which is not what punk music is supposed to be about at all. It's supposed to be raw, energetic, and, maybe even sometimes, frightening, and most of the songs were none of that. But, the reason why I am giving the album the score it has is because, number one, it's one of the most influential albums in rock history, and two, the songs that I actually don't skip are some fantastic tracks! Overall, this is not one of my favorite albums, and I do think that it is a bit overrated, but it's still a very influential and important album, that has a few exceptional tracks.
7.8/10 - Pretty Good Album