Sex Pistols
Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols

THE REVIEW

Introduction: don't expect much, in fact. I don't know how to write and even less how to translate into words the feelings given to me by what I listen to.

Sex Pistols: almost puppets in the hands of Malcolm McLaren and Viviane Westwood, two marketing geniuses. Kudos to them.

Sid Vicious: anything but a legend, let alone a musician, but almost certainly no one has managed to personify those years of pure appearance and more or less gratuitous rebellion better.

Tracklist:

"Holiday In The Sun", an energetic piece, as simple as it is effective, an easy 4/4 to carry on with the sole aim of creating chaos and involving as many "punks as possible."

"Bodies", slower intro, then again the punk 4/4 etcetera. A bit repetitive but still fun to listen to.

"No Feeling", continues the insistence and repetition of the formula of the first two tracks.

"Liar", the most interesting intro so far, a slightly, and I do mean slightly, more technical piece than the first three. Apart from the chorus, the piece evolves into definitely more interesting riffs and a bit less monotonous.

"God save the queen", a classic of the Sex Pistols, an approach so easy to understand that even a seven-year-old could dance to it. Their "smoke on the water," a few seconds and everyone is under the stage singing the entire song word for word. And of course, all accompanied by shoving and pogo, characteristic elements of this sound.

"Problems", the intro I like the most, and all in all it is the track that convinces me the most. Among the longest of the entire album but also the one I listened to with more pleasure. Particular sign: the non-melodious problems repeated endlessly.

"Seventeen", one of the less boring and monotonous tracks, almost absent punk 4/4, pity it's also the shortest.

"Anarchy in UK", the other great classic of the Sex Pistols, by now as commercial as a can of Coca-Cola or Pepsi. A funny and also all things considered enjoyable track to listen to, but personally I get bored by the third minute. Like all of "never mind the bollocks," it is best enjoyed live, which is its true nature.

"Submission", perhaps the slowest track of all of never mind, but also the most boring. To be skipped after the first minute.

"New York", interesting intro and first parts, then everything spills into the usual and by now predictable rhythmic structure found repeatedly throughout the album.

"EMI", same opinion I have of the other tracks, a 4/4 sometimes monotonous but fun to listen to. An eee-mmm-iii that easily gets in your head and doesn't leave. A cute closing track but nothing special.

Overall Opinion: listening to the CD was 40 minutes of fun and enjoyable listening. At times it has fallen into the redundant, but nothing else was to be expected since we are talking about "punk". My sometimes superficial analysis of a single song is mainly due to this, there is not much to say about a song that essentially echoes the others in its sound.  But the true dimension of this music is live, pogo and sweat all together inevitably.

I have completely and deliberately disregarded the aspect of pseudo-social commitment (and therefore the lyrics) of the Sex Pistols in those years; in my opinion, a secondary and almost superfluous element, especially considering my initial premise about the group that I now resume: Malcolm McLaren king of businessmen, let alone Silvio Berlusconi or Mario Monti. He could even revive a tragic situation like the Italian one.

Conclusion: an album that, for better or worse, should be made to listen to every growing teenager or anyone who is musically even slightly curious; but on which one must not crystalize, remembering that even in that year albums I find much more interesting were released, such as "Marquee Moon," "Exodus," or even "Bjork," the first album by the Icelandic singer of the same name, then eleven years old.

Brief conclusion: an album to listen to sooner or later, but certainly not is the apex of twentieth-century music.