Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols

From the first thump, thump, thump, thump, CRASH! You know this album is going to be something special. This is the album, the album that inspired more than one generation, the album whose effects are still felt today in both rock and hip hop cultures. The album which made celebrities out of four working class hoodlums dressed up like freaks!

Bollocks starts with Holidays in the Sun, a crashing, blitz attack on communism and fighting for politics, essentially a song about questions it provides no answers. Inspired by a trip to Berlin, Holidays in the Sun sets the standard for the rest of the album and is a great song to start it off with.

We then move on the Bodies, a violent, snarling attack on abortion (John Rotten loves attacking everything- you might have gathered), asking the right and wrongs of it, is it right to bring a kid into this world and not give a toss about it? A stream of "F" words shocks and outrages the normal establishment.

No Feelings in an above average pistols crunch through. Whilst not going to win any prizes for shock on its own, No Feelings makes your hair stand on end. As Rotten proclaims his selfishness we can’t help but feel the nastiness ooze from this band.

Liar is another scathing attack on the ordinary people. Repetition of "liar" throughout the song helps emphasize his point and drills home his message of destruction, think about it- that’s all the band want.

God Save the Queen is a punk anthem. Whilst it has been played to death it retains its shock value one hundred percent. Banned, burnt, called treasonous, this song is not actually an attack on the queen, it is yet another royal family- as John says in The Filth and The Fury "you don’t write a song like God Save the Queen ‘cause you hate the English race, you do it because you love them and your fed up with them being mis-treated."

Problems is my favorite song off the album. Essentially a working class attack on everything problems has a dangerous undertone to it, as does the whole album really, its about the people trying to attack him. Yet it is not Johnny Rotten or the pistols with the problem, as they say themselves- "the problem is YOU."

The next song is great simply for its comedy sing a long value, Seventeen could have been a Sham 69 song, but the lyrics were slightly too intellectual. The song is great because it attacks hippies, yuppies, the norms, the middle class and manages to slash a deep cut down the middle of society.

Another anthem- Anarchy in the UK! What a tune. The Pistols first single which catapulted them to stardom. Designed simply to shock and offend, this single is pretty much what kick started punk ( in Britain anyway), beat to the first punk single by the Damned, the Pistols knew had to come back with something good and the result was this! A harsh song on a par with God Save the Queen for vicious attacks, it grabs you by the balls and doesn’t let you go.

Submission was written as a piss take for Malcolm Mclauren. He told the pistols to write a song called Submission and they did not want to write about cheesy bondage and leather so they turned it into- a submarine mission, with a great result. Fun, inoffensive and just the most mellow tune on the album.

Pretty Vacant, a song known by its intro still used by DJ’s and in mixes today. It’s a fun boisterous song, equally offensive but not as direct as Anarchy so therefore did not receive the bans that the previous singles had done. This is an equally fantastic song and it enable Johnny to emphasize vacant to "Vay-Cunt" enabling him to swear on T.V.

New York is a song attacking my favorite band, the New York Dolls, by the time the Pistols appeared The Dolls were old and washed up on Heroin yet still claimed punk for their own. The Pistols soon put a stop to that. Check out Johnny Thunders’ attack back called "London boys".

The final song called EMI is yet another attack, this time on the record company that dropped them leaving them rich and pop stars. Johnny is not complaining this time, he is mocking, with a great sing a long chorus EMI is a great song to end on.

Overall the album is quick, dangerous and one hundred percent assault. A kick in the balls for the flagging world of rock and roll. Still as relevant today as ever this album is highly recommended. 10/10.