When: Released October 1, 1977
Why? I’ve never really heard a Sex Pistols song, and this is one of the most important and influential punk albums ever recorded. Interestingly, I do remember that an older bandmate brought a copy of this album to one of our practices, when I played drums and piano in a band called Exodus in high school. I’m sure he played some of it for us—he was so excited about it—but I can’t remember what I thought. (Given what I was listening to back then, I can’t imagine understanding or liking it at the time.)
What? 12 songs spanning 39 minutes of primal punk.
First Impressions: The first things that struck me in the opening track, “Holidays in the Sun,” were the quality of the performances (I was under the impression that they couldn’t really play their instruments; apparently, that was only true of “bassist” Sid Vicious) and the satirical nature of the lyrics. I had not expected satire or wit, and the Pistols deliver both in most songs, featuring creative wordplay and a biting sense of humor. While I would never call him a singer, Johnny Rotten’s (John Lydon’s) sung/spoken delivery has an attitude that fits these songs perfectly, and I believed the authenticity of it far more than I believed Axl Rose’s swagger on “Appetite for Destruction.”
The wordplay on “Submission” is delightful: Told by their manager to write a song about sexual submission, they instead wrote a love song about a “sub mission” looking for love underwater! (Their manager was hoping the song would help to promote a sex boutique he owned, where, coincidentally, Chrissie Hynde worked before founding the Pretenders.) Similarly, “Pretty Vacant” is pretty remarkable—and maybe 30 years ahead of its time.
When you’re in Pistols/punk territory, though, there’s a very fine line between biting satire and bad taste…and I think they crossed over on “Bodies,” an anti-abortion song that is over-the-top ugly and cruel. That said, I never expected to hear an anti-abortion song on a Sex Pistols album! (Lydon has since claimed that the song is neither anti-abortion nor pro-choice. Never mind the bollocks: The lyrics are very clear about his position at the time.)
The only other low points for me were the last two tracks: “New York” and “EMI.” Here, the wit seems to have abandoned them completely. Both are just mean-spirited, insult-laden “screw-yous” to their manager’s former clients (the New York Dolls) and their former record labels (EMI and A&M), respectively, the latter of which dropped them for perfectly justifiable reasons that the Pistols seem oblivious to.
So? A surprisingly witty, raw collection of songs that I could easily listen to again, though I would skip “Bodies,” “New York,” and “EMI.”