The Sex Pistols: Never Mind The Bollocks... (1977)

For certain albums deemed "influential," the essential components of the rock canon that changed the course of modern music -- Sgt. Pepper, the first Ramones album, maybe Pet Sounds and the Velvet Underground & Nico -- it can be difficult to listen free of context, to just drop the needle on the vinyl (or queue it up on Spotify) and listen with fresh ears, to simply hear it as a piece of music and evaluate it on its own terms.

The first (and only proper) full-length release from the Pistols certainly falls in that category, if not more so.  I was only 9 when the band started up, 11 when this was came out, and thus didn't get a chance to hear it upon its initial release.  Even so, whenever I play it, it's hard not to envision its impact on the music world at the time, to appreciate just how revolutionary it must have sounded in the face of the classic rock dinosaurs then sucking up all the oxygen, to hear it more as a fuck you to the music establishment than as a collection of songs.

But if I make the effort, try to shut all that out, then what?  Well, like a lot of those other influential albums, it's just a damn fine record.  Bollocks doesn't seem to get its due as simply great rock and roll; sure, you've got the ferocity of Steve Jones' multi-tracked guitars, the inimitable snarl of Johnny Rotten's vocals wrapped around his biting and subversive lyrics -- but at heart you've got Glen Matlock and Jones's basic three-chord power pop straight out of the Who/Kinks songbook.

Obviously "Anarchy in the UK" and "God Save The Queen" are the stand-outs, as vital today as 40 years ago; "Pretty Vacant" is pure pop for now people; "Holidays In The Sun" is infectious, with that killer guitar riff; "No Feelings" just a nifty little rave-up.  And "EMI" is a ton of fun, a fresh take on Jonathan Richman's "Roadrunner" call and response classic.

So, yeah, my verdict is if this came out today, with nothing to prove, no ground to break, it would still be an instant classic.

Here's a video for "Anarchy":

...and "God Save The Queen":

...and "Pretty Vacant" live: