Revisited: The Sex Pistols

Never Mind The Bollocks... (1977)
Never Mind The Bollocks... (1977)

Artist: The Sex Pistols

Album: Nevermind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols

Released: October 1977

Guitarist and gear: Steve Jones, Gibson Les Paul Custom

So much has been written about the cultural significance of the Pistols' only bona-fide studio album, but its impact on modern-dayelectric guitar playing is difficult to overstate.

Recorded between March and June 1977 by Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon mix engineer Chris Thomas, the blistering assault of Steve Jones' multi-tracked Les Paul is arguably still one of the biggest and finest guitar sounds ever committed to tape.

For all the shock value attached at the time to Rotten's inflammatory vocals and the band's confrontational iconography, more than three decades later what's striking is just how catchy and accessible a record it is.

You can hear its sonic aesthetic stamped all over almost any music with loud guitars and a sneer, from post-punk and new wave through to Oasis, swathes of American alternative rock bands, and even electronic artistslike The Prodigy and Lydon's own Public Image Ltd. Not just an album, but a manifesto for those who followed. And lest we forget, RIP Malcolm McLaren - the man with the plan who made it all happen in the first place.

Here's how to debut your new song on TV. And how punks wear pink.

YouTube : youtubeurl

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