Sex Pistols "Never Mind The Bollocks & Spunk/This Is Crap" 1976-1977(rec) 1996(reissue)*****

I recently presented my vinyl copy of "Never Mind The Bollocks", along with an entertaining (I hope) account of the Nottingham Bollocks Trial. I need to present the CD version separately, though, as this '96 reissue features a whole disc of bonus tracks. First and foremost, here you get almost all of Spunk, one of the most famous rock bootlegs as well as the Pistols' de facto debut. This album, you see, hit the stores shortly before "Never Mind...". While Virgin had invested good money in what was considered to be the world's most toxic rock band and even more to advertise their upcoming debut as the most revolutionary rock album yet, here slipped out this little bootleg of the whole album in demo form, ruining the great unveiling of punk's Rosetta Stone by giving a preview of the goods inside. It most certainly had Richard Branson running around in panic trying to suppress it. The band's manager Malcolm McLaren was suspected to be behind the leak, a logical conclusion seeing as he's always been a prankster, and greedy enough to swindle Branson trying to make some money on the side after securing a fat check for the rights to the band's debut. Reportedly he's said he considers these demos to be superior to the finished album. While that's a bit of an exaggeration, there's no denying the virility of these recordings. They may lack the power and punch of "Never Mind...", but they gain in spontaneity and are closer to the band's actual live sound. On the official record, producer Chris Thomas (who had previously worked on such landmarks like The Beatles' White Album and Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon) overdubbed layers of guitar to give it volume and sped the songs up a bit, giving them more of a hard rock punch. The Spunk versions on the other hand, which were recorded by the band's live sound engineer Dave Goodman, sound closer to garage rock with traces of The Stooges and New York Dolls. The slower tempo sometimes works out, especially in the definitive version of "Submission" with its psychedelic guitar effects and almost Morrison-esque(?) vocal delivery. The vocals here generally display a slightly less aggressive, more sarcastic, tone. "Nookie (Anarchy In the U.K.)" is an inferior take, but usually the songs are well-played and clearly recorded. One may even argue that these demos feature the band's best playing, thanks to the presence of original bassist Glen Matlock. Bass parts on "Never Mind..." were played (semi-competently) by guitarist Steve Jones because Sid Vicious was a pretty incompetent bassist, taken in for what he added to the band visually and for being Rotten's mate. The original Spunk recordings are augmented with 3 demos recorded with Chris Spedding in May '76. "Problems" sounds pretty good at this early stage and even has some nice solos. "No Feelings" sports a rough vocal, but nimble bass lines by Matlock and some surprisingly cool rockabilly guitar. Either Spedding was jamming with the band on this or Jones outdid himself trying to impress him as a fellow guitarist. 4 more bonus tracks are alternate takes from the "Never Mind..." sessions, produced by Chris Thomas. These are not radically different from the ones that finally made it to the record. A bit more hard rock than the "Spunk" versions, with a relatively clear sound but still rough around the edges compared to the finished product. Listened back to back, both the demo and LP versions have their strong points. Getting them both in one package makes sense, if you can find this specific version of the album. If not, Spunk (also available as No Future U.K?) is by far the best-sounding of the countless Sex Pistols bootlegs and would make a worthy addition to any punk record collection.

****/***** for the original "NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS" tracks

BONUS DISC: 
***** for Seventeen (D.G. demo), Satellite (D.G. demo), Submission (D.G. demo) , No Future (God Save the Queen)(D.G. demo), Pretty Vacant(D.G. demo), Problems (C.S. demo), No Feelings (C.S. demo)

**** for Just Me (I Wanna Be Me)(D.G. demo), Liar(D.G. demo), Who Was It (EMI)(D.G. demo), New York (Looking For A Kiss)(D.G. demo), Problems(D.G. demo), Submission (C.T. alt. take), No Feelings (C.T. alt. take), EMI (C.T. alt. take), Anarchy in the UK" (Denmark St. demo)

*** for Feelings(D.G. demo), Nookie (Anarchy In the U.K.)(D.G. demo), Lots of Fun (Pretty Vacant)(C.S. demo), Satellite (C.T. alt. take), Seventeen (C.T. alt. take)