Line #68 Music/NeverMindTheBollocksHeresTheSexPistols


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/never_mind_the_bollocks.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"Don't be told what you want! Don't be told what you need!\
3	There's no future, no future, no future for you!"'']]
4
5	->''"I am an Antichrist\
6	I am an anarchist\
7	Don't know what I want, but I know how to get it\
8	I wanna destroy the passersby"''
9	-->-- "Anarchy in the U.K."
10
11	''Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols'' is the debut studio album by the Music/SexPistols, released in 1977 through Creator/VirginRecords in the UK and Creator/WarnerBrosRecords in the US. Discounting the soundtrack ''The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle'' as well as their live albums, it is also [[OneBookAuthor their only album]].[[note]]Though a lot of compilations have followed, mostly with singles and/or live recordings which didn't appear on this album.[[/note]]
12
13	Infamous, controversial and very influential, it's seen as one of the greatest, most influential and most important rock albums in music history. It's also considered a bridge in rock history between the {{psychedelic\|Rock}} and art rock era of [[TheSixties the late 1960s]] and the back-to-basics simple rock sound of [[TheSeventies late-1970s]] {{punk\|Rock}} and {{new wave\|Music}}.
14
15	The record collects four of the group's hit singles -- "Anarchy in the UK", "God Save the Queen", "Holidays in the Sun" and "Pretty Vacant" -- and adds a handful of other songs. Guitarist Steve Jones played bass for the vast majority of the album, and the infamously incompetent Music/SidVicious "plays" bass on only one song ("Bodies"). Former bassist Glen Matlock appears on "Anarchy in the UK".
16
17	A documentary about the creative process behind the making of this album can be seen in the ''Series/ClassicAlbums'' TV documentary series.
18
19	----
20	!! Tracklist:
21	[[AC: Side One]]
22	# "Holidays in the Sun" (3:22)
23	# "Bodies" (3:03)
24	# "No Feelings" (2:51)
25	# "Liar" (2:41)
26	# "God Save the Queen" (3:20)
27	# "Problems" (4:11)
28
29	[[AC: Side Two]]
30	[numlist:7]
31	# "Seventeen" (2:02)
32	# "Anarchy in the UK" (3:32)
33	# "Submission" (4:12)
34	# "Pretty Vacant" (3:18)
35	# "New York" (3:07)
36	# "EMI" (3:10)
37	[/numlist]
38	----
39	!!Principal Members:
40
41	* Paul Cook - drums
42	* Steve Jones - guitar, bass, vocals
43	* Glen Matlock - bass
44	* [[Music/JohnLydon Johnny Rotten]] - lead vocals
45	* Music/SidVicious - bass
46
47	----
48	!! We're so tropey, oh so tropey!:
49	* AccentuateTheNegative: "Bodies" sums it up best.
50	--> ''Fuck this and fuck that!''
51	* AlternateAlbumCover: Certain international releases, including the US one, alter the color scheme from a pink stamp on a yellow background to a green stamp on a pink background.
52	* AnarchyIsChaos: "Anarchy in the U.K.", but also a theme on the entire album.
53	* TheAntiChrist: Rotten claims to be an Antichrist in "Anarchy in the UK"
54	* AntiLoveSong: "No Feelings"
55	--> ''You better understand I'm in love with myself, my beautiful self''
56	* AntiRoleModel: "No Feelings"
57	--> ''I look around your house/ you got nothing to steal/ I kick you in the brains when you get down to kneel/ and pray, you pray to your god.''
58	* BMovie: "Holidays in the Sun":
59	--> ''This cheap B-Movie show''
60	* BeingWatched: "Holidays in the Sun"
61	--> ''I'm looking over the wall AND THEY'RE LOOKING AT ME!!!!!''
62	* BeliefMakesYouStupid: "No Feelings"
63	--> ''I kick you in the brains when you get down to kneel''\
64	''And pray, pray to your god.''
65	* BitingTheHandHumor: "EMI", a jab against their former record company.
66	* BlackComedy: It's cynical, but it's funny at the same time.
67	* BornUnlucky: "God Save the Queen"
68	--> ''There's no future, no future, no future for you''
69	* BrutalHonesty: Taboos weren't spared.
70	* ClusterFBomb: In every song. The most infamous example is in "Bodies":
71	-->''Ah! Fuck this and fuck that''
72	-->''Fuck it all the fuck out of the fucking brat''
73	* CountryMatters:
74	** Rotten puts very deliberate and gleeful emphasis on the last syllable of "Pretty Vacant."
75	** And on the first syllable of "country" in "Anarchy in the UK".
76	* CrapsackWorld: The Sex Pistols don't like the world as it is, but at the same they don't care either.
77	* DarkerAndEdgier: Certainly at the time no album with such controversial lyrics had ever gotten so much mainstream publicity. The sound is far more raw, vulgar, confrontational, aggressive and political than any of the pop and rock bands that were popular at the time.
78	* EvilLaugh: Rotten's demonic laughter at the start of "Anarchy in the UK"
79	* {{Fartillery}}: The infamous fart that closes "EMI" (and the album).
80	* TheFutureWillBeBetter: Subverted in "God Save the Queen".
81	--> ''There is no future, no future for you''
82	* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Guess which number?
83	* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: "Bodies", a song about abortions for the sake of shock value. While it's been interpreted as an anti-abortion song, WordOfGod says it's neither anti-abortion nor pro-abortion, and Lydon is on record as saying, "It's immoral to bring a human being into this world and not give a toss about it".
84	* GreatestHitsAlbum: In a sense it is. Most of the songs in the album had already been released as singles before, to the point that negative reviews actually did call the album a "greatest hits album" in a derisive manner, plus the whole thing about this being the band's only studio album.
85	* GrossOutShow: Many songs on this album could apply, but the closest is probably "Bodies" with a very graphic description of an abortion:
86	--> ''Fucking bloody mess" (...) throbbing squirm, gurgling bloody mess''.
87	* {{Homage}}: The title of the British panel TV quiz ''Series/NeverMindTheBuzzcocks'' is a dual homage to this album and, well, the ''Music/{{Buzzcocks}}''.
88	* HotSubOnSubAction: "Submission" was intended as a bondage song on request of Malcolm [=McLaren=], but the group took it literally and wrote a song about a submarine (on purpose).
89	* HumansAreBastards: Virtually every song depicts humans as hardly the best beings around.
90	* HurricaneOfPuns:
91	** "Pretty Vacant": "We're pretty vacant", with a lot of emphasis on the final syllable.
92	** "Submission" was born when manager Malcolm [=McLaren=] advised the group to write a song about submission in a sado-masochistic context. Just to annoy them the group took the title literally and wrote a song about a submarine mission. There's plenty of winking double entendres in the song to submission, but they're intentionally ridiculous exclusively to annoy [=McLaren=].
93	** There's also the line in "Anarchy in the UK" that can be understood as either "I use the enemy" or "I use the ''Magazine/{{NME}}''", the influential British music magazine.
94	* LackOfEmpathy:
95	** "Pretty Vacant"
96	---> ''AND WE DON'T CARE!!''
97	** "Seventeen"
98	---> ''I'm so laaaaaaaazy, I can't even be bothered''
99	** The entire lyrics of "No Feelings".
100	* LastNoteHilarity: The whole album ends on a fart.
101	* LazyBum: The narrator of "Seventeen" straight-up calls himself a "lazy [[UsefulNotes/BritishEnglish sod]]."
102	--> ''I'm so laaaaaaazy, I can't even be bothered''
103	* LeastRhymableWord: The words "anarchist" and "Anti-Christ" in "Anarchy in the U.K."
104	* LocationSong: "Holidays in the Sun", where the protagonist is near the Berlin Wall, though even they aren't sure why they are there in the first place. "Anarchy in the U.K." sings how anarchy came to the United Kingdom. "New York", a PretenderDiss at the Music/NewYorkDolls.
105	* LoonyFan: Pauline, the girl who inspired Johnny Rotten to write the song "Bodies".
106	* MinimalisticCoverArt: The cover is just the album title.
107	* MyCountryTisOfTheeThatISting: "God Save the Queen" has "There is no future and England's dreaming!"
108	* NewAgeRetroHippie: In "Seventeen" Rotten sings "we don't care about long hair!"
109	* NonAppearingTitle: The album title.
110	* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Rotten's local accent isn't hidden.
111	* ObligatoryBondageSong: "Submission" was supposed to be this, but to piss off Malcolm [=McLaren=] the band took a literal interpretation and sang about a submarine mission.
112	* PrecisionFStrike: Every song!
113	* PretenderDiss:
114	** "New York" explains why groups like the Music/NewYorkDolls are poseurs, according to Rotten.
115	** The line "she's not what she seems" about the Queen in "God Save the Queen".
116	* ProtestSong: Each one, though in "Pretty Vacant" they also state: "We don't care!"
117	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: It's a "The Reason You Suck" ''Album'', as they rip everyone they can think of, including [[SelfDeprecation themselves]].
118	* RecordProducer: Chris Thomas and Bill Price. The initial album has the credit "Produced by Chris Thomas or Bill Price" because Malcolm [=McLaren=] had tried to pull some shenanigans by having them both work on songs at various times to try and get away with not paying them for their work at all, but they caught on.
119	* RedScare: Subverted by the line "I was waiting for the communist call" in "Holidays in the Sun."
120	* RefugeInAudacity: This is a band playing simplistic melodies about controversial topics with a lead singer who sounds horrible. During "Holidays in the Sun" Rotten declares he "was waiting for the Communist call". In "No Feelings" and "Pretty Vacant" the band sings about crime and violence and their lack of empathy. And they dare to address taboos such as abortion ("Bodies"), religion ("No Feelings"), English society ("Anarchy In The UK") and the Royal Family ("God Save the Queen").
121	* SarcasticTitle: "God Save the Queen" doesn't praise Her Majesty at all. It criticizes people for give reverence to the Royal Family, while at the same time society is in ruins.
122	* SelfTitledAlbum: The band is mentioned in the title.
123	* ShoutOut:
124	** The line "everybody knows Japan is a dishpan" in "New York" is a reference to Music/CaptainBeefheart's song "Japan in a Dishpan" from ''Music/LickMyDecalsOffBaby''.
125	** The opening riff of "Pretty Vacant" was inspired by the opening riff of "S.O.S." by Music/{{ABBA}}.
126	** Considering that "New York" is a diss track on the Music/NewYorkDolls, the constant references to "pills" and a "kiss" in the song are references to the New York Dolls songs "Pills" and "Looking for a Kiss".
127	* TakeThat: Everyone!
128	** "God Save the Queen" attacks the Royal Family and British society in general
129	** "Anarchy in the UK"' criticizes the United Kingdom.
130	** "New York" tackles the Music/NewYorkDolls, which was answered with equal hatred by Johnny Thunders in his song "London Boys."
131	** "EMI" is a scathing attack at their former record company.
132	** "Seventeen" and "New York" fire at hippies.
133	* TakeThatCritics: "Anarchy in the UK" takes a snipe at influential British music magazine ''Magazine/{{NME}}'', who, like most rock magazines at the time, were dismissive of PunkRock:
134	--> ''There are many ways to get what you want''
135	--> ''I use the best, I use the rest''
136	--> ''I use the NME''
137	--> ''I use ... ANARCHY!''
138	* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: Almost ''the'' definition of this trope.
139	* TimeMarchesOn: As of November 9, 1989, there is no longer a Berlin Wall to go over.
140	* WordSaladLyrics: "Holidays in the Sun" is an odd example. On one hand the lyrics follow a clear ''story'' if you will, but it's never clear -- not even to Rotten himself -- what he is actually doing there next to the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall.
141	--> ''Gotta go over the Berlin Wall''
142	--> ''I don't understand it...''
143	--> ''I gotta go over the wall''
144	--> ''I don't understand this bit at all''
145	--> ''(...) It's no real reason to be waiting''
146	--> ''The Berlin Wall''
147	* WorldWarIII: Mentioned in "Holidays in the Sun".
148	--> ''I didn't ask for sunshine and I got World War III''
149

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