33 rebellions per minute
"God save the queen, she ain't no human being"
1977
Sex Pistols, NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS
The greatest punk rock record ever, of course; was briefly, perhaps, the greatest _rock_ record in the locally known universe; and of course, a historical dividing line: the death knell for Progressive Rock and for Concept Albums. So I can't resist mentioning that NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS is also my favorite concept album. Musically, a cohesively-styled collection of songs refer back to guitar or bass riffs and tunes (er) from previous songs, partly altered. Lyrically, twelve songs expand on one central concept (loathing and contempt are fun!) in twelve non-redundant ways. Listen to this next to Jethro Tull's HEAVY HORSES (a romantic lament for the proud family-farm lifestyle) or Marillion's CLUTCHING AT STRAWS (a collection of songs, one from the point of view of each regular at the bar), or WISH YOU WERE HERE by Johnny Rotten's fave, I Hate Pink Floyd. BOLLOCKS is structured _just like them_! Q: since all of these are records you should buy and play and memorize, why is the Sex Pistols' the very best? Because the Floyd and Marillion, inventive and tuneful and brilliant yeah, make namby-pamby art-fag music. Because as unhip as your father's Oldsmobile is, the Oldersmobiles of HORSES's Victorian days were uncooler still (and what they saved in monoxide fumes they returned in bacterial brown pellets). The Sex Pistols took what was right about the early Beatles, traded some subtlety for Spinal Tap's amplifiers, and hired in Mr. Rotten the most theatrical, gleeful, _inspiring_ spewer of hate in history. With no desire for a Gestapo to make you take him seriously. So enjoy.
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