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Sex Pistols

Never Mind the Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols

Music

Sound

Sex Pistols Rhino High Fidelity

Label: Rhino High Fidelity

Produced By: Chris Thomas

Engineered By: Bill Price

Mastered By: Kevin Gray

Lacquers Cut By: Kevin Gray

By: Michael Fremer

October 6th, 2025

Genre:

Rock Punk

Format:

Vinyl

Rhino High Fidelity Unzips a Flaccid "Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols"

kinda soft

Okay, here's my sub mission: I'm spoiled. I have the original 11 track Virgin U.K. release (A2/B1) issued in haste and quickly corrected to the 12 track standard version. You want Steve Jones's snarling, fibrillating singular animal guitar (arguably the glue that holds the record together, created by reproducing his guitar part an octave down as explained in Chris Thomas's notes in this reissue) make your ears sizzle. You want Lydon/Rotten's voice to singe and Paul Cook's cymbals to cause real (but not permanent) damage. This communication is not about bass or a textured snare drum.

The original U.K. Virgin and probably the second 12 track press delivers that. Two mute-sounding Americans I have here never did. The original Warner Brothers includes the missing track ("Sub-Mission") but it was left off the original jacket rear. One pressing I have has a "Sub-Mission" sticker, one does not or it fell off. Both of these pressings are tame.

Here's one. The other a Winchester, VA pressing is equally tame.

Here's the back jacket with sticker:

But a Japanese Nippon Columbia original delivers all the goods and how!

This Rhino High Fidelity reissue cut by Kevin Gray sounds "good". Lydon's voice has never sounded so natural, with so much chest cavity intact. Cook's cymbals sound polite and his snare full bodied. Very deft EQ work to produce a "good sounding" high fidelity record but the guitar? That's the signature sound and it's tame. Flaccid if you will.

Is this because that's how this tape sounds? is it a copy sent by Virgin? It sounds closer to the original American pressing than it does to either the U.K. Virgin record of the Japanese original.

This reminds me of the Television Marquee Moon "controversy". If you want your Sex Pistols to go down smoothly this reissue will give that to you and Chris Thomas's notes are fascinating. I wonder if he's heard this reissue.

There's a photo of the Warner Brothers tape, but it must be a copy of the original U.K. tape. Nothing about that in the notes but also in the notes is a photo of a Pye Studios tape with the WB catalog number but listing the client as "Glitterbest", which was Malcolm McLaren's and his lawyer partner's Bond Street management company. The date on that tape is 10/19/1977. The date on the WB tape is 10/12/1977. ???? None of this is explained in the notes.

This is not the first time Rhino High Fidelity has published unexplained images like this. If you're going to publish photos that really deserve explaining, please explain! Is the WB tape a tape copy made by Virgin? If so what's the Pye Studios London tape and/or tape box with the WB catalog number? And what about the date discrepancies?

I can't explain. I have no idea. I just think this really good sounding, beautifully packaged gatefold high gloss jacket reissue misses the point.

Music Specifications

Catalog No: RHF1 3147/081227809690

Pressing Plant: Optimal

SPARS Code: AAA

Speed/RPM: 33 1/3

Weight: 180 grams

Size: 12"

Channels: Stereo

Source: original American master tape (copy of U.K. original?)

Presentation: Single LP

Comments

  • 2025-10-06 11:18:31 PM

    Anton wrote:

    Punk at the Pawnshop?

  • 2025-10-07 01:51:54 AM

    Willie Luncheonette wrote:

    I used to own two UK pressings from 1977. Not the two Mikey mentions but from that first year. (Just looked for them but can't find them. Damn, don't you just hate when that happens?) They both sounded very good, although I had nothing to compare them to. And that might be important. But both were inexpensive since this LP was not rare by any means. Plenty of copies were pressed. I think I paid about $30, $35 for each in VG+ condition about 20 years ago. My point is, you MIGHT want to take a chance and cop one of these on Discogs or at a record fair. Of course, on Discogs you will have to take the seller at his word when he grades it. At a record fair you might have a little more confidence in the seller. Was lucky enough to see the reformed Pistols on their filthy lucre tour in 1996. They played their set almost note for note as on the album. That was a little disappointing, but at least I got to see Glen Matlock on bass who I dig.

  • 2025-10-07 09:16:08 AM

    David wrote:

    Maybe the UK Virgin was cut “hotter”? I had one as an import when it came out. The subsequent Canadian WB was flatter than piss on a plate. So was everything else. You don’t normally hear sharp, edgy guitar on any Chris Thomas production (including The Pretenders). So maybe the 2 track master is what you hear on this reissue?

  • 2025-10-07 04:49:31 PM

    Ben Tostenson wrote:

    I'm guessing they are using the American masters. It sounds similar to the American original but better. The Virgin masters should belong to Universal. I wonder why Universal hasn't done an AAA reissue from their tapes.

    • 2025-10-07 05:28:30 PM

      Michael Fremer wrote:

      I concur with your take on this and yes the Virgin masters belong to Universal. Clearly the tape shown in this release is the American copy. And yes this one sounds like the American original but better...

    • 2025-10-07 06:07:20 PM

      Malachi Lui wrote:

      what i'm questioning is why warner/rhino couldn't use the UK tape and get it cut AAA in the UK even if they could only sell it in north america.

      • 2025-10-08 12:10:11 AM

        Lemon Curry wrote:

        Different companies. Rhino doesn't own the UK tape.

  • 2025-10-07 06:32:13 PM

    Andrew Curtis wrote:

    Still waiting for The Electric Recording Co to jump on this. And with a 3 colour hand silkscreened sleeve for extra attitude (a la Sam/Artisan series).

    • 2025-10-08 04:40:00 AM

      Come on wrote:

      Yes, a quite bad sounding audiophile punk album for 500$ would probably not only be „unethical“ to the musicians intent but also the worst of all worlds otherwise ;)

      • 2025-10-08 10:44:41 AM

        Andrew Curtis wrote:

        It's actually an incredible sounding punk/rock LP that changed the global musical landscape. That LP was Ground Zero for a radical shift in music and culture. Not to mention the effect it had on Art in general (the art world, fashion, graphic design, film etc). As a result of its influence, Sex Pistols related ephemera command some of the highest prices at auction. Items often appear internationally at Sothebys, Bonhams etc. Only a few months ago a gig poster for the London Polytechnic 1975 sold for $72,000 at Omega Auctions. The Victoria & Albert Museum have an incredible Sex Pistols collection. The importance of this LP cannot be underestimated. A $500 ERC release seems completely reasonable to me. (Also waiting for the other groundbreaking LP from 10 years earlier, The Velvet Underground & Nico, to get the ERC treatment.)

        • 2025-10-08 11:39:54 AM

          Come on wrote:

          Thx, I learned! Thought the 6 in sound quality roughly reflects the general sound. But a punk LP for 500-72k$ with a financially more than healthy customership anyway seems to be a weird construction to me. But I certainly understand the historical value of such an LP.

        • 2025-10-10 02:13:57 PM

          Willie Luncheonette wrote:

          With all due respect, the NMTB album was not ground zero for a radical shift in music. That would certainly have to be the release of the Ramones' eponymous debut album on April 23, 1976, more than a year before the Bollocks album.. Believe me, we had never heard anything like the unrelenting, buzzsaw attack on that Ramones' LP and that is the beginning of pure punk music. (I'm not talking proto punk here.) But Johnny Lydon to this day is still pushing his fairy tale. He is constantly slagging off the Ramones, saying the Pistols started punk. Too bad, because NMTB delivered the goods in spades and is surely one of the 20 greatest punk albums. And Lydon is everything you could want in a punk singer, snarling, bitter and sarcastic. Plus, that first PIL album is terrific too. Just to set the record straight on some timelines. Ramones played two shows in Britain. First was July 4, 1976 with 2,000 fans and The Damned's Rat Scabies and The Adverts' Gaye Advert in the audience. The second sold out show at Dingwall's in Camden on July 5 had not only the Sex Pistols and The Clash in attendance but also The Damned and Chrissie Hynde. A new movement was gaining momentum. . The first UK punk record was The Damned's 45 New Rose released on October 22, 1976 followed by Sex Pistols' 45 Anarchy in the UK on November 26, 1976. And there were actually 7! UK punk albums released before Sex Pistols' NMTB.  Damned Damned Damned by The Damned, The Clash's self titled LP,  Spiral Scratch EP by The Buzzcocks (although just a DIY EP it sold out in 3 weeks) In the City by The Jam, Rattus Norvegicus by The Stranglers, Live at the Roxy, a compilation of punk bands, and Eater's self titled album. Not to mention Ramones' second album Leave Home and The Saints' debut LP (I'm) Stranded, one of the 20 greatest punk albums of all time.. Again, all this BEFORE the Never Mind the Bollocks album. However, when you say it was a radical shift in culture, that it was. There is no denying that album and Sex Pistols had a much larger effect on culture than did the Ramones. Due to many things such as McLaren's marketing, the fallout from the infamous Bill Grundy live TV show, after which everyone in England knew the words "Sex Pistols," the lyrics to their songs which hit like a sledgehammer, Sid Vicious' image and many many other things. There is no doubting the influence this band had on the world's consciousness

          • 2025-10-20 09:37:40 AM

            Robert Nakata wrote:

            Great context for the original release of NMTB. Thanks.

            • 2025-10-20 06:32:11 PM

              Willie Luncheonette wrote:

              Thank you, Robert. I am SO tired of hearing the Pistols started punk. It is my sacred duty to visit every YouTube post that advances this lie and answer every commenter who believes it. It is a tiring, never ending task but a challenge I relish.

              • 2025-10-24 06:51:36 AM

                Andrew Curtis wrote:

                I never stated the Pistols started punk (such a boring argument). I said NMTB was 'Ground Zero for a radical shift in music and culture'. The Ramones, The Saints etc were all amazing, but none of them shifted culture so quickly and dramatically as the Pistols and their first LP.

                • 2025-10-26 02:33:57 AM

                  Willie Luncheonette wrote:

                  Please do not put words into my mouth. I never said that you said the Pistols started punk. My reply was to Robert and concerned only how I feel about posts stating the Pistols were the first punk band. Again, when you say NMTB was Ground Zero for a radical shift in music, that is simply not the case. If you still disagree after everything I have laid out, then we simply agree to disagree. Which is fine. But when it came to a cultural shift, again, I agree with you.

  • 2025-10-07 10:07:32 PM

    Eric Barry wrote:

    I have the UK 11 and 12 tracks as well as the picture disk and an early and a 1980s WB and the WB is muddy and dull compared to the UK (even the picture disk holds up). As well the Back to Black EU release cut by Tim Young is well done.

    As to the mystery of the tape boxes, WB changed the song order on side 1 so must have had to dub from the copy that was sent over by Glitterbest. So that's probably what is pictured.

  • 2025-10-08 10:27:01 AM

    Azmoon wrote:

    Garbage music in, garbage music out.

    • 2025-10-08 09:19:19 PM

      Silk Dome Mid wrote:

      You ain't no punk, you punk You wanna talk about the real junk? If I ever slip, I'll be banned 'cause I'm your garbageman Well you can't dig me you can't dig nothin' Do you want the real thing, or are you just talkin'? Do you understand? I'm your garbageman Yeah, somethin' from the garage and down the driveway Now get outta your mind and get outta my way Now do you understand? do you understand? -The Cramps

      • 2025-10-10 12:40:07 PM

        Jeff 'Glotz' Glotzer wrote:

        YESSSSSSSSSS... LOVE that song. And I agree 100% about that punk. SMH.

    • 2025-10-09 10:10:26 AM

      Chris O'Shea wrote:

      You are Pretty Vacant...

    • 2025-10-10 02:01:06 AM

      Malachi Lui wrote:

      i'm not a sex pistols fan (more a PiL guy... americans did punk better than the brits but the brits won in post-punk), but it's a historically significant album worthy of an attempt at lavish treatment, even if you or i might personally think that the sex pistols were just a vehicle for malcolm mclaren and vivienne westwood to sell clothes.

  • 2025-10-09 04:31:38 PM

    Robert Nakata wrote:

    Thank you for this review. I did not realise the Japanese 1st pressing stood up there with the rare UK 11 track 1st issue. Maybe TA readers know this already, but the absolute 1st issued pressings (likely made from tape duplications) came out of France and Belgium. Virgin/Branson then had to speed up the UK release as those copies were being exported into the UK, which begat the 11 track version, blank back cover, extra 7", etc. versions. If readers don't know of the extensive website dedicated to only NMTB, here it is: http://www.philjens.plus.com/pistols/pistols/pistols_nmtb.htm.

  • 2025-10-10 12:42:08 PM

    Jeff 'Glotz' Glotzer wrote:

    I keep laughing every time I ready the header to this article. Kinda soft... lmao. Rhino dropped the ball here. Thanks Michael.