Sex Pistols — Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols

The album's best opener and its most deliberate construction. The jackboot stomp that precedes the verse riff signals a band that thought about impact, and the riff itself is a descending churn that sounds like it is marching somewhere hostile. Rotten's vocal is half-sung, with the verses delivered in a clipped monotone and the chorus stretched into something close to melody. Cook's drumming drives the track without speeding it up, and the result is a song that feels tense rather than fast. The production is spotless: every guitar layer is audible, and Rotten's voice is mixed dry and forward. This is the sound of punk as deliberate vandalism.

The most vicious track on the record, with Rotten spitting verses over a riff that Cook hammers with snare hits hard enough to crack ribs. The song is effectively anti-abortion, anti-woman and anti-sex, and Rotten does not exclude himself from the contempt. The performance is what makes it work: Rotten's delivery is controlled enough to sound deliberate, which makes the anger harder to dismiss as posturing. Sid Vicious is credited with bass here, though Steve Jones added a second bass track mixed low. The layers make the bottom end thicker without losing the clarity, and the result is a track that sounds expensive and ugly at the same time.

A mid-tempo churn built on a riff that repeats without developing. Rotten's vocal is clipped and declarative, and the chorus is a hook rather than a slogan, but the song does not build anywhere. The production is clean, with Jones's guitar stacked thick and Cook's drums mixed forward, but the track feels like a solid album cut rather than a peak. It works as part of the first half's momentum, but it would not be missed if the album were trimmed to ten tracks.

Another mid-tempo track that sits in the same churn as most of the album. The riff is serviceable, and Rotten's delivery is sharp, but the song does not distinguish itself from the tracks around it. The production is consistent with the rest of the record: clean, layered guitars and a dry vocal mix. It is filler in the context of an album that already has too many songs.

The most famous song here and one of the most deliberate. The verse riff descends like it is falling apart, which makes the chorus hit harder when it arrives. Rotten's vocal is half-sung and half-spat, with the verses clipped and the chorus stretched into something close to melody. The production is spotless: every layer is audible, and the mix places Rotten's voice where it can do the most damage. Sid Vicious played bass on this track, though Thomas and Price gave up trying to use his performance and had Jones overdub a cleaner part. The result is a song that sounds designed for maximum impact, and it delivers.

The longest track on the album at just over four minutes, and the length is not earned. The riff is solid, and Rotten's vocal is committed, but the song repeats its ideas without developing them. Cook's drumming is the highlight, with fills that keep the track from sagging completely, but the production cannot save a song that needed editing. It works better live, where the energy can carry it, but on the record it feels like the band ran out of ideas halfway through and kept playing anyway.

A two-minute throwaway that sounds like it was written in ten minutes. The riff is thin, and Rotten's vocal is perfunctory. The production is clean, but there is nothing here to produce. This is the weakest track on the album, and it would have been the first cut if Branson had let the band trim the tracklist.

The band's first single and the only track with Glen Matlock on bass. The riff is the most recognizable here, and Rotten's delivery is the most controlled: he holds notes and stretches syllables in a way that makes the sneer sound deliberate. The song is a protest built on a chorus rather than a slogan, which is why it works better than most punk anthems. The production is slightly rougher than the rest of the album, recorded earlier with a different energy, and the difference is audible. Placing it seventh in the sequence weakens its impact; it would have worked better as the opener or the closer.

A mid-tempo track with a verse riff that repeats without much variation. Rotten's vocal is sharp, and the chorus has a hook, but the song does not build anywhere. The production is clean and consistent with the rest of the record. It is a solid album cut that does not distinguish itself, and it suffers from arriving late in the tracklist when the sameness of tempo has already set in.

One of the band's best-known tracks, built on a riff that Noel Gallagher called one of the first things you learn on electric guitar. The simplicity is the point: the riff is immediate, and Rotten's vocal is clipped and declarative. The production is spotless, with every layer audible and the vocal mixed dry and forward. The song works, but placing it tenth in the sequence means it arrives after the album has already made its case. It would have been more effective earlier in the tracklist.

A riff in search of a song. The verse is serviceable, and Rotten's vocal is committed, but the track does not develop its ideas. The production is clean, but there is not much here to produce. This is filler, and it would have been cut if the band had controlled the tracklist.

A mid-tempo track about being dropped from a record label, which makes it one of the few songs here with a specific subject. The riff is solid, and Rotten's delivery is sharp, but the song does not distinguish itself musically. The production is consistent with the rest of the album: clean guitars and a dry vocal mix. It works as a closer in the sense that it ends the record, but it does not provide a climax or a resolution. The album simply stops.