The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle: Highlights
The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle: Highlights
Given that punk was supposed to blow away the hegemony of self-appointed “albums” artists, it’s perhaps a little optimistic to expect a classic album by the Sex Pistols. Some would say that Never Mind The Bollocks was indeed such a thing; few though, would make the same claim about this, the accompanying album to the band’s eponymous movie. That’s not, however, to say that The Great Rock’n'Roll Swindle doesn’t yield some top moments: “God Save The Queen” and “Anarchy In The UK” still remain as beautifully nihilistic as pop can get. Alas though, Glen Matlock didn’t stick around long enough to write a few more. What fills the gaps, in his absence, is a slew of occasionally amusing novelty songs (”Who Killed Bambi”, Sid’s “My Way”, “Friggin In The Riggin”), lame covers (”Substitute”, “Johnny B Goode”, the afro-funk Pistols medley “Black Arabs”) and a charming cameo from great train robber Ronnie Biggs on “Belsen Was A Gas”. Perhaps you had to be there. –Peter Paphides
Customer Review: Less is more
I would seriously reccommend the 12-track highlights album as opposed to the 24-track sprawling mess. Firstly when dealing with erratic material like this, the sequencing makes or breaks the album. The highlights album begins with Malcolm McLaren’s voiceover and then crashes into Rock n Roll Swindle - a good start. It includes all the best of the rock n roll songs like Something Else and Lonely Boy but none of the dross like Johnny Be Good and Road Runner where Johnny Rotten struggles to remember any of the words and consequently swears a lot! The Ten Pole Tudor songs are completely insane but seem to fit in better on the 12-track album than on the longer version.
However, the lyrics are still shocking, yet have none of the political oomph of the first pistols album. Perhaps this is the Pistols as Malcolm McLaren would have liked them - a charicature of punk rock with nothing much to say.
Personally, I would prefer a 17-track album with the ‘highlights’ dozen followed by the amusing French style Anarchy in the UK, then the first Belsen was a Gas, Don’t give me no lip, I’m not your stepping stone and the Black Arabs medley as a fittingly daft finisher. With the 24-track album this parody is placed before one of the songs it is parodying (No one is innocent) which seems absurd.
Whereas Johnny Rotten’s ‘Belsen was a gas’ seems to express disgust at the Nazi regime with the repeated ‘Be a man, kill someone’, the Ronnie Biggs’ version seems much too light hearted for the shocking subject matter, but then I suppose it would have been a bit much to expect pathos from one of the great train robbers! As for the dirty rugby song done punk style which concludes the longer album, if nothing has offended you so far, this one might just do it. Thankfully the highlights album omits this! All in all, this album proves just how pivotal Matlock was to the Sex Pistols being a serious band.
Customer Review: It’s A Swindle!
Forget objectivity this album is so obviously an insult to it’s intended audience that it’s beyond a joke.Then why do i find it so incredibly entertaining then? Punk rock always had a sense of the ridiculous.That was often missed by it’s detractors but as it was an antedote to the po faced mush that preceeded it we can understand that.It’s a mixed bag based on a film that was never really a film and contains all kinds of curios that many Pistols purists still find beneath contempt.As a collection of music it is fine, and like it or not, a part of the Pistols legend.
-
