Sex Pistols Anarchy In The U.K.: Live At The 76 Club CD

The Sex Pistols: Steve Jones (vocals, guitar); Glen Matlock (vocals, bass); Johnny Rotten (vocals); Paul Cook (drums).
Recorded live at the 76 Club in Burton-On-Trent, England on September 24, 1976. Includes liner notes by Alan Parker.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
The Sex Pistols: John Lydon (vocals); Steve Jones (guitar); Glen matlock (bass); Paul Cook (drums).
Includes liner notes by Tony Watts.
Any Sex Pistols audio from the 1970s has been held in reverence because of the lack of recorded output from the band. Countless live bootlegs, B-sides, and lost tracks have popped up on albums since their self-destruction in the late '70s. Anarchy in the UK: Live at the 76 Club, one of the many live albums, is taken -- as the title suggests -- from a much-bootlegged show at the 76 Club in England. Featuring bassist Glen Matlock (who is light years better than Sid Vicious) and a very young Johnny Rotten on vocals, the band was just starting to grow into their skin and make some hardcore punk rock at this point. Many covers fill out the set, but early favorites like "Submission" and "Anarchy in the UK" appear in virtually the exact same form they would on Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols. The sound quality is rough, with the drums blurring into one percussive mess while the guitar bleeds harsh treble throughout the recording. The band seems relatively low key on this album, holding their barbed insults and stage antics while delivering a non-stop barrage of classic punk rock. This makes for some good renditions of the tracks, but also points out the obvious flaws in the sound. There was never a truly great Sex Pistols live document, but at least this offers some rare tracks and a view of the band before the infamy and back-stabbing set in. ~ Bradley Torreano
At last, the final statement on the Sex Pistols' Burton-on-Trent gig from 1976. This release surpasses both prior releases -- The Original Pistols Live and The Best of & the Rest of the Original Pistols -- in terms of completeness and even unearths the "lost" track "Satellite." This CD catches the early version of the group during a raw epiphany, which seems to be more appropriate to the punk ethos than the overly polished yet brilliant Never Mind the Bollocks. At this point, Glen Matlock was still the group's bassist, although the fact that he could actually play his instrument, unlike successor Sid Vicious, had no audible impact on this gig. The sound is slightly muddy but overall very good -- such a seminal gig by punk pioneers would sound odd in pristine form. There have been many posthumous live shows released by the band, ranging from their last official gig to the re-formed Filthy Lucre Live, but this is the only one that gives any inkling of what the fuss was all about in the first place. ~ Brian Downing