10 Bands Who Should Have Stopped After One Album
3. Sex Pistols
In their brief reign as arch provocateurs of the UK punk scene, Sex Pistols released one album, Never Mind the !*$%, Here's the Sex Pistols. Whether you consider this record a masterpiece or a novelty, its importance is indisputable. Less important? The further dozen albums subsequently churned out in their name.
When you’ve lightning in a bottle like the Pistols, naturally you’ll exploit it, but the Pistols’ posthumous catalogue must rank as some of the least essential music ever put on wax. From live albums to early recordings to a truly audacious three CD box set, there is nothing here you need to listen to.
Best of a bad bunch is The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, the soundtrack to the film of the same name. This features Sid Vicious’ brilliant, snarling cover of “My Way”, as well as some chortling covers of rock and roll classics.
The question of what is and isn’t punk is a tedious one, but the exploitation of the Pistols’ legacy seems far from what the movement set out to represent.
John Lydon has made no bones about his willingness to sell out, but between this and the butter adverts, he's looking less punk by the year.