On this day, 46 ago, the Sex Pistols released their one and only official studio album ‘Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols’. It was released by Virgin Records on 28 October 1977. The album has influenced many bands and musicians, and the industry in general. In particular, the album's raw energy, and Johnny Rotten's sneering delivery and "half-singing", are often considered as game-changing. It is frequently listed as the most influential punk album, and one of the most important albums of all time.
By the time of its release, the Sex Pistols were controversial, having sworn on live TV, been fired from two record labels, and been banned from playing live in some parts of Britain. The album title added to that controversy, with some people finding the word "bollocks" offensive. Many record stores refused to carry it and some record charts refused to list its title, showing just a blank space instead.
Due in part to its notoriety, and in spite of many sales bans at major retailers, the album debuted at number one on the UK Album Charts. It achieved advance orders of 125,000 copies after a week of its release and went gold only a few weeks later, on 17 November. It remained a best-seller for over a year, spending 60 weeks in the top 25. The album has also been certified platinum by the RIAA. It has seen several reissues, the latest in 2017.
In 2006, it was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 greatest albums ever.
Never Mind The Bollocks - Here Are The Sex Pistols (UK edition 12 track LP)
A1. Holidays in the Sun 3:22
A2. Bodies 3:03
A3. No Feelings 2:53
A4. Liar 2:41
A5. God Save the Queen 3:20
A6. Problems 4:11
B1. Seventeen 2:02
B2. Anarchy in the U.K. 3:32
B3. Submission 4:12
B4. Pretty Vacant 3:18
B5. New York 3:07
B6. E.M.I.
Note: "Submission" was included with most, but not all, copies of the 11-track as a one-sided seven-inch single.
Today it is exactly 35 years since the Belgian Goth-fathers of the EBM (Electronic Body Music) released their fourth studio album Front By Front (PIAS / 28.10.1988). An album that came only one year after Official Version (1987) and with which these gentlemen managed to refine the EBM recipe almost to perfection. Front 242 was clearly on the roll and Front By Front contained, just as its predecessor, a lot of dance floor fillers and also classic tracks, like Until Death (Us Do Part), Circling Overland, Im Rhythmus Bleiben, Welcome to Paradise. And of course maybe one of their most famous and successful singles / songs until this day, Headhunter. Front By Front is therefore considered one of the best Electro / Industrial albums ever made, not only by fans but also by critics around the world. Headhunter's remarkable video, filmed and directed by the well-known Dutch director / home photographer of Depeche Mode, U2 and Joy Division, Anton Corbijn, received heavy rotation on MTV and other music channels of that time. Due to the remarkable presence of eggs in this video clip, the song soon acquired the nickname 'Egg Hunter'. Despite these seemingly successful releases, Front 242’s home label and distribution partner Red Rhino Europe went bankrupt the same year and was taken over by PIAS (Play It again Sam). After the release of Front By Front, it would be a 3 year long wait for the fans until the follow-up album Tyranny> For was released. In 1992, the Front By Front album was remastered and was put in a new jacket for the re-release on the American major label Sony / Epic.
Negative Gain Productions artists, Total Chroma have just unveiled their new full length release, Lapland. From the frost kissed expanse of the North, the synth punk inspired album emerges from Total Chroma's creative sanctum, an exploration of his Sami lineage.
The Sami, for those unacquainted, are the indigenous denizens of the Arctic, a people whose song has echoed across the icy plains, fjords and tundras of Scandinavia and Russia for millennia, and whose history, like the labyrinthine forests of the North, is both rich and shadowed.
With every note, Total Chroma's main architect, Isku Katerwol, delves deeper, and as he descends, the narrative grows increasingly somber. We're led on an odyssey, not just of a people's extermination of culture but a reflection of Katerwol's own metamorphosis.
The track "Such Filth", for example, becomes an anthem of cyclical birth, echoing the ethos that from the murk and mire, radiant beauty can ascend. It's a chant, a hymn to origins and the phoenix-like rise from desolation. On the subject of "Starvation", Katerwol muses: This song, though cloaked in fiction, unveils a tale of a love once effervescent, now dulled post the 'honeymoon phase'. Both souls, parched for each other's touch, find themselves trapped in a vortex of unsaid emotions and suppressed needs.
Sonically, Lapland’s auditory palette is rich, coloured with the gritty hues of post-punk, the electric vibrancy of synth pop, the pulsating rhythms of EBM, and the melancholic undertones of minimal wave. It's an alchemy that Katerwol has mastered, creating tracks that resonate deeply, echoing both the icy vastness of the North and the warmth of human emotion. Each song becomes a journey through time and self, a testament to Katerwol's prowess as an artist and the timeless resonance of the genres he so deftly melds.
Lapland is available on vinyl LP format and digitally on all major platforms including Bandcamp via Negative Gain Records.
On this day, exactly 34 years ago, Nitzer Ebb released ‘Control I’m Here’ (MUTE71). It was the first single taken from their second and upcoming studio album ‘Belief’ (STUMM 61- release date: 09.01.1989).
It reached position 100 in the UK Single Chart and position 14 the US Dance chart.
Control I’m Here (CD) - Tracklist
Control Im Here (Zero Option Mix)
Control Im Here (Instrumental Club Mix)
K.I.A.
Control Im Here (Hardcore Mix)
Control i'm Here - Lyrics
we close our eyes
close them in your dreams
close them in your home
i'm here to stay
i won't go away
you don't need me i'll slip away
you can there me i'm not to say
you'll hopin that i'll buy you
i'll slip into your open mouth
shut the door
control i'm here
Songwriters: McCarthy / Halford
Prague gothic rockers Cathedral In Flames release their cover of Billy Idol's 'Rebel Yell'
The Czech gothic rock band, Cathedral In Flames unleashed their version of Billy Idol's legendary song, "Rebel Yell" on Friday 13th October.
In their version of the iconic song, Cathedral In Flames toyed with tempos, added strings and flirted with blast-beats for the first time in their history. Produced by the legendary John Freyer, the song retains the anthemic fast-paced chorus, which is further supported by a stylized comic book video.
Singer Phil Lee Fall says, "The songs were basically made to order. And we had a lot of arguments over it. We couldn't figure it out for a long time, but when Gatsby threw in the tempo changes, everything clicked. And John added the blast beats symbolically at the very end."
And Gatsby adds, "I've never liked this song, so I approached it in the end in the style of seeing if something interesting could be made out of a thousand times stale little ditty. How it turned out, judge for yourself. I'm washing my hands!"
