Track Listing

1. God Save The Queen (Symphony)
2. Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
3. You Need Hands - McLaren, Malcolm
4. Silly Thing
5. Lonely Boy
6. Something Else
7. We're Gonna Rock Around The Clock
8. C'mon Everybody
9. Who Killed Bambi
10. No One Is Innocent - Biggs, Ronnie
11. L'anarchie Pour Le UK
12. My Way

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17747 in Music
• Released on: 1993-05-10
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
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

CD Description
Originally released in 1979 as the soundtrack to a documentary that marked the rocket rise and flaming crash of the SexPistols, THE GREAT ROCK & ROLL SWINDLE was really Pistols' manager Malcolm McLaren's cinematic (and vinyl) potshot at the music industry he despised. Engaged in vicious legal battles with Johnny Rotten, Warner Brothers Records and Virgin Records, McLaren fought back in the only way he knew how -- by raising hell and documenting the whole bloody mess.
By the time THE GREAT ROCK & ROLL SWINDLE was released, the punk-era soap opera had ended: Sid Vicious was dead and Rotten had formed Public Image Limited. Probably best known for Vicious' tortured deconstruction of "My Way", the 21-track compilation features seven tracks by the Pistols -- even though Rotten only appears in the film via archival footage-as wellas songs by Tenpole Tudor, Ronnie Biggs and others. Curiosities abound, including a French version of "Anarchy in the U.K", drunken rugby songs, and the fey, McLaren- crooned "YouNeed Hands". Both ragged and riveting, THE GREAT ROCK & ROLL SWINDLE is a fascinating, screaming document of the tattered remains of one of the most explosive moments in rock history.

Customer Reviews

Charming Mess
This is perhaps more McLaren’s album than that of the Sex Pistols. It’s a mess, it’s in bad taste, but at least it’s an interesting mess. The God Save The Queen Symphony with vocals by McLaren is truly strange. The French version of Anarchy by one Jerzimy accompanied by an accordian is poignant but bizarre, while the two version of Einmal war Belsen Vortefflich (the second with vocals by Ronnie Biggs, are beyond redemption. The famous My Way a la Sid Vicious has a certain tragic charm and does not seem out of place amid all the weirdness. The orchestral version of EMI with vocal by Steve Jones is quite impressive with its sinister lyrics, while Friggin’ in the Riggin’ , sung by Steve Jones is crude and vulgar. This is followed by the entirely pointless You Need Hands by Malcolm McLaren. The album concludes with Tenpole Tudor’s messy but at least enthusiastic Who Killed Bambi. Bearing in mind that this is a soundtrack and that the group had already split up at its release, it’s still probably one of the worst second albums in history. Whereas the first album mocked the establishment and the music business, this one mocked the Sex Pistols themselves. It’s a very interesting piece of rock ‘n roll history but not a great listening experience.

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.

Swindle? Definitely!
With the departure of Johnny Rotten, the Sex Pistols should have been no more, and this album is excellent proof of that. It is mostly novelty songs and songs sung by other members of the band, but there is nothing that comes even close to anything that was sung/snarled by Johnny Rotten.

Let me ask you this - if it wasn't for the name 'Sex Pistols' on the front, would you buy and album of mostly cover versions sung by the other members of the band or their manager after the singer left, filled in with some accordian music and badly recorded rehearsals? I think not, and I regretted buying it on vinyl all those years ago for exactly these reasons. Never Mind the Bollocks was an awesome album, but this is only the Sex Pistols in name.

Go and buy Never Mind the Bollocks instead, it's a million times better!