whether you like or dislike the Sex Pistols you cannot argue that they should or could be left off a list of best rock bands that includes No Doubt Def Leopard Oasis and GnR, they are monumentally more important than any of them and I would argue neither Oasis or GnR would exist without them, ditto Joy Division and NIN and Radiohead or a list without the Byrds that includes the Eagles, utterly asinine
I like them, I just agree with others that one 40 minute album makes it hard to say they are one of the greatest. Definitely one of the most influential for sure. Like half the bands in that top 50 list probably don't exist if the Sex Pistols didn't make punk rock commercially viable. Not to mention the off shoots of punk, like post-punk and the genres that followed that created what people refer to as indie or alt rock, not to mention the influence on metal and I'd argue even rap. Of course, before Sex Pistols, there were The Fugs and ? and the Mysterians. But the Sex Pistols formed movement for rock music to off shoot in that direction.
But for me, most influential does not mean the best. The Beatles don't do it for me, but I also know that a lot of the music I like doesn't exist without them. Of course they also probably don't exist without Chuck Berry, and before that numerous unnamed or forgotten artists who created African American work songs and European spiritual melodies that fused to create blues.
Music history is fascinating to me, and I know it is somewhat subjective about when the paradigms shift because someone was so influential. Just because you have to start somewhere, I start back at Chuck Berry. No Chuck Berry probably means no Jimi Hendrix, and no Hendrix means no Black Sabbath.
I would also include the Sex Pistols as one of those critical influencers. Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones too. Like no Beatles means no Pixies and no Nirvana. No Zeppelin probably means no Jane's Addiction or Smashing Pumpkins, which means no Silver Sun Pickups. No Rolling Stones would probably mean no GnR, Aerosmith, White Stripes, or Cage the Elephant. No Sex Pistols, also likely no Nirvana or Green Day.
Sorry, that was a lot of rambling!
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I think John Lydon really resented that he could never shake the Sex Pistols and hated that when he was promoting PIL, people would ask him about the Sex Pistols or refer to the band as having the singer from the Sex Pistols. I get it I guess. PIL was a more serious and sophisticated band, but it took a long time to get it out of the Sex Pistols shadow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan
Haha I was at that same show. 94-95 at Max Bell? The two things that stood out were how much weed was in the air and how friggin loud it was. I've been to a lot of concerts and a lot of loud ones but that one was up there for volume. After Soundgarden started I thought my eardrums were gonna blow. Pretty good show, though, so glad I got to see them when I did.
Same tour for sure, but I caught them in Winnipeg. Was there also a band called You Am I? on the ticket, or am I thinking of a different tour? I was on a concert blitz at the time and some of them kind of blend together in my head.
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Last edited by FlamesAddiction; 11-28-2025 at 08:53 PM.
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Same tour for sure, but I caught them in Winnipeg. Was there also a band called You Am I? on the ticket, or am I thinking of a different tour? I was on a concert blitz at the time and some of them kind of blend together in my head.
Not that I remember when I saw them, just Soundgarden and Horton Heat, although that was a long time ago now and my memory is a bit fuzzy, lol.
I think John Lydon really resented that he could never shake the Sex Pistols and hated that when he was promoting PIL, people would ask him about the Sex Pistols or refer to the band as having the singer from the Sex Pistols. I get it I guess. PIL was a more serious and sophisticated band, but it took a long time to get it out of the Sex Pistols shadow.
Same tour for sure, but I caught them in Winnipeg. Was there also a band called You Am I? on the ticket, or am I thinking of a different tour? I was on a concert blitz at the time and some of them kind of blend together in my head.
He never got over the fact that the band was pretty much responsible for the death of his best friend, he felt both guilty and angry about what happened to Sid Vicious
I like Never Mind The Bullocks. It’s a good rock album. But I wouldn’t listen to it much anymore. Overplayed it back in earlier days.
The Sex Pistols are iconic, but they were a put together band to sell clothes.
Johnny Rotten is a complete ######. His misanthropic schtick got old. He’s also a Trumper, so fk him.
I saw the original lineup in Vancouver back in the late 90s with my GF, who I’m now married to. It was fun, but short.
I wouldn't disagree but you could apply that just as easily to the Stooges, No Doubt had one good album, basically one song and wasn't even influential, in fact their inclusion on that list is so bizarre as to suggest the writers hadn't ever heard of Rancid, Sublime or The Specials
I wouldn't disagree but you could apply that just as easily to the Stooges, No Doubt had one good album, basically one song and wasn't even influential, in fact their inclusion on that list is so bizarre as to suggest the writers hadn't ever heard of Rancid, Sublime or The Specials
I also question their inclusion on a list like this, but they did have a few popular songs. One of those, probably the best one IMO, was a cover song though (It's My Life).
It might be worth mentioning that the song "Don't Speak" was the most played song of 1996 and broke airplay records at the time. Due to a technicality that I don't really understand, it wasn't allowed to actually "chart". Something about it not actually being released as a single or something like that. I honestly don't understand the nuts and bolts of the music industry.
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Last edited by FlamesAddiction; 11-30-2025 at 02:49 AM.
