Short Cuts

Two albums recently reissued as part of Rhino’s esteemed High Fidelity Series could could not be further apart stylistically, sonically, and emotionally — but in some ways, these two releases are inevitably connected in time and space. Fleetwood Mac’s eponymously titled July 1975 turning-point smash-hit band-rebirth album (6x platinum to date!) and Sex Pistols’ groundbreaking October 1977 debut, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols (itself a platinum seller as well, believe it or not!).

As we have learned from prior Rhino Hi Fi Series official pronouncements, Kevin Gray of Cohearant Audio cut the lacquers, and the albums have been pressed at Optimal in Germany on 180g black vinyl. Hi Fi Series releases boast high-quality glossy covers, super-sturdy tip-on style cardboard jackets that deliver an old-school production twist that is arguably better than original editions from the 1970s. (Those were usually crafted from thin oaktag card stock, which permitted printing directly without need for pasted-on prints.)

In general, the Hi Fi Series vinyl pressings for both Fleetwood Mac (which came out in July 2025) and Never Mind the Bollocks (which was released in August 2025) were well-centered and quiet. Both albums came packed in audiophile-grade plastic-lined inner sleeves housed securely within the gatefold sleeve design, and they each contained bonus booklets with essays and rare photography. The SRP is $39.98 each, and they’re available directly from the Rhino Hi Fi Store here, and at select indie record stores. (You may have to go the indie route if the Fleetwood Mac LP is already sold out at the time of this posting.) And now, let’s get to the reviewing!

FLEETWOOD MAC
FLEETWOOD MAC
180g 1LP (Rhino/Reprise)
MUSIC: 9
SOUND: 9

There’s a curious phenomenon that has been happening for the past five or so years that has been driving vintage, mid/late-’70s Fleetwood Mac albums once again into the pop charts, and also into the hearts of younger generations discovering this music fresh.

This retro-hit phenomenon was in part triggered by the band’s peak-period music being included on the second Guardians of the Galaxy film soundtrack in 2017. Additionally, a viral TikTok sensation of a young man skateboarding his way to work during the early months of the pandemic while drinking cranberry juice — set to the soundtrack of “Dreams,” the No. 1 hit from Mac’s February 1977 mega-blockbuster LP Rumours — helped catapult the band back into the charts. These days, mint-condition original copies of this era of Fleetwood Mac LPs command mad-high prices, some heading well into the hundreds of dollars for such specimens.

Fortunately for those who just want great-sounding vinyl copies of this music, Warner Records have stepped up their game of late by reissuing the balance of those classic-era Mac LPs with new remastering and expanded editions. The self-titled mid-decade breakout Fleetwood Mac, one of the latest updates that is instead part of Rhino’s abovementioned Hi Fi Series, target the audiophile listener. This was the album that put the then-new (and eventually so-called) “Buckingham Nicks” era of the band on the map and into the charts with hits like “Rhiannon,” “Over My Head,” and “Say You Love Me,” as well as the fan favorite, “Landslide.”

Now, I have to admit that I was never a huge Fleetwood Mac fan back in the day. However, two things conspired in the last 15 or so years to change my perspective on this group and their music. First, a friend introduced me to their earlier blues-based incarnation from the 1960s featuring guitarist Peter Green, blues-based recordings that rock real hard and are absolutely wonderful.

Then, a friend of a different friend was getting rid of all of his vinyl, and literally gave me hundreds of LPs that included a complete Fleetwood Mac collection! So, that is when I started listening more objectively to their music to better understand the band’s trajectory, start to finish.

Today, I better appreciate Fleetwood Mac’s 1975 remake/remodel (if you will, borrowing a phrase from early Roxy Music), as it very much captured a moment in time. The band’s distinctive blend of British and American musical sensibilities were the right mixture at the right time. It was upbeat music released mere months after the Vietnam War ended, and it came just before disco and punk were about to lift off while progressive rock began to fade a bit from favor.

The new Rhino Hi Fi reissue of Fleetwood Mac sounds great — in fact, it sounds much better than my original Reprise pressing. Many of these midperiod Fleetwood Mac LPs tended to sound a bit mushy — partially due to the nature of how they were produced and mastered, but also simply due to fitting in with the plunky sound of FM rock radio of that moment in time. However, this new reissue conveys a punchier, bright-but-tight sound I have missed from the original editions, in turn reinforcing my ratings of 9 for the Music, and 9 for the Sound.

From my vantage point, those are fine enough reasons to seek out getting yourself a copy of the Rhino High Fidelity edition of Fleetwood Mac.

FLEETWOOD MAC
FLEETWOOD MAC
180g 1LP (Rhino/Reprise)

Side 1
1. Monday Morning
2. Warm Ways
3. Blue Letter
4. Rhiannon
5. Over My Head
6. Crystal

Side 2
1. Say You Love Me
2. Landslide
3. World Turning
4. Sugar Daddy
5. I’m So Afraid

SEX PISTOLS
NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS, HERE’S THE SEX PISTOLS
180g 1LP (Rhino/Warner Records)
MUSIC: 8
SOUND: 7

And now for something completely different.

Depending on your perspective, Sex Pistols’ October 1977 debut, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, is either the greatest album in rock & roll, or one of the biggest scam heaps of rubbish put to plastic.

Regardless of where you land with it, the impact of Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols was super-important back in the day, drawing a line in the sand from heavily produced progressive music and pop-skewing albums like the above-reviewed Fleetwood Mac LP.

I’ll be upfront here in admitting that I have long had a love/hate relationship with this album, generally wanting to like it more than I do. Over the years, I have owned numerous versions of Never Mind the Bollocks on vinyl and CD, and they all tend to sound about the same — dense and murky, even a bit near monophonic in terms of stereo soundstage.

As to that latter comment, album producer Chris Thomas, in his liner notes to this new edition, explains that “having an aversion to stereo records with the possibility of a guitar on one side and the bass on the other, I got Steve [Jones, Pistols guitarist] to double-track his guitar (same on ‘Anarchy’), placing one on the left, one on the right with the bass in the middle. We then [used the Harmonizer on] one of the guitars, placing it on top of the bass to glue everything together [. . .] So now we had three guitars sounding as one, covering 180 degrees. And that was the birth of Mono De-Luxe . . . and the template for the entire album.”

And that, dear readers, is the heart of my issue with attempting to consider Never Mind the Bollocks as an audiophile LP. At the time of its release, I remember many people clamoring about how “punk” it sounded, and I also distinctly remember thinking that it felt just like so many other heavy, “hard rock” records I’d heard, albeit with especially sneering lyrics and vocals. It didn’t feel as stripped back and raw as the records by the Ramones I was starting to hear (and prefer) on radio at that time. Something about Bollocks didn’t quite ring true for me.

Some of you may wonder why a murky, mostly monophonic, hard-rocking punk-ish record is getting this sort of super-deluxe treatment in the first place. Beyond the fact that this seemingly “underground” record was actually a relatively huge, platinum-plus-selling global hit, it might be helpful to understand what is going on right now on the music collector’s marketplace. In short, punk records (and related memorabilia) are among the hottest and most sought after collectors’ items among music enthusiasts these days. I know this firsthand because I see it all the time out in the cratediggers’ universe, and I even know a couple of collector/dealers who specialize in this stuff. Honestly, it’s quite remarkable what these kinds of records are selling for these days. (Poke around on Discogs, eBay, Popsike, and elsewhere to get an idea for yourself.)

So, it’s not entirely surprising to me that the major labels would want to tap into this marketplace somehow — and issuing a premium edition of a still-revered album like Never Mind the Bollocks makes good business sense. I get it. Please also understand that I am not immune to the inherent humor — yes, humor! — of putting out an audiophile-oriented release of an album like this one for posterity, and that some people will certainly want to buy it.

Whether you decide to pick up this Rhino Hi Fi edition of Never Mind the Bollocks really comes down to your own passion for the record. Generally, I love the Hi Fi reissue series, so this edition is probably a good option for those of you wanting a good, archival “play copy” to preserve your rare originals, if you happen to have any of them. Likewise, this release makes a great deal of sense for those not willing to spend hundreds of dollars for an original 1977 UK or U.S. pressing.

For what it is, and as far as punk records go, Never Mind the Bollocks sounds pretty good in its Hi Fi edition. If you don’t know this music intimately, you’d be wise to listen back in another form to get familiar with it before spending $40 on this version, which pretty much sounds like it has always sounded — a dense wall of thickly layered, monophonic-leaning hard-rock guitars, thumping bass, pounding drums, and sneering vocals. This pressing reflects my ratings of 8 for the Music, and 7 for the Sound. It just is what it is — but then, that’s Sex Pistols for you.

SEX PISTOLS
NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS, HERE’S THE SEX PISTOLS
180g 1LP (Rhino/Warner Records)

Side 1
1. Holidays In The Sun
2. Bodies
3. No Feelings
4. Liar
5. Problems
6. God Save The Queen

Side 2
1. Seventeen
2. Anarchy In The U.K.
3. Sub-Mission
4. Pretty Vacant
5. New York
6. EMI