Sid Vicious - 'Too Fast To Live...' (EMI)
3/5
By: Toby L
Oh, punk, thou promised so much, and then you f**ked off before the rest of us were even there to truly get it. Now, we look back to the late-'70s with a favourable air of heady nostalgia (even though, again, most of us weren't there); the reality, however: bloated addictions to speed, cider-supping in parks, spitting, sniffing glue, and - frankly - shite fashion, just couldn't collectively last longer than one very, very trendy-pseudo summer.
Well, that's the cynics' view. Punk, if anything amidst its at times meaningless, hedonistic stance, was a time for personality, honesty - the vulgarity of rock 'n' roll unleashed and exposed in full, unrelenting view. Siouxsie; Rotten; Strummer 'n' Jones; and - of course - Vicious. We were given a whole five decades' worth of icons in just one fleeting era.
And how does it stand up musically? Check The Clash, and answer - very well. Yet look towards one of the more animated, vocal, drugged and sensationalist figures -Siddy boy, whose death was marked recently via a silver anniversary - and it's a clear case of sneering, snotty radicalism over enduring tenacity.
Let's be real here - this was a troubled character of sorts: a youthful, decadent and misled victim of a scene which ended up losing the plot of how/why it formed in the first place (namely, down to a frustration at the capitalism and close-minded 'ideals' of populist, British culture; the only option? Complete (lack of) control)... Honestly, someone that murdered a girlfriend, during a heroin-daze, before topping himself, was never destined to parallel such innovation in music as notable to the events undertaken in their own private-life.
So, as such, 'Too Fast...' merely reflects the madness all too well. It's pretty patchy. Barely audible, 'exclusive' bootlegs from venues which sound no larger than your average pub-toilet showcase intimate insights into such originals and covers as 'Born To Lose', 'Stepping Stone' and 'I Wanna Be Your Dog', while Vicious' inimitable, gargling, dosed-up take on 'My Way' remains a (terrifying) wonder to the human-ear.
Spanning across seventeen tracks, however, and the ever-recurrent, few-chord, rolling rhythms and thumpy-thumpy drums/shouty vox combo occasionally proves trying. One for the completists, it's deduced. But with a bow-out on a third take of 'My Way' (yes, there are three versions herein, kids; and, yes, that is the sound of Daisy being milked for all she's got), plus a frantic, noise-mongering 'From Beyond The Grave' and rare first mix of 'Something Else', if the adrenalin ain't half pumpin', you can be convinced of your death.
A time-piece, then - something for display in the collection, if not regular rotations on the CD-player. Tragically, the legend of Sid Vicious far outweighs the quality of the medium through which he gained his name. But songs and 'classic' albums weren't the point - just his being there made an almost magical, shrouded moment in time all the more indispensable and - of key note - memorable.
Artists in this article: Sid Vicious
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