The appearance in 2014 on the internet of recordings claiming to be unreleased mixes of Never Mind The Bollocks and The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle sessions naturally caused much excitement amongst aficionados.

Allegedly: "These mixes came from the masters of Bollocks and Swindle, around the time Universal listened through the tapes to check their suitability for use. They are mixes that were tested to see what exactly the tapes contained as they were re-mixed and mastered."

On first listen the tapes do sound genuine and consequently exciting. Black Leather & Here We Go Again - which were included in the batch - are, however, merely ripped from scratchy sounding vinyl. Very odd.

To get to the bottom of this, it was time to turn to GSTSP's own Geant-Vert, who has both the ears & the techincal know-how to decide one way or the other.

Over to Geant...

Initial thoughts and hopes...
Most of the songs are not mix or premix, but rough mixes with tracks at the same level as 2012 Universal Deluxe Box Set. We know that Steve flooded the 24 tracks with tons of overdubs. Did somebody in charge (Bill Price or Chris Thomas, or both) do rough mixes of the work in progress? Could they be working cuts for the Bollocks album? The Swindle material could be the tracks laid down before the finalization, just to check if everything needed was here. The Goodman, Brazil and French material was all finalized in a London studio where overdubs were added. There is a level difference between the main recording and the overdubs. Were these mixes made for label information before the final production?

However, after further investigation...
I originally listened to the songs through my monitor and my first impressions were somewhat different to what they are now.

Having now played them repeatedly through headphones, the happy story has ended brutally. Firstly, I recognized the original production on both Ronald Biggs tracks. Then it became clear that the same was true for all the Swindle tracks.

I have since worked out the following:

No Feelings: From 2002 3CD Box Set. Manchester Square, December 1976. Fake.

Submission: From the 2012 Box set. The solo guitar frequency has been boosted. A good idea, but not good enough. Fake.
Diagram shows comparison between "Submission outtake" (top) and "Submission - track 14 Deluxe Boxset" (bottom). It's the same track minus the last two seconds on the fake one. Both tracks match note by note. The diagram shows where the frequency is enhanced.

My Way: From the common Swindle CD. Lead vocal and guitar frequencies decreased while strings frequency is enhanced. Fake.

Anarchy In The UK. From 2002 3CD Box Set. Left channel is doctored. Fake.

Similar doctoring has been applied to all the mixes in this collection.

To conclude: All the Swindle material originates from the official Swindle CD. Fakes.

All Bollocks material originates from the 2012 Deluxe Box Set, with the exception of No Feelings (see above). Anarchy may have been taken from 2002 Box Set - either way, the outcome is the same. Fakes.

Black Leather & Here We Go Again come from the Sex Pack vinyl single. Why bother?

Finally, what is a master tape? A master tape is the two track recording you've got from the sound you choose from the 24 tracks mixing desk.
I don't believe the story telling that accompanies these recordings about Universal Music checking the 2 tracks content. You don't mix again material that is already mixed, you just listen to what you've got. The storyteller ignored what actually is a master, and must think the sound comes from the 24 tracks.

Verdict. I feel disappointed and hope the person(s) involved only did it for a joke. If not, they need to take sleeping pills for a while.
You could argue, on the evidence so far, the one thing the faker(s) did get right is these recordings are both bollocks and a swindle!
Someone out there may have a different view and still be convinced they are genuine, but that's not how it looks to me - they are fakes.
Don't fall for it. You need 60 seconds to produce a new unreleased mix. First you open a song.....