UMC re-pressed Never Mind The Bollocks and The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle on CD following the acquisition of the band's catalogue.

Initially thought to be straight re-masterings prior to the re-mixed expanded edition of NMTB due in September, closer examination has thrown up some interesting notes for collectors.

Never Mind The Bollocks (SexPisCD1977)
Firstly, the NMTB CD is also available in Japan and Russia on Universal with a nice obi strip (pictured above).

In terms of sound, the NMTB re-issue is identical to the earlier Virgin/EMI ones with no obvious differences - at least not to my cloth ears.

The front cover however varies slightly with the artwork reduced in size and therefore the words "Sex Pistols" are not spread accross the full width

The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle (SexPisCD1979)
Swindle has proved to be more interesting. Eagle eyed (& sharp eared) Jon Edwards & Jeff Kimmitt have noticed the following variations to earlier CD pressings:
1. God Save The Queen Symphony is the version WITHOUT McLaren  - other CD issues used the spoken version.
2. The correct version of Anarchy In The UK has been used - the Goodman take.
3. Jones is now credited (incorrectly) as sole writer of Friggin' In The Riggin' - no longer printed as "Trad. Arr: Jones"
4. C'mon Everybody fades up before the feedback ends on No One Is innocent.
5. I Wanna Be Me and Watcha Gonna Do About It are both included.
6. Substitute starts with the guitar.
7. Speech is at end of Anarchy, and it doesnt seem to jump anymore like on previous versions. (Listen to another version and at 10 secs in it isn,t quite right ,slight jump?)
8. Couple of drumbeats missing from the GSTQ intro .
9. Finally, lots of writers / producers credits are corrected.

To summarise, the CD follows the "standard / version 2" double LP running order, with the major differences being the GSTQ Symphony instrumental version replacing the vocal version and Watcha Gonna Do About It added to the end. It's a return to this running order for first time since the original CD pressings of the 1980s, (although due to the restrictions on CD length back then, the original '85 CD pressing omitted 3 songs).

Therefore, the 25 track Universal CD pressing is unique and well worthy of your attention.