"The Sex Pistols," Dave Goodman, the band's one time soundman and producer, posits, "[are] a band that became a major milestone in musical history, comparable only to the Beatles, Elvis Presley and Beethoven." While the audacity of this statement certainly warrants a scoff, those arguing that Pistols' peers are a bit less exclusive are correct-- the truth of its basic thrust cannot be debated. The Sex Pistols spearheaded the late seventies' British punk scene and while their ultimate limitations as artists prevented them from making an album as fully realized as either the Clash's self- titled release or London Calling, they still survive as that period's most indelible image. Twenty years later, their filthy handprints stain the walls of nearly every room of the pop music house. Their biting nihilism lit the fire that burned in Kurt Cobain's belly just as much as promoter Malcolm McLaren's revolutionary concept of band as marketing vehicle bore the Spice Girls.

The Goodman Tapes, a collection of outtakes, interviews and live cuts amassed from Goodman's archives, propounds to document the band's early years, but unfortunately falls quite short of the task. The demos and live cuts, excepting "Unlimited Supply," which later appeared on Never Mind The Bollocks as "EMI," exhibit sound quality unfit for proper release and the snotty interviews that once fueled a revolution of sorts are today tired and irrelevant.

Exacerbating these shortcomings is the album's structure, which lacks any coherent flow. Interviews and radio promos provide interludes and even interrupt tracks haphazardly, giving the entire collection a sense of purposelessness. The unreleased tracks neither increase the Sex Pistols' legend, nor provide historic insight. The live selections are barely audible and, with the exception of the album's fierce unlisted track, are available in better rendition on Never Mind The Bullocks. The demos, most of which are also better served on the Pistols' 1977 masterpiece, were best left in the vault.

To properly serve the artist, a posthumous or late career release of backlogged material must either stand on its own merits or provide yet uncovered understanding. That these goals seem nearly impossible in the failure of The Goodman Tapes is a testament to the quality of the Sex Pistols' released work. But if that's the case, what's the point here? Filthy Lucre? Well, I'm not buying.

-Neil Lieberman