Shane’s Rock Challenge: STEVE JONES – Mercy

Shane | 19 June 2014 | Reply

Shane’s Rock Challenge: STEVE JONES – Mercy
By Shane Pinnegar
4.5/10

The cover of the former Sex Pistol’s debut solo album is stark white, with a black & white rendered picture of Jones, hair flying out, denim jacket on, bashing out a chord on his guitar, whilst on the back cover he reclines, guitar in hand, on a Harley. lt’s visceral stuff and fuelled high hopes for Mercy – high hopes that were to remain infulfilled.

That the cornerstone of popular punk might have gone all long-haired-rocker shouldn’t be considered such a surprise – after all, if you.take away Johnny Rotten/Lydon’s snotty vocals, and Sid Vicious’ belligerent and spitting ‘tood, Sex Pistols were just a raw as fuck hard rockin’ band, and after they imploded, Jones made a couple of albums alongside drummer Paul Cook as The Professionals, one with Michael Des Barre as Checquered Past, and was itching for something else to do.

So… to Mercy… and, though not a total write-off, it’s quite the disappointment.

Rather than a Harley-riding, guitar slashing, rock dog slab of bouncy metal with punk overtones, we find Jones serving up his level-best 1994 Iggy Pop styled croon on a collection of slow-burners.

The opening title track is a decent enough tune (and was used to good effect in the Miami Vice TV series), as are Give It Up and Through The Night. Drugs Suck is an interesting cut, very anti-drugs, so Jones can’t blame that sort of habit for the tepidness of the rest of the material.

Okay, it sounds like I’m really down on this album, but I’m not, really – personally I like Iggy’s croon. But Steve Jones is the fucking riff-meister of the bloody Sex Pistols, dude! He ‘s not a crooner – he should be reclining on a Harley while ripping out killer proto-Slam riffs, dude, two hot babes straddling him in a decidedly UN-PG rated manner!

But, that’s not what Mercy is about and it just doesn’t gel, unfortunately, so we’re left with an interesting curio, but hardly an essential one.