THIS controversial debut album has been lovingly re-released and remastered for the first time in 35 years.

The angst-fuelled classic was released almost a year after The Sex Pistols’ profanity-loaded appearance on Bill Grundy’s prime time chat show, Today, in 1976.

The band was due to tour the UK shortly after their Grundy interview.

Thanks to the headlines and media backlash that followed, just seven of the 20 booked shows took place as promoters and venue owners rushed to withdraw their support.

Bournemouth’s Village Bowl was one of the ill-fated dates where the Sex Pistols had been due to play on December 7, 1976 before it was cancelled by the local council.

Iconic support bands on the night would have been The Clash, The Damned and Johnny Thunders’ Heartbreakers.

The Sex Pistols were vilified at the time but are now quite rightly regarded one of the most important bands of all time. Rebelling against the austerity and social unrest of late 70s Britain, Never Mind has lost none of its fury and still sounds relevant.

Anarchy In The UK, God Save The Queen and Pretty Vacant all have that urgent call-to-arms quality about them, with God Save The Queen’s closing chant of “no future for you” encapsulating the band’s musical assault on the establishment. Bodies and Holidays In the Sun are still genuinely ferocious with John Lydon’s screaming vocals and Steve Jones chainsaw guitar riffs.

To celebrate its 35th anniversary, Universal has released the album as a limited edition box set featuring remastered versions of the original 12 tracks.

Included in the tracklist is a never-before-heard demo recording of the controversial Sid Vicious-penned Belsen Was A Gas, inspired by the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Nazi Germany.

There are also umpteen discs boasting studio rarities and B-sides, a collection of 1977 live recordings and a live DVD produced by Julien Temple. Patrick Gough