Customer Reviews

Sleep in Safety

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a kid that grew up in the 80's in Seattle WA and it's associated punk rock scene and an owner of the complete 45 Grave catalog on vinyl from that time period, I can truly say that this band influenced my musical direction the most. They were one of the first indie bands that fused various types of 'dark' genres. This band was influenced by, and interested me, in Syd Barrett, Blue Cheer, the Cramps, the Germs, and the Mothers of Invention. This band has members both, prior and post, that have been members of Nirvana, the Germs, Penis Fly trap, Flesh for Lulu, the Dream Syndicate, and the late 80's metal band RIPPER. Their music is not easily pigeon holed and can best be described by me in the title of my revue. Before you leave here treat your self to an Amazon sample and trip to the reality of the Grave Digger. (Back in the day they were the short-lived equivalent of the Deadhead.) It should be noted that this is a later, marquis effort of the band. In a period when the band was in a more experimental stage, as well as having more capital for production. This release is re-mastered in a more late 90's fashion with a more solid lower bass end. By the way the greatest full length release of all time is 'Autopsy' which was a more punk rock album and each song sounded this way. Autopsy was infact released on CD back in '87 with the cat.# 72030-2 (-1 LP, -4 Cassette). Autopsy is most readily found as a cassette, and rarely found on disk. Bid for these titles online if you can. The disk release I have been searching for the last 6 or 7 years.

45 Grave's first and only true full length release, "Sleep In Safety" is a brilliant, satirical kaleidoscope of surreal, gothic landscapes. Every great rock record knows how to appreciate itself, and this is exhibit #1. If it seems otherworldly on the first listen, just wait, it's bound to grow even stranger. Heavily recommended. A thinking man's punk rock.

In my opinion, this album isn't the best thing that 45 Grave has put out. There are better versions of these songs on a compilation called, "When Hell Comes To Your House." Also, I recommend buying the album "Autopsy" if you can find it. That album has some great songs. But, I do like this album except for one song which really annoys the hell out of me. However, if you enjoy 45 Grave I believe this is a definitive album for your collection. Dinah's voice is cataclysmic and she really knows how to scream.

If you are intersted at all in 45 Grave, this is the CD to get. Includes their best work, including "Riboflavin", "Dream Hits", and "Party Time", just to name a few. A classic punk rock document.

To respond to the last review:

Pat Smear played guitar on a bunch of tracks from Autopsy (by 45 Grave). He also played guitar live with Nirvana on a bunch of their tours, and played in the Foo Fighters.

So, when the guys says "This band has members both, prior and post, that have been members of Nirvana, the Germs" etc. he is talking about Pat Smear who played guitar in the Germs, and then also with 45 Grave and Nirvana.

Thus you are wrong.

This band had some great people in it, and this album shows off just how good they all were. There is something hilarious about the classification of this band now, as they are sometimes referred to as "goth". This band certainly was, but this is not your later goth stuff. This is goth that would kick the sh#% out of future weepy goth bands with a sense of humor about the dark and evil tones that Anton LeVay would be proud of. A Great Album.

Been a long time fan of 45 Grave, I was happy to find this in cd format. Every track is great, my only beef is that they left out "La Tomba". & if you have a chance checkout Dinah's other band Penis Flytrap.

First of all, a note for collectors, did someone notice that the order of the songs has been changed from LP to CD ??

Well I have here a 1985 printed LP and the sequence are (please note):
1. Insurance from God - 2. Evil - 3. Partytime - 4. Dream Hits II - 5. Slice O'Life - 6. Phantoms - 7. 45 Grave - 8.Violent World - 9. Bad Love - 10. Surf Bat - 11. Procession
(just give it a try ... by example, I think it's more natural to have "Violent World" in 8th position ... you need time to be prepared to face it :^) ).

For the rest of the songs, they are clearly not from original release, and if you pay some atention, you can feel it (not the same quality -in production and in composition- wich perpass the songs of the original release, and I agree with Elizabeth that "No School" just sucks). As they come with CD anyway, no problem, but don't expect the same quality as "Violent World", "Slice O'Life", "Bad Love" or "Procession" (my favorites).

Well, about 45 GRAVE. I must tell that this band remind me Hüsker Dü (guitars particulary). In this point of view, this particular record has a great merit: trying to do something different from the thing they do, by mixing some dark-gothic influences to the song compositions. And I think the result has succeed and is unique.

It's quite possible that originals fans from 45 Grave do not very like this album, just because he's a notable change in the trajectory of the band. Maybe it's a public who don't expect that kind of evolution. But I think this a very positive moment of the band. I'm aware that this change was magistrally orchestred.

Conclusion: yes, it's a must have (at least a must know). Not representative of the band's work, maybe, but really a very very good and evolutive step they made.

dinah can't sing; i remember the day whenever i brought surf bat (the only instrumental track on the whole album) in for my guitar lessons and she didn't finish singing the first line of riboflavin whenever my instructor paused the CD and says "she's not very good at singing." her voice is irritating as hell, and there isn't very much special in terms of lyrics or musicality with this group. two stars instead of one because the band has some musicians that could play such as rikk agnew. if you consider yourself a deathrocker of course you'd buy this CD, if you collect CD's for the sake of collecting, get this one, you like singing along to corny lyrics, get this CD, if you like everything rozz williams go ahead and buy this, if you listen to really bad punk already this won't be far fetched, but if you're looking for talent skip this. to be quite frank if it weren't for christian death performing with 45 grave all those years back, would anyone care?

This is religion music for a religion you don't belong to, pure hate, devil worship, small bright shiny and banal, the dry teeth of the smiling haters, clicking little commonplace souvenir objects together in their pockets, in a land of gently rolling hills overinfested with oddly small merry-go-rounds. This album is better than you.