Something I Learned Today

Punk Rock and Other Assorted Bullshit

Unsafe At Any Speed

February 05th, 2005 | Posted by: Eric | Category: Various Artists, 80's Hardcore

Sorry to disappoint all of you who came here expecting an excerpt of Ralph Nader reading from his auto safety expose Unsafe at Any Speed.I’m sure you’re heart-broken Nope, the Unsafe at Any Speed I’m talking about is the follow up to one of the best American hardcore compilations of the ’80’s - 1982’s This Is Boston, Not L.A. Highlighting many of the same Boston hardcore bands (most of the tracks are outtakes from TBNL sessions ) Unsafe at Any Speed was released as a 7″ on Modern Method records in 1983. This time out each band got one cut apiece. 6 songs in total, and while some of it sounds dated it’s still a nice dose of classic punk aggression. The goods:

Gang Green - Selfish.mp3
A hyperspeed blast from a teenage Gang Green. The initial era of Gang Green ended before this release. The band would later reform (based upon the success of there comp appearance and single on Taang!) to present the world a body of work built around metallic rock riffs and alcoholism.

Proletariet - Voodoo Economics.mp3
Don’t let the Proletariat’s lack of political subtetly prevent you from ejoying their brand of engaging hardcore. I’ll save additional details for another day, but what a fantastic band. Their double disc Voodoo Economics and Other American Tragedies is essential

Jerry’s Kids - Machine Gun.mp3
“Machine Gun” was later re-recorded for the Jerry’s Kids comeback LP Kill Kill Kill. This is the better version - a raw recording from around the time of their first LP Is This My World?

F.U.’s - CETA Suckers.mp3
This track was also on the another top-notch American hardcore comp - Master Tapes volume 1. What can I say, I love the F.U.’s, especially the early tracks (this cut, the Boston Not LA tracks, and the Kill for Christ 12″)

The Freeze - Refrigerator Heaven.mp3
Don’t let the mild sounds of this one confuse you. This one is a twisted tale of a lonely child and his “playmate”. Sick, sick, sick.

Misc:

  • Unsafe… was resissued on CD in the ’90’s with Boston… but it appears to have slipped out of print
  • Point/Counterpoint. Flex gives the comp a “10″. Kill From The Heart says “eh”. You decide.

    • 4 Comments so far

    1. Dave McGurgan February 7th, 2005 7:46 pm

      The Gang Green stuff on this and the “This is Boston, Not L.A.” comp are too blazin’

      I think it was Newbury Comics’ in-house label that reissued these two records on a CD. No clue why it’s out of print.

      Also good is the Gang Green “Old School” CD.

    2. Jan February 8th, 2005 9:36 am

      The “Boston Not L.A.” comp LP was reissued last year, including the “Unsafe At Any Speed” 7″. It’s plain to see that it’s a bootleg version, still it looks (and sounds, of course) great.
      But I don’t think that the reissue is limited. Someone rereleased the “Cleanse The Bacteria” cmop as well and it seems that that one was limitited to a 1.000 copies only.
      But, well, yes, what a great compilation.

    3. timsum February 19th, 2005 10:07 am

      Eric,

      Thanks for this I’ve been after this 7″ since 1992 (i think) after getting a copy of “Boston Not LA” - the best comp ever? - on tape while crashing in Canada.

      Awesome…

      timsum

    4. Something I Learned Today » The Freeze July 22nd, 2006 10:53 am

      […] Here are a couple of earlier Freeze cuts I posted ( from This Is Boston, Not LA and Unsafe At Any Speed) […]

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