Unsafe at any speed

Album cover of the Hallisian version of Unsafe at any speed

Unsafe at any speed is the MEPA-12X TV-series soundtrack as released internationally. It contains 18 alt rock tracks from the TV-series, of which 12 were re-recorded in a language not spoken officially in Sokoku. It was released in 7690 at the same time the final episode of season 3 of the series was aired in Sokoku. As such, the album was used to promote the third season on foreign television stations by radio exposure. It was a relative hit in some nations either reaching top 10 positions in the category "film and tv music compilations", "hard rock" or "world music".

The album was released under different titles in different countries, all being translations of the opening track title. Even though the album wasn't a huge commercial success, it did sell rather well in countries like Anisora, Auresia, Becuvitatia, Hallis, Kamura, Livaria and Vittmark. Certain tracks were released as singles in those nations, which led to huge hits for Tenji Sa Reta's "Helreich" in Vittmark and Darga's "Masrah Surit" in Kamura. The album has however created a renewed interest in rock music from Sokoku and alt rock more general.

Artwork

"Unsafe at any speed" inner sleeve design for the extended 12" vinyl release in Hallis language version.

The cover art is a still from the series' first season (S1E10), an episode that also hosts track #5 of the album. The album title, which is different in the 12 language releases, is superimposed across the image with a different composition for each language. There are designs for versions in Kakuri, Aedelish and Stoldic (among others) but the album wasn't released in that form.

Most vinyl 12" versions and the double 10" version come in a gatefold sleeve also having a still from the first series. However, several 12" releases come in a single fold sleeve with only a simple song list on the back side. This version, released in nations like Atregona and Nestor, only have 12 songs.

A similar gatefold design was used for the CD release, but the small format of the booklet makes this panel almost impossible to read. Instead, a 24 page booklet with lyrics, translations, band picture and info as well as more info on the series was added separately. This booklet was also included in vinyl releases (double 10" and 12") at repressing.

Release variants

Standard CD release

#	S	Title	Time	Artist or band	Hallisian translation	Language
1	A	ちだく あまん ぱだ けテぱたん べらぱ ぷん (Tidak aman pada kecepatan berapa pun)	5:18	Kumis	Unsafe at any speed	Bahasa Sokoku
2	1	Idiotul Idioten Idiot	2:52	Gatal-Gatal	The idiot	Becuvitatian, Bahaso, Wortsproke
3	1	Musica divina: Gota(しんそうきょく:ごた)	5:19	Shingeki	Divine music: Gotha	Auresian
4	1	ぽラ ぴきる (Pola pikir)	3:47	G:Putaran	Mindsets	Bahasa Sokoku
5	1	ветры из империи (Vetry iz imperii)	4:02	Gigitan Cinta	Winds from the empire	Arvorian
6	1	Tidvatten	3:05	Bahijii	Tides	Wortsproke
7	2	しぬ じかん わない / No time to die Tidak ada waktu untuk mati	3:14	Koki Gila feat. Sakamoto Miho		Kakuri, Hallisian
8	2	ぺちる (Petir)	3.13	Cihiro & Hani	Lightning	Bahasa Sokoku
9	2	(Masrah Surit)	2:33	Dar'ga	Poser	Kamuran
10	2	べるぷら-ぷら (Berpura-pura)	2:40	Semu-Sumu	The savior	Bahasa Sokoku
11	2	З присмаком кров (Ye prysmakom krovi)	2:40	Kode Sandi	Flavour of blood	Livarian
12	2	Thaalaí bee hólooh	3:36	Kuruc	Slaughter beach	Tsidi Izto
13	3	Ispilua urratua	3:22	Perpaduan Rasa	Scratched mirror	Atregonese
14	3	Helreich	2:21	Tenji Sa Reta		Stoldic
15	3	めますき もで じつ (Memasuki mode jitu)	2:56	Bunga itu dingin	Enter the sharp mode	Bahasa Sokoku
16	3	ο κλώνος του sindre (O klónos tou sindre)	4:39	MOZU	Sindre's clone	Parnethian
17	3	Agerpan tena	2:19	Kekaisaran Keempat	Dark manifestation	Nestorian
18	3	Principa discordia	3:59	ERIS	Principles of dischord	Anisoran, Kamuran

Cassette release, extended 12" vinyl release

#	S	Title	Time	Artist or band	Hallisian translation	Language
A1	A	ちだく あまん ぱだ けテぱたん べらぱ ぷん (Tidak aman pada kecepatan berapa pun)	5:18	Kumis	Unsafe at any speed	Bahasa Sokoku
A2	1	Idiot, idiot, idiot	2:52	Gatal-Gatal	Idiot walk	Becuvitatian, Bahaso, Wortsproke
A3	1	Musica divina: Gota	5:19	Shingeki	Divine music: Gotha	Auresian
A4	1	ぽl ぴきる (Pola pikir)	3:47	G:Putaran	Mindsets	Bahasa Sokoku
A5	1	ветры из империи (Vetry iz imperii)	4:02	Gigitan Cinta	Winds from the empire	Arvorian
A6	1	Tidvatten	3:05	Bahijii	Tides	Wortsproke
A7	2	しぬ じかん わない / No time to die (Shinu jikan wanai)	3:14	Koki Gila feat. Sakamoto Miho		Kakuri, Hallisian
A8	2	ぺちる (Petir)	3.13	Cihiro & Hani	Lightning	Bahasa Sokoku
A9	2	(Masrah Surit)	2:33	Darga	Poser	Kamuran
B1	2	べるぷら-ぷら (Berpura-pura)	2:40	Semu-Sumu	The savior	Bahasa Sokoku
B2	2	З присмаком кров (Ye prysmakom krovi)	2:40	Kode Sandi	Flavour of blood	Livarian
B3	2	Thaalaí bee hólooh	3:36	Kuruc	Slaughter beach	Tsidi Izto
B4	3	Ispilua urratua	3:22	Perpaduan Rasa	Scratched mirror	Atregonese
B5	3	Helreich	2:21	Tenji Sa Reta		Stoldic
B6	3	めますき もで じつ (Memasuki mode jitu)	2:56	Bunga itu dingin	Enter the sharp mode	Bahasa Sokoku
B7	3	ο κλώνος του sindre (O klónos tou sindre)	4:39	MOZU	Sindre's clone	Partnethian
B8	3	Agerpan tena	2:19	Kekaisaran Keempat	Dark manifestation	Nestorian
B9	3	Principa discordia	3:59	ERIS	Principles of dischord	Anisoran, Kamuran

Vinyl album 2x10" release

#	S	Title	Time	Artist or band	Hallisian translation	Language
A1	A	ちだく あまん ぱだ けテぱたん べらぱ ぷん (Tidak aman pada kecepatan berapa pun)	5:18	Kumis	Unsafe at any speed	Bahasa Sokoku
A2	1	Idiotul, idioten, idiot	2:52	Gatal-Gatal	The idiot	Becuvitatian, Bahaso, Wortsproke
A3	1	Musica divina: Gota	5:19	Shingeki	Divine music: Gotha	Auresian
A4	1	ぽl ぴきる (Pola pikir)	3:47	G:Putaran	Mindsets	Bahasa Sokoku
B1	2	しぬ じかん わない / No time to die (Shinu jikan wanai)	3:14	Koki Gila feat. Sakamoto Miho		Kakuri, Hallisian
B2	2	ぺちる (Petir)	3.13	Cihiro & Hani	Lightning	Bahasa Sokoku
B3	2	(Masrah Surit)	2:33	Darga	Poser	Kamuran
B4	2	べるぷら-ぷら (Berpura-pura)	2:40	Semu-Sumu	The savior	Bahasa Sokoku
B5	2	З присмаком кров (Ye prysmakom krovi)	2:40	Kode Sandi	Flavour of blood	Livarian
C1	3	Ispilua urratua	3:22	Perpaduan Rasa	Scratched mirror	Atregonese
C2	3	Helreich	2:32	Tenji Sa Reta		Stoldic
C3	3	めますき もで じつ (Memasuki mode jitu)	2:56	Bunga itu dingin	Enter the sharp mode	Bahasa Sokoku
C4	3	ο κλώνος του sindre (O klónos tou sindre)	4:39	MOZU	Sindre's clone	Partnethian
C5	3	Agerpan tena	2:19	Kekaisaran Keempat	Dark manifestation	Nestorian
D1	1	Tidvatten	3:05	Bahijii	Tides	Wortsproke
D2	2	Thaalaí bee hólooh	3:36	Kuruc	Slaughter beach	Tsidi Izto
D3	1	ветры из империи (Vetry iz imperii)	4:02	Gigitan Cinta	Winds from the empire	Arvorian
D4	3	Principa discordia	3:59	ERIS	Principles of dischord	Anisoran, Kamuran

Limited length vinyl 12" release

Released in this format in countries like Becuvitatia, Anisora, Atregonia.

#	S	Title	Time	Artist or band	Hallisian translation	Language
A1	A	ちだく あまん ぱだ けテぱたん べらぱ ぷん (Tidak aman pada kecepatan berapa pun)	5:18	Kumis	Unsafe at any speed	Bahasa Sokoku
A2	1	Idiotul, idioten, idiot	2:52	Gatal-Gatal	The idiot	Becuvitatian, Bahaso, Wortsproke
A3	1	Musica divina: Gota - edit	3:59	Shingeki	Divine music: Gotha	Auresian
A4	1	ぽl ぴきる (Pola pikir)	3:47	G:Putaran	Mindsets	Bahasa Sokoku
A5	1	ветры из империи (Vetry iz imperii)	4:02	Gigitan Cinta	Winds from the empire	Arvorian
A6	2	しぬ じかん わない / No time to die (Shinu jikan wanai)	3:14	Koki Gila feat. Sakamoto Miho		Kakuri, Hallisian
B1	2	(Masrah Surit)	2:33	Dar'ga	Poser	Kamuran
B2	2	З присмаком кров (Ye prysmakom krovi)	2:40	Kode Sandi	Flavour of blood	Livarian
B3	3	Ispilua urratua	3:22	Perpaduan Rasa	Scratched mirror	Atregonese
B4	3	Helreich	2:32	Tenji Sa Reta		Stoldic
B5	3	めますき もで じつ (Memasuki mode jitu)	3:21	Bunga itu dingin	Enter the sharp mode	Bahasa Sokoku
B6	3	Principa discordia	3:59	ERIS	Principles of dischord	Anisoran, Kamuran

Extended CD re-release

Thultannian release only.

#	S	Title	Time	Artist or band	Hallisian translation	Language
1	A	ちだく あまん ぱだ けテぱたん べらぱ ぷん (Tidak aman pada kecepatan berapa pun)	5:18	Kumis	Unsafe at any speed	Bahasa Sokoku
2	1	Idiot, idiot, idiot	2:52	Gatal-Gatal	Idiot walk	Becuvitatian, Bahaso, Wortsproke
3	1	コトル (Kotor)	2:21	San Rok'ni	Dirty	Bahasa Sokoku
4	1	Musica divina: Gota	5:19	Shingeki	Divine music: Gotha	Auresian
5	1	ぽl ぴきる (Pola pikir)	3:47	G:Putaran	Mindsets	Bahasa Sokoku
6	1	チダク アダ ジャワバン (Tidak ada jawaban)	3:00	Aki Arin 87	No answer	Bahasa Sokoku
7	1	ветры из империи (Vetry iz imperii)	4:02	Gigitan Cinta	Winds from the empire	Arvorian
8	1	Tidvatten	3:05	Bahijii	Tides	Wortsproke
9	2	しぬ じかん わない / No time to die (Shinu jikan wanai)	3:14	Koki Gila feat. Sakamoto Miho		Kakuri, Hallisian
10	2	ぺちる (Petir)	3.13	Cihiro & Hani	Lightning	Bahasa Sokoku
11	2	(Masrah Surit)	2:33	Darga	Poser	Kamuran
12	2	アンギン ビル (Angin biru)	2:45	Mogas	Blue wind	Bahasa Sokoku
13	2	べるぷら-ぷら (Berpura-pura)	2:40	Semu-Sumu	The savior	Bahasa Sokoku
14	2	З присмаком кров (Ye prysmakom krovi)	2:40	Kode Sandi	Flavour of blood	Livarian
15	2	ダレ デモナイ (Dare demonai)	3:11	Samsara	I'm nothing	Kakuri
16	2	Thaalaí bee hólooh	3:36	Kuruc	Slaughter beach	Tsidi Izto
17	3	Ispilua urratua	3:22	Perpaduan Rasa	Scratched mirror	Atregonese
18	3	Helreich	2:21	Tenji Sa Reta		Stoldic
19	3	めますき もで じつ (Memasuki mode jitu)	2:56	Bunga itu dingin	Enter the sharp mode	Bahasa Sokoku
20	3	Tha thu ag ràdh	3:30	PIRO	You say	Ceolán
21	3	ο κλώνος του sindre (O klónos tou sindre)	4:39	MOZU	Sindre's clone	Partnethian
22	3	Agerpan tena	2:19	Kekaisaran Keempat	Dark manifestation	Nestorian
23	3	Principa discordia	3:59	ERIS	Principles of dischord	Anisoran, Kamuran

Single releases

In many countries, a single was released as well to support the album sales and generate radio exposure. In most cases, the B-side is the same song in the original language.

Country	Track	Artist	Vinyl	Cass.	CD	Charts
Aedeland	Tidvatten	Bahijii	X		X	none
Alsair	1. No time to die 2. Tha thu ag ràdh	Koki Gila feat. Sakamoto Miho PIRO	X X	X X	X X	17 7
Anisora	1. Musica divina: Gota 2. Principa discordia	Shingeki ERIS	X X	X X	X X
Ardar	Tha thu ag ràdh	PIRO	X	X	X	4
Arvor	1. ветры из империи 2. присмак крові	Gigitan Cinta Kode Sandi
Atregona	Ispilua urratua	Perpaduan Rasa	X	X		8
Auresia	1: Principa discordia 2: Musica divina: Gota	ERIS Shingeki
Becuvitatia	Idiotul, idioten, idiot	Gatal-Gatal		X		21
Cassia	Tidvatten	Bahijii				none
Chaska	Thaalaí bee hólooh	Kuric	X	X
Cladania	1. No time to die 2. Tha thu ag ràdh	Koki Gila feat. Sakamoto Miho PIRO	X X	X X	X X	24 8
Einhafan	1. No time to die 2. Tha thu ag ràdh	Koki Gila feat. Sakamoto Miho PIRO	X X	X X	X X	14 1
Halland	No time to die	Koki Gila feat. Sakamoto Miho	X	X	X	12
Kamura	1. Masrah Surit 2. Thaalaí bee hólooh	Darga Kuric	X X	X X	X	1 11
Koskiya	З присмаком кров	Kode Sandi		X
Livaria	З присмаком кров	Kode Sandi	X	X	X
Lucentia	Tha thu ag ràdh	PIRO	X	X	X	none
Nestor	Agerpan tena	Kekaisaran Keempat
Parnethia	ο κλώνος του sindre	MOZU	X	X		36
Saoirth	1. No time to die 2. Tha thu ag ràdh	Koki Gila feat. Sakamoto Miho PIRO	X X	X X	X X	11 8
Sokoku	1.しぬ じかん わない 2. Dare demonai	Koki Gila feat. Sakamoto Miho Samsara		X X		3 23
Tavonia	1. Musica divina: Gota 2. ο κλώνος του sindre	Shingeki MOZU	X X	X X
Vittmark	1. Tidvatten 2. Helreich 3. Idiotul, idioten, idiot	Bahijii Tenji Sa Reta Gatal-Gatal	X X	X X X	X X X	41 2 9

The single Helreich by Tenji Sa Reta did not have the original language version as a B-side, since there only was this particular language version. Instead it came with a re-recorded version of Shinu jikan wanai, half Kakuri, half Bahaso, by the same band, a cover song from Koki Gila. Even Thaalaí bee hólooh by Kuric was only released in this language version originally, but has a B-side (or double AA-side) with a re-recorded version in Remana, which is not on the album.

Most songs were released as singles in Sokoku at the time of the broadcast of the original TV-series. Only these two songs were re-released in a different language version as a single. However, the international release has never been on sale in Sokoku itself, the single releases were only to highlight the international effort. Instead, Sokoku saw three releases, one for each season, with all 13 songs under the name "MEPA-12X lagu asli", "MEPA-12X lagu asli 2" and "MEPA-12X lagu asli 3".

Reception, reviews and awards

Vittmarker magazine ÖRON said of the soundtrack, "It is a hellride of dark rock with unexpected twists, not only because of the variety in languages, but it covers about every sub genre of alt rock. It is a showcase of the current state of the Sokokan heavy music scene, and it's thriving." Hallisian publication Entertain said "I can't vouch for the TV series, it seems like incomprehensible drab to me, but the album is a MUST. Enjoy some outstanding heavy rock tracks without having to watch the mess it came with." However, Anisoran contemporary TV journalists stated that "beside the excellent ERIS track it's a weird combination of obvious crowd pleasers (like Kodi Sandi and B.I.D.), soulless, fragmented noise (like Musica Divina: Gotha) and middle of the road tracks in an unattractive language (like the title track)". Kamuran's leading music publication XMR reviewed: "... there are some good tracks. There are some not so good. But it also boils down to anyone's taste in music. A half decent song in a genre you like will be appreciated more that an outstanding track in a subgenre you hate."

Darga reached a number 1 position in the sales charts in Kamura, establishing her name as an artist in this nation. Since the album release, she spends equally much time abroad, but her revenues are much larger there. In Kamura she can spend weeks in a row performing at medium size venues in the capital alone, through her own shows, supported by local acts but also as support artist for more established artists. Her mysterious stage persona is part of the attraction, but in reality she is this "mysterious" since she does not speak Kamuran at all.

In Vittmark, two of the singles released made it into the Top 10 of sales charts, where Tenji Sa Reta got help from their performance at the famous Musse i Parken festival in Månsta some months before. This was actually their second release in Vittmark after the four song tour EP.

PIRO's single was quite a hit in most Thultannian nations, but curiously enough this track does not appear on any of the more regular album versions. It was only included at a Thultannian release with 5 extra songs once a local distributor wanted to pick up the album after seeing the sales figures in Hallis.

• 

  Dar'ga, successful artist thanks to "Unsafe..."

• 

  Tenji Sa Reta, unexpected hit artist in Vittmark thanks to a song in Stoldic.

• 

  Hit artist PIRO, successful in Thultannia with a single release of a track not on the regular album edition.

A package tour with Dar'ga, Tenji Sa Reta, Kuruc and Perpaduan Rasa was organised in Kamura. Later on, a similar package tour with PIRO, Kodi Sandi, Tenji Sa Reta, Perpaduan Rasa and Koki Gila was arranged for Thultannia, Vittmark, Livaria and Atregonia. During this tour, local auditions were held for guest vocalists able to perform the foreign language better than the band itself. This side event generated quite some media attention and was received well by the audience who were able to meet the bands up and close off-stage.

Trivia

• The opening riff of Kumic "Tidak Aman..." is largely banned from playing at guitar stores in Sokoku, since the store clerks were driven to madness by the vast amount of aspiring guitar players butchering the opening sequence. On the other hand, there are guitarist competitions being held all across the country, where musicians try to play the riff not only faultless but also in the exact right tempo until where the vocals kick in. Kumi lead guitarist Mito once came only third in such a competition in Berewan, where he participated incognito.
• Shingeki, MOZU och ERIS are all acts connected to the Guso religion, not the Federal Secretariat for Cultural Affairs which supports both the TV series as the development of musical artists through investment in companies and performers (education). All these acts are from smaller congregations, which has led to an increase of popularity of these congregations, not in the least for ERIS coming from a regional congregation on Tanah Ek island which suddenly was able to open branches in Berewan, Taumakan and Kyusigai.
• Gatal-Gatal chose a band picture with all the members playing guitar, with some of the guitar cables going directly from one guitar to the other. The international version got an extra layer of irony, where only the part in Bahaso explains who the "idiot" in the song is. In the TV-series it is obvious it is the main character being recruited for the mission.
• While Shingeki is a soul keeper band with four members, for this recording they used a drummer, keyboardist and three guest vocalists. During most live shows, they are using a backing track for this song.
• G:Putaran was unable to write and record a new language version of their song, because of illness of one of the vocalists. A missed opportunity they regretted afterwards. "We would gladly have had the opportunity to record in some Thultannian language and play just one show there. I think we would have knocked them down... But we're glad we're on the album anyway! The production team could have picked three different songs instead."
• Hani made use of a guest vocalist, the independent Guso soul keeper Cihiro, in order to add dynamics to the song. On the domestic version, only Hani is mentioned as performing band, which was a miss by the production team. So instead, they mentioned Cihiro first on the international release as some form of compensation.
• Bahijii was utterly surprised that their single reached a chart position in Vittmark at all, even though it peaked as low as #41 and only charted for two weeks. "It's quite an extreme track, even for our type of music. Hats of to the promotional team over there, getting airplay for an obscure bunch of urban dwellers from Taumakan."
• Koki Gila was unsure about their Hallisian language version, especially the pronunciation, which made them decide to engage a guest vocalist. This was Sakamoto Miho adding lyrics in the Kakuri language.
• Semu Sumu's song for the series "Aku tidak akan mundur" was re-recorded with different lyrics, written by the songwriting team for Darga, since the band was unhappy with the quick job they had to do for the TV production.
• Kode Sandi got the task of writing a "typical 7689 grunge rock song" from the TV producers because of the historical reference in the series, as well as the popularity of the genre at present. They quickly wrote what they themselves call a "generic 7689 grunge song", mocking themselves and the genre as a whole. It was recorded quickly during a soundcheck at a venue in Taumakan, during a live tour. The song was re-recorded completely in the studio for this compilation release, with the lyrics updated to 7690.
• Tenji Sa Reta originally planned a ghost band song, since "Helreich" is not in their usual style. The song was only recorded in Stoldic. There was a bit of a controversy regarding the spoken word part, which was performed by an unsanctioned artist.
• Piro's track was produced later, when the Hallisian album release proved to sell well. The Einhafan record label REXT wanted to release it domestically on CD only, upon which the Sokokan production team proposed filling the entire 76 minutes by adding 5 more tracks. Re-recording PIRO's song in Ceolán was a way to produce a radio track that could be used there. Recording the vocals for the track took two studio days, since the vocalists had to record several versions of half sentences because of the complicated pronunciation. The producer stated that there were more recordings used for the final mix than letters in the lyrics, which would mean over 500 takes to get the 32 lines of text recorded.