Sleep It Off


Sleep It Off is the second album from no wave pop singer Cristina.

Music

Sleep It Off was produced by Don Was. The songs were written by Cristina collaborating with Was and her backing musicians, Barry Reynolds and Ben Brierley, and Doug Fieger. The music is beat-laden, sophisticated synth-pop, setting Was's detailed production against Cristina's expressive but sometimes less-than-perfect, cynical No Wave vocal style. At times the music is reminiscent of Blondie, or Madonna, and it does not forget the decadent disco of Cristina's eponymous debut. Chris Connelly describes a record that is a "grimly hilarious gavotte through the upscale decadence of the titled apocalypso" with an effect "somewhere between Marianne Faithfull and the Flying Lizards music more enjoyable than either".
The three cover songs on the record span a wide range: the R&B of Van Morrison's "Blue Money", Brecht and Weill's "Ballad of Immoral Earnings" from the Threepenny Opera, and John Conlee's country hit "She Can't Say that Anymore".

Sleeve

The sleeve design is by Jean-Paul Goude, who later used a similar idea for Grace Jones's Slave to the Rhythm.

Themes and reception

Although featuring shorter, more hook-laden songs than her previous album, Cristina, Sleep It Off is a dark album. Cristina describes it as an album about "coping with sex and money and power plays in the 1980's",
The album has been consistently lauded by critics. On its release in 1984, Rolling Stone said that
The Face placed Sleep It Off in its Top 20 records of 1984. When the album was re-issued on CD in 2004, Pitchfork awarded it a grade of 8.5, remarking that Cristina's music gives
Pitchfork also particularly praises the bonus tracks on the re-release.
Ladytron included "What's a Girl To Do" on their Softcore Jukebox.
Unfortunately, the record was a commercial flop and Cristina consequently retired.

Track listing

Original Release (1984)

The original album release of Sleep It Off featured ten tracks.
Side A
  1. "Don't Mutilate My Mink"
  2. "Ticket to the Tropics"
  3. "She Can't Say That Anymore"
  4. "Quicksand Lovers"
  5. "Rage and Fascination"
Side B
  1. "Ballad of Immoral Earnings"
  2. "What's a Girl To Do"
  3. "The Lie of Love"
  4. "Blue Money"
  5. "He Dines Out on Death"
  • All lyrics by Cristina except A3 and B1.
  • Produced by Don Was.

CD Release (2004)

The CD release of Sleep It Off reordered the original ten tracks and added six bonus tracks.
  1. "What's a Girl to Do"
  2. "Ticket to the Tropics"
  3. "The Lie of Love"
  4. "Quicksand Lovers"
  5. "Rage & Fascination"
  6. "Ballad of Immoral Earnings"
  7. "She Can't Say that Anymore"
  8. "Blue Money"
  9. "Don't Mutilate My Mink"
  10. "He Dines Out on Death"
  11. "Smile"
  12. "Deb Behind Bars"
  13. "Things Fall Apart"
  14. "When U Were Mine"
  15. "Deb Behind Bars "
  16. "You Rented a Space"
  • "'Things Fall Apart' is dedicated to the late Lizzy Mercier Descloux, ma chère copine in adversity... In loving memory of her talent, her courage, and her kindness. Cristina"
  • Tracks 11–12 and 15 are from the Sleep It Off album sessions.
  • Track 13 was originally released 1981 with Material's song "It's a Holiday" on a split 12" taken from the ZE album A Christmas Record.
  • Tracks 14, 16: are from demo sessions with Robert Palmer at the Compass Point Studios.
  • Production by Don Was, except tracks 14 and 16: produced by Robert Palmer.

Rubellan Remasters CD Release (2023)

The 2023 Rubellan Remasters release of Sleep It Off featured the original ten tracks in their original running order plus two bonus tracks.
  1. "Don't Mutilate My Mink"
  2. "Ticket to the Tropics"
  3. "She Can't Say That Anymore"
  4. "Quicksand Lovers"
  5. "Rage and Fascination"
  6. "Ballad of Immoral Earnings"
  7. "What's a Girl to Do"
  8. "The Lie of Love"
  9. "Blue Money"
  10. "He Dines Out on Death"
  11. "Things Fall Apart"
  12. "Disco Clone"
  • The version of "Things Fall Apart" on this reissue is taken from the 1982 version of A Christmas Record.
  • The version of "Disco Clone" on this reissue is a 1981 7" remix as opposed to the original 1978 single.
  • Production by Don Was; Reissue production by Scott Davies.

Personnel

with:
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