Front 242: album reviews and ratings

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Reviews & Recommendations

1 - You lock the target 2 - You bait the line 3- You slowly spread the net & 4 - You catch the man -- Headhunter - Front242	Front 242

Artist Listing:

S - Z

Line Up:
- Daniel Bressanutti (keyboards/mixing desk)
- Patrick Codenys (keyboards)
- Jean-Luc De Meyer (lyrics, vocals)
- Richard 23 (percussion, vocals)

"The most exciting thing to come out of Belgium since the old 8-mile Spa-Francochamps. The creators of that most delicious of genres, EBM (Electronic Body Music), having started off sounding a little like a Kraftwerk derivative, before branching into a sound partially reminiscent of the industrial sound of the time, but without the guitars or experimental indulgences. "

-- eraseronline.com

Front 242 Discography - Album / CD Reviews

1982: Geography
The first Front 242 full length album, including their earlier work from 1981-1982. Not dissimilar to early Depeche Mode and Cabaret Voltaire, and hence not very representative of Front 242's career as forefathers of aggressive Electronic Body Music.

1984: No Comment
Track Listing: 1-Commando Mix 2- Deceit 3-Lovely Day 4-No Shuffle 5-Special Forces 6-S. Fr. Nomenklatura (Parts I & II)

1987: Back Catalogue
"The compilation 'Backcatalogue' brings together a comprehensive selection of Front 242's musical output from the first five years of their existence. The material is presented chronologically, beginning with some of the more dynamic tracks off 'Geography', and ending with two live tracks originally released as a limited 7" that came with early copies of 'No Comment'. The two EPs 'Endless Riddance' and 'Politics of Pressure' are presented without ommisions and, except for one song (Deceit), 'No Comment' too is included in its entirety. "

-- lastsigh.com

1987: Official Version
"With 'Official Version', they refined the ingredients of EBM for good: hardhitting rhythms, harsh electronics, lots of samples, distorted and aggressive vocals. The first track, 'W.Y.H.I.W.Y.G.' (the abbreviation for 'What You Hear Is What You Get') describes best what the listener have to expect from the next hour on, 'Rerun Time' and 'Television Station' are hitting in the same notch. 'Agressiva Due' lives up to it´s title - a wild and short outburst. (...) Although 'Official Version' didn´t spawned a massive club hit like 'Headhunter', it paved the way for the future of EBM and Industrial, and this album was the breakthrough which gained Front 242 a wider public. "

-- 80sxchange.com

½ 1988: Front By Front
"With 'Front by Front' Front 242 made a giant leap forward. Combining hard, EBM beats to politically motivated lyrics, this album served both as a 'how to' to other bands in making aggressive dance music, and also as a statement in its own right. Many will know Headhunter as the album's centerpiece and highlight, but there is much more to admire here. Circling Overland is as ominous as it sounds, all forboding bass and dense electronics layering a song about war and aerial attacks by bomber planes. First In First Out shows they could also make modern, more commercial sounding dance music if they really wanted to and what is more, it sounded much better than most other groups' efforts, and also was ahead of many other groups in making that kind of music. Never Stop is a classic Front 242 song. Much more accessible than much of 242's work, it features a strong beat and shifting bass combining it into a strong, dance song. Of course Headhunter is the star and there are two versions of it on here. A band at their peak making strong, excellent aggressive dance music. This is a must have for fans of the EBM/hard dance genre."

-- Jay M "jay_mc", customer review, amazon.com, 01/04

1991: Tyranny For You
"... what we have here is Front 242 treading water, coming up once again against the limits of their sound and capabilities. This is, of all things, a run of the mill, meat and potatoes Front 242 album. It's actually not bad and should prove eminently serviceable as they attempt to gain a foothold in the affections of the Americans (Nitzer Ebb and Adamski are among those who have done well over there in the slipstream of New Order and Depeche Mode). Moldavia is good, a stretched sub-DAF riff roasted by the blast of NASA rocket engines, as are the suppressed, Gregorian hues of The Untold. And Neurobashing is stripped and stark for maximum dancefloor efficiency. But these are additions to, rather than extensions of, what they've achieved previously. "

-- David Stubbs - Melody Maker

1993: 06:21:03:11 Up Evil
"06:21:03:11 Up Evil sees the group surging strongly in the direction of the musical mainstream (...) The main reason for the shift in style seems to have been the recent change in the group's lineup. Richard JK (aka Richard 23) has been pretty much sidelined, and is credited only with some of the vocals on the album, while new members Jean-Marc and Pierre Pauly have taken over lyric-writing and added their names to the compositional team. (...) The songs themselves are often smoother in sound and more melodic, although those who like their Front 242 with more of an edge shouldn't be disappointed either, as there's plenty of that too. "

-- Al Crawford

1993: 05:22:09:12 Off
"A combination remix collection and wholly separate album, 05:22:09:12 Off (aka Evil Off) is a semi-sequel to 06:21:03:11 Up Evil, appearing about six months after the release of the first disc. Not only is it a fine companion piece to the earlier disc, it easily stands on its own, finding the band thoroughly engaged in some of its most extreme, experimental music ever. A fair amount of the record is given over to darker plunges, with grinding industrial noise and moody, rumbling sonics used as the basis for many a composition, while other songs explicitly flirt with hardcore techno via hyperactive rhythms."

-- Ned Raggett , allmusic.com

½ 1998: Re:Boot Live 98
A live best-of collection taken from 97-98 european tours.

2003: Still & Raw (EP)
Tracklisting: 1. 7Rain, 2. Loud, 3. Strobe, 4. Collision, 5. 7Rain (Ghost), 6. Strobe (Fragments).
"Electronic Body Music originators and out and out electronic music legends Front 242 are back ! Patrick Codenys, Jean-Luc De Meyer, Daniel Bressanutti, Richard 23 and A.Chandler raise the curtain on their soon to be released, first full length album in 10 years with this 6 track limited and numbered European only EP. In 242's own words: "This EP maxi repositions the group in accordance to their first / original music: a type of pure and raw music. The compositons are simple and certainly a lot calmer : which doesn't necesarily mean that the music represents an album of the future, but in this case I believe that we wanted to re-find certain of our own characteristics / the identity of our initial style, a sound that is linked to the purity of our synthesis like our first album 'Geography'."

-- musicnonstop.co.uk

2003: Pulse
Tracklisting:
01. Seq666 P
02. Seq666 U
03. Seq666 L
04. Seq666 S
05. Seq666 E
06. Together 07. Triple x Girlfriend 08. NoMore - NoMore 09. Beyond the scale of comprehension 10. Song Untitled 11. Song StarCandy 12. One - with the Fire 13. One reverse 14. Matrix OpenStatic 15. Matrix MegaHertz 16. Never Lost Faust 17. Never Lost Riley 18. 7Rain Filter 19. Pan Dhe 20. Pan Mihk
"... The gang is back with not one, but two offerings: the full-length 'Pulse' and the 'Still and Raw' EP. The six-song EP Still and Raw is surprisingly the better and more coherent effort. (...) Most [of the tracks on 'Pulse'] are instrumental electronic pieces, marrying 242's recognizable keyboards-and-drum machine marches with the more meandering nature experimental electronica and IDM. While I'm all for experimentation—bring on the spaced-out button-pushing jams of Aphex Twin—Front 242's harder, industrial version is just repetitive. The first track just goes on and on—until you realize it's actually five interrelated songs, a pointless experimental exercise that results in nothing but eroded patience on behalf of the listener. As if to reward you for staying on to track 6, Together is a more predictable vocal song that'd be at home on the 'Still and Raw' EP. Then comes the whispery horror of Triple X Girlfriend, the closest thing to a slow-jam you'll ever hear from an industrial band. This unevenness continues throughout the rest of the CD—good songs, followed by uninteresting instrumentals, punctuated every so often by something thoroughly awful. While it's admirable that Front 242 aren't afraid to explore new avenues, it's a shame they didn't find something more interesting while they were traipsing about.

-- Laura Tiffany, plume-noire.com

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Recommended Links:

front242.com
Front 242 fan page
> Evil.E <'s Front 242 website