Front 242 – Front By Front

And the beats go on. This album shows without doubt that FRONT 242 have mastered their own art. "Until Death Us Do Part" for instance is musically not so very different to anything from the previous album, medium-paced, dense electronic mix, yet it's the vocals - full front wall of dark, serious voice & that makes the difference - they've got where they intended to go, so the only thing to do is look around and enjoy the blasted scenery. "Circling Overland" is one of their more simplistic pieces yet is darker than much of their music - like a machine with a malign, singular, crushing idea in mind. "In Rhythmus Bleiben" is a lighter, faster piece, intended no doubt for the dance floor. It falls into the category of a vocal track, although it mainly relies on the repeated chorus raging over the bushfire of last rhythm music. "Felines" is a slower piece which is probably the first track to see the vocalist developing an interesting style which, although often deep, is strong & dark, and the lyrics themselves are probably the most interesting since "Body To Body" & "U-Men". "First In/First Out" comes next, a punchy dance piece, simple, smooth, fairly typical of E.B.M. with 'you like the body/move the body' sung across it, dipping between the various percussive FX. "Blend The Strengths" opens with an Industrial morass of sounds before settling into a catchy dance piece with elements of, say NINE INCH NAILS in it (ie. truncated white fuzz guitar & thick, battering bursts of drum machine). This shows how far they've come - it's fairly complex & experimental with lots of interesting noises churning around inside it. "Headhunter V3.O" comes next, rising Phoenix-like from the morass which concludes the previous track. It's an obvious single with a hard and threatening, militaristic feel & lyrics to match, and an irresistable chant-along chorus. "Work 01" asks 'is this the kind of work you like to do', playing to a discontented generation. Its again typical hard-edged 242 material, showing even their album 'fillers' have become instant classics of Body Music. There's even reference to a mutilated body, for those who thirst for such things. "Terminal State" again brings NIN to mind, a track similar to "Down In It", although with a more mature-yet-typical FRONT sound. There's even some interesting cyberkinetic whirrs somewhere in the mix. "Welcome To Paradise", having one of the few pleasant titles on any of these albums opens with ranting preacher before setting off on a basic but hard dance track using a lot of vox sampling with various religious nuts shouting their mindless ware. "Headhunter V1.O" is a single version taken from the self named 12", a slightly harder, more upfront mix. The next 5 tracks are taken from the "Never Stop!" 12". "Never Stop! V1.0" is another catchy vocal/lyric-heavy piece which is catchy, but lacks the hook of "Headhunter". It concludes, reverses & "Work 242 N.Off Is N.Off" follows on it's heels, a more experimental, interesting piece with moments of fractured sound, others of more bludgeoning drumbeat. Again, strangely enough, there are elements of HUMAN LEAGUE's "Almost Medieval". "Agony (Until Death)" is a version of the opening album track, a more skeletal, ive rendition of this energetic track. "Never Stop! V1. 1" fades in on its heels, a second version of the EP title track. Following similar lines to it's original format, but not going for the jugular quite the same, it has some interesting sounds and some interesting panning devices. "Work 242" is yet another version of this track, this one being the longest track on the entire album. The way they smash into it proves that they have perfected their art, the final track on the final album in this collection confirming to me they have analysed Electronic Body Music, taken what the average person will see as the heart of the beat, and have built a golden shrine of hard dance music around it. The remixes seem to get harder & more adrenaline-stimulating. With this album FRONT 242 have probably arrived at perfect dance music. Where to now?
Well, the obvious answer was "Tyranny For You", which took a couple of steps back on some tracks, allowing them to move forward on the others. And the future? Well, there's an album planned for release in Autumn, and a compilation video entitled "Integration Eight X Ten" which should come out simultaneously.

Perhaps you don't agree with my words - it isn't easy to analyse a group who are yardstick others are measured by, but I hope I have looked deeply enough to interest those who haven't yet heard them or rekindle interest in those who have lost it. These albums sound somehow brighter, fresher, although I'm always a little cynical as to what changes - if any - digital re-mastering could make. The covers are certainly attractive - the transparent / translucent object gaining one spine for each successive album. My only criticism on the packaging front is the lack of BPM settings, which "Tyranny For You" at least had. Perhaps these are unknown, but it would have at least helped the local DJ to keep a constant tempo. I can do no more than recommend you invest in these albums ASAP.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.