Front 242 Front By Front CD

The early work of Belgian techno outfit Front 242 was frequently overshadowed by the band's reliance on such influences as Cabaret Voltaire and Kraftwerk. With FRONT BY FRONT, the band's Front 242 album, the band finally came into its own. Using rapid-fire beats, blasts of synthesized vitriol, and samples of everything from children playing to fighter pilot back-chatter, Front 242 makes brutal, politically aggressive dance music.

The album's standouts are "Circling Overland," "Im Rhythmus Bleiben," and the underground hit "Headhunter." The lyric of the first, apparently describing a nighttime military air strike, accompanies a synthetic martial beat and features such niceties as "we don't negotiate." "Im Rhythmus Bleiben" adds gruesome wails and cranks up the BPM significantly. "Headhunter," built around a repeated beat and a synthesized organ sound, abandons all pretenses of pleasantry. The lyrics are overtly threatening, describing hunting humans for profit. Even hard-beat techno is seldom this unforgiving. The CD reissue appends 7 tracks, including remixes that are even more punishing than the originals.

Booklet provides Beats Per Minute (BPM) for each track.Alternative Press (7/95, pp.114-115) - "...An album which put the finishing touches on the design. Rich rhythms, often created by voice manipulations; hard-edged sequencers, offset by angry electronic drums; Front 242 seemed the ultimate in vicious dance..."