•
Rating: Take Kraftwerk, give them a coat of black, throw them into hell, and you'll get something akin to the sound of Front 242.
"Front by Front" is perhaps their best album. We're in 1988, and EBM is a genre about to be swallowed by the mainstream (the single Headhunter is proof of that), but Front 242 successfully merges commercial possibilities with a good creative streak and experimentation.
The album opens with the emphatic synths of Until Death, a gloomy and dark song capable of hypnotizing with its cadenced rhythms and sinister vocals, and continues with Circling Overland, even darker and more martial. Worth noting, in my opinion, is the spectacular and adrenaline-pumping (and sacrilegious) Welcome to Paradise, in addition to the aforementioned hit Headhunter.
The tone of the album remains at these standards, with metallic percussion and minimalist sounds distorting cold and alienating melodies, a sound that speaks of the outskirts and social marginalization, able to enchant and engage with its alluring electronic vibrations.
Many have not forgiven them for being popular even outside the electro-industrial circle (especially in America, where they were "played" in many clubs), and indeed, with subsequent works, they may have raised some doubts. Nonetheless, this "Front By Front" remains an important chapter in the history of this musical genre and has influenced many groups, including recently the Prodigy, who have also remixed some of their tracks.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Circling Overland (04:45)
1-1-2029, the stars are shining bright
Nerves connected to the center, we are tied to the machine
Invisible and silent, circling overland
The planemakers designed us to outturn and outmaneuver
Intruders in the skies, intruders in our skies
1-1-2029, tonight the stars are shining bright
Backbone of the fighter force, of the defence industry,
Devoted tools of the power, warrants of the order
1-1-2029 tonight the stars are shining bright
Silicon advisers leading the way
We reach our cruising altitude
1-1-2029, West Europe, midnight
Invisible and silent, circling overland
Scanning, taping, filing, instantly checking
Every human, car and plane of the quarters we survey
CIRCLING OVERLAND
CIRCLING OVERLAND
03 Im Rhythmus bleiben (04:14)
Einatmen, ausatmen, einatmen, ausatmen
Im Rhythmus bleiben, im Rhythmus bleiben
Was soll ich tun?
Im Rhythmus bleiben, im Rhythmen bleiben
ALLES WAS DRIN IST
DUE / QUATRO / DUE
RAUS! RAUS!
04 Felines (03:37)
They come to track down the sobbing
They come to sully the sorrow
To see the bloody insides
To eat their fill of dispair
They come to track down the sobbing
To pulverize the most intimate pains
Let's feed the felines
Bury your head in the sand or go round in circles
Deeply caught in their conceit
They gather to check their luck
The vultures sweeping down upon the street
To eat their fill of despair
Let's feed teh felines...
08 Work 01 (03:29)
Is this the kind of work you'd like to do?
Tonight I meet my friends
Together we celebrate...
The body mutilated
Another mutilated body
We have agreed to try hypnosis
Have you gone completely mad?
I wake up freezing bleeding in the basement
Oh my head, I don't remember anything
I guess the night was exciting
Listen carefully!
When I'm clear I happen to regret
All the losses I will never retrieve
Hey you, hey me, carcass in the mirror
As hard as a rock and selfish to the core
Water, water everywhere
I've been waiting for the good times
I nostri sogni sono sempre presenti
All the bodies mutilated in the same obscene manner
Loading comments slowly
