Front 242 - Geography

Another victim of the loudness war. Music like this should not be compressed so heavily and constantly pegging 0db - you need those clicks and bleeps to have some punch. Unfortunately, that kind of ruins it for me. Also, I'm not sure why they combined Ethics, Principles, and Body To Body on one hidden track - they were included as separate tracks on the 1992 release so why not here? Complaints aside, it was cool to hear some tracks in their earlier projects, and how one's ambient style and another's rock style joined forces. The rest on disc two are nothing special, mostly for completists. For a less minimal version of See The Future, check the 1992 re-issue of No Comment.

Front 242 - The Masters of EBM and Industrial. This album contains some harsh and dirty synthesizer and percussion sounds. And it gets to that point where you don't think that they made this album (or any of their other works) with electronic instruments. It feels like that they was just making it with hammers and other INDUSTRIAL tools. Heh, but no. This album rocks! If you are the fan of good old Industial or/and EDM - don't skip this one, give it a try. Because you don't have to look farther than this one... RESPECT!

The reissue of "Geography", originally released 22 years ago, gives a historic insight of Front 242, these remarkable artists who, in their times, stunned the pop music world. The cultural context of 1982 was dominated by political cynism (Thatcher, Reagan) and the materialism of the yuppies who liked a bland music which was already a prey to mercantile considerations. The punk rebellion wasn't clever enough to break this system. Then, these four "warlike insects" rose up, as much influenced by the pictorial avant-gardes of the last century than by television's news. Their way of doing was radical, and their aesthetics was rough and even "terrorist". The only European cousins of Front 242 were called D.A.F, Fad Gadget, Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire. They were geographically isolated, but they shared the same idea that sound creation and plastic arts are one, and that it should be practised with a philosophy close to electro-acoustic researches. Later, it was said that the members of Front 242 were the first sound designers of techno. Indeed, "Geography" is in the line of the irreverent DIY inherited from punk music. We feel that the band didn't have a very modern equipment (which was very expensive then), but they already know how to deal with these unstable monsters that were the first digital synthesizers which were available to everybody. At first, the icy vocal entices you. It reminds a kind of mutating Joy Division, probably the sublimated version of New Order in gestation. The cover was totally coherent with the "basic product" that the band controlled from start to finish. The record company didn't have any control over these home studio musicians who evolved in an artistical desert. The first round was won, then they'll have to face the conservatism of rock music who was really shocked there wasn't any guitars on stage. "Geography" is the Galileo of modern music. Right in the middle of rock'n'roll's obscurantism, it announced the radical advent of Detroit techno, of New York hip-hop and of Chicago house. Later, some tried to burn these wizards and to hush their influence, but if it's easy to persecute human beings, the sound stays elusive. The hardcore fans of the band will rejoice to learn that the limited edition of the record goes with novelties, demos and live recordings. This is a bonus in this remastering and dusting off work of the original album. A cult record!

This issue enhances the experience from the original "Geography" album - but the best thing is the extra disc with previously unreleased material, which contains pre-242 track and other rarities.

And yes, the limited edition is 6200 copies.

Buy it! Steal it! Rob a decent musicstore to get this one if you don't own the cash and play it at home, LOuD and 'on repeat'. This s pure clean early '80's EBM stuff with a decent soft industrial wink, those times when some were so innovative in creating & discovering sounds. No crap here. This re-issued album (very good remastered)+ the many xtra tracks r a monument in musichistory and it proofs again how innovative Front 242 was.It s something to die for.....

PS : i had read in a mail the ltd total was increased to 6200.

During the second half of the 80's Front 242 was of major importance on the swedish electro scene, although being belgian. Geography is one of the best albums from Front 242 with its basic electronic sounds and beats, lovely metallic ambience in some tunes and most of the time minimal amount of variations in both music and vocals. Of course the very belgian english accent is there, in all its cuteness and so typical for the 80's electro vocalists from Europe (belgian, german, scandinavian etc). Although Front 242 lyrics are both in english, german and french at times. The vocals are most of the time attempting to be basic and raw, then suddenly switching to become soft and kind of melodic, which is at times quite funny. Many of the voice samples used on this and other Front 242 albums are recycled in electro tunes on the scene today.

Geography is of course a child of its time and should be regarded for what it is. However, it made a difference back then and is representative for a sort of electro sound being very popular in the mid 80's around northern Europe and Scandinavia. Geography should definitively be taken into account when talking about the scene at that time, so listen to it and give Geography 2 & U-Men a go!
Obviously some of the tunes from this album are one of my favourites when it comes around for a ride down 'memory lane'.