FRONT 242
Last Updated
Friday, August 25, 2000

          Within the field of pure electronic music, there have been only a handful of bands of the stature and influence of Front 242 in the past two decades. From the beginning they were compared to Kraftwerk, Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft and Depeche Mode, although Front 242 themselves were quick to claim that they were much more influenced by architecture than by other music -- which they saw as sterile at the time. The band has also been adamant in explaining away the labelling of their music by journalists as EBM or Industrial. Keyboardist Patrick Codenys has commented that Front 242's reliance on technology to compose their music is merely the band's attempt to be "...people of [their] time;" the machines are only the tools employed by Front 242 to make their music, the music in itself is "...not techno."
          The output of Front 242 is highly conceptual and now. Vocalist Jean-Luc De Meyer has stated: "We don't want to say anything to the people. We just take samples from the world around us, the news, television, movies, the street. . . We act as a reflection of what's happening and what's interesting in the world." The name Front 242, too, has no meaning as such, but was chosen by the band primarily for its design possibilities. Front 242 has in all respects managed to maintain total control of their music and image: the music is produced by themselves, and everything relating to publicity, graphics and design is likewise conceptualized and created by the members of the band themselves.

          Front 242 was conceived by Daniel Bressanutti and Dirk Bergen in 1981, and by the end of the year they managed to have their first 7" -- Principles -- released on a small label called New Dance. Patrick Codenys (keyboards) and Jean-Luc De Meyer (vocals) came onboard the following year, and a second single -- U-Men -- was released, again on New Dance. At the end of 1982, the band signed on with Red Rhino Europe, on which they released Geography -- their first full-length album. The music was written exclusively by Daniel Bressanutti, who -- to this day -- despite his central role in Front 242 remains withdrawn in public respects, and at concerts appear at the sound board rather than on stage.
          Geography already displayed the cold, synthetic brand of dance music that would become Front 242's signature sound in the following years. The album was a relative commercial success, but the music press had little sympathy for the band, which was seen as lacking all the traditional qualities and elements of rock 'n roll.

          Following the release of Geography, Dirk Bergen left Front 242 to concentrate on managing the band. In his place former roady, and friend of the band, Richard (JK) 23 joined the active line-up. Initially Richard 23's most vital role was in the live performances, where he functioned as a one-man chorus for Jean-Luc De Meyer, and  provoked audience response with his active stage presence and repetition of slogan-like vocals. The live performances became notorious amongst fans for their high intensity and physicality. Patrick Codenys in one interview ascribed Front 242's lasting success to the fact that they as a band manage to translate   the dynamic qualities of their music into their live performances, something, which he  judges most synth-based bands are unable to do.
          1983 saw the release of an EP -- Endless Riddance -- as well as a re-release by New Dance of the first two singles under the title Two-In-One.

          Front 242 toured the United States for the first time in 1985, with Ministry as their supporting act. No Comment -- the second full-length album -- was released the same year, in connection with which the band developed their characteristic commando-terrorist image.
          With No Comment, Front 242 became the bestselling and most popular Belgian band in their home country. The term Electronic Body Music surfaced to describe the synthetic and physically charged qualities of their music, and a wave of imitators began to emerge, releasing electronic dance music in the vein of the Front.
          At the same time the press began to decry Front 242 as fascist, and connected them with various right-wing groups. In a recent interview, Jean-Luc De Meyer stated that the only regret of his music career was the confusion surrounding Front 242's political leanings in the mid-80s. Now, as then, Front 242 disclaims any such political relations -- they only reserve their right to "freedom of artistic expression."
          Another EP -- The Politics Of Pressure -- was released at the end of the year, containing two tracks from No Comment together with a pair of new songs.

          The international breakthrough came for Front 242 in 1987, following their signing of a two album contract with Wax Trax in the United States. The first release of the year was yet another single -- Interception (featuring the tracks "Quite Unusual" and "Aggressiva"). Later the same year followed two albums: Backcatalogue -- a compilation of tracks taken from Geography and No Comment, as well as the EPs Endless Riddance and Politics Of Pressure in their entirety, and Official Version -- the third full-length release of original material, and greatest commercial success up to that point. This album had a more busy soundpicture in contrast to the minimalism of the first two, and it was also the first release upon which all four members of the band contributed musical ideas. The single Masterhit was released at the end of the year as a follow-up to the album.

          On their album release Front By Front of 1988, Front 242 took their sound to its logical extreme. Preceded by the dance-club hit single Headhunter, and its prize-winning video (directed by Anton Corbijn), Front By Front was the band's hitherto most streamlined and dance-oriented release, with an index/bpm chart displayed on the sleeve for DJ convenience. Likewise, on the follow-up tour to the release, Front 242's guerrilla live-style had been tuned to perfection. The band appeared in black leather body suits, with dark shades, and chordless microphones attached to their heads; laserbeams and strobe effects swept over the stage and audience; and the songs were reproduced and performed with militant precission at a break-neck pace.
          The single Never Stop!, which in all respects sounds like an extra track off Front By Front, followed early in 1989.

(Photo by Anton Corbijn)

          For their next album release, Front 242 was approached by EPIC, who saw Front 242's music as potentially very bankable, following the recent success of Depeche Mode in the United States. Front 242 signed with EPIC on the condition that they maintain full artistic control of both the music and graphic design of future releases. In the next two years EPIC not only released Tyranny For You, but also the entire back catalogue of Front 242 was re-released domestically in the US with additional material and new covers.
          Two different versions of Tragedy For You -- the first single off the album Tyranny For You -- were released in 1990. The sound of this single differed somewhat from Front 242's previous releases by its richer and more varied sound. In an interview with Melody Maker in 1991 concerning the relese of Tyranny For You, the band explained that they were trying to incorporate more human feelings and values into their music. The use of the word "tyranny" in the title of the album was to be understood in an artistic sense. As Richard 23 explained: "It's not the dark side of tyranny, where we're compelling [people] to do things. We just want the audience's undivided awe." Patrick Codenys added that the "dictatorship" of Front 242 is "benign," since it is based on the support of a big audience.
          In addition to the album, Front 242 released a remix-album of the track "Gripped By Fear," and "Rhythm Of Time" was issued as a regular single.

          Aside from the "official" release of a live bootleg (Live Target) in 1992, a pause of more than two years followed. When Front 242 resurfaced at the end of 1993, it was with a radically new sound, and two new CDs -- 06:21:03:11 Up Evil and 05:22:09:12 Off -- released within a few months of each other. The band reaffirmed their desire for greater emphasis on content in their music in the 90s, as well as their attempt to move in a new direction musically. At the time, Patrick Codenys commented that ". . . electronic music is going toward an end," and the band therefore strove to incorporate guitars, guest vocals and other new elements into their sound. In an article in NME in 1996, Front 242 went so far as to admit a debt to such bands as Nine Inch Nails and Ministry on Up Evil.
          The sound on both CDs is extremely rich and layered, and Front 242 enlisted the services of a number of production people and musicians, most notably 99 Kowalski who performs the majority of the vocals on 05:22:09:12 Off. Patrick Codenys explained that Up Evil is the opposite of Off; the two CDs are based on the duality of good and evil. While Up Evil utilizes guitars extensively and has a more chaotic sound, Off is a more melodic CD with the female vocals of Kowalski giving the music a sense of beauty not normally present in Front 242's music.

          Recent years have seen the members of Front 242 taking a break to pursue various solo projects such as Cobalt 60 and Cybertec. The band has produced no original compositions since the two CDs released at the end of 1993. However, 1996 did see the concert-CD Live Code released, as well as the long-awaited remix-album Mutage Mixage, on which Front 242 along with The Orb, Underworld and The Prodigy reworked a number of old songs to fit the techno-oriented dance trends of the moment.
          In the latter half of 1997 Front 242 toured extensively with a comprehensive program of old material. The songs were all rearranged in depth for the tour, and were according to some reports all but totally unrecognizable from the originals. Spring of 1998 will had Cybertec on tour in the US, and thus the hopes for new material by Front 242 seemed unlikely. However, in 1998, Metropolis Records released the live performances from 1997 and 1998 in Brussels and Kortrijk on Reboot. Metropolis took the lack of new material to heart, and released the Headhunter 2000 remixes double CD with bands performing their versions of "Headhunter" including; Front Line Assembly, Aqualite, Haujobb, Beefcake, Xingu Hill, Talla 2XLC, Doug Laurent, Noisex, Substanz T., Apoptygma Berserk, Leaether Strip, Funker Vogt, Empirion, Galan Pixs, Resistance D, Suspicious, and Space Frog.
          The fall of 2000 has Front 242 slated for a brief North American tour from the east to the west coast consisting so far of less than half a dozen venues.

(Photos by Front242.com et al.)

Read our interviews with Patrick Codneys in 1998 and 1999.

[Updated 25, August, 2000 by K.A.Alexander]