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Released
1982/1992
Label
Red Rhino Europe
(New Dance)
Epic
Reviewed by
Michael C. Lund
Contact
Transmission 242
BP 1613
B1000 Brussels
Visit
Last Edit/Update
February 01, 1998
Front
242
GEOGRAPHY
Track Listing
1. Operating Tracks
2. With Your Cries
3. Art & Strategy
4. Geography II
5. U-Men
6. Dialogue
7. Least Inkling
8. GVDT
9. Geography I
10. Black White Blue
11. Kinetics
12. Kampfbereit
13. Ethics**
14. Principles*
15. Body To Body*
*First single -- "Principles"
**B-side to second single -- "U-Men"
Front 242's debut
album release Geography is a true illustration of the maxim: "The medium
is the message." All the songs were recorded on 4 or 8 tracks, exclusively utilizing
synthesizers and synth percussion, and the album in general has a very artificial and
minimalist sound to it. The individual tracks are often monotonous and staccato in their
progressions, as if the arrangements had been calculated mathematically according to some
geometrical design. The means by which the music was generated calls attention to itself
before anything else, but naturally this is also the appeal of the music, and more than
likely the band's intention.
The album as a whole has a nice
conceptual unity to it; the majority of the songs are quite brief, and therefore do not
outstay their welcome despite the monotone arrangements. The richest songs -- and the most
indicative of Front 242's later music -- are probably "Operating
Tracks," "U-Men" and "Kampfbereit," all of which have prominent
vocals and a strong sense of intensity and mystique. In these songs there is an
undercurrent of sad beauty, almost as if something frail and human was struggling to
escape the cage of the machine.
Most of the tracks either make
limited use of vocals, or, have none at all. With their electronic percussion and harmony
loops, these tracks set the tone for the album. "Geography II" is only little
more than a minute long, and features bassy synth drums and some computer generated effect
sounds. Symmetrically placed at the other end of the album, "Geography I" is an
extended -- and slightly more elaborate -- version of "II," with vocals buried
deep in the mix.
The three additional tracks,
featured on Epic's re-release of the CD, are the songs from Front
242's first two single releases. The sound of these recordings is similar to
those of Geography, but, it is obvious that they do not belong on the album.
"Ethics" and "Principles" both have rather busy sound arrangements,
they are lengthier than any of the tracks on the album, and lack the simple integrity
prevalent on Geography. The last track -- "Body to Body" -- more or less
shares the shortcomings of the other two added tracks, however, it is a more interesting
song, because it -- with its bassy, throbbing rhythm scheme -- more than any other track
on the entire CD, points the way of the later Front 242 sound.
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