Released
1987/1992
Label
Red Rhino Europe
Epic
Reviewed by
Michael C.Lund
Contact
Transmission 242
BP 1613
B1000 Brussels
Visit
Last Edit/Update
01 February, 1998
Front
242
NO COMMENT
Track Listing
1. Commando Mix
2. Deceit
3. Lovely Day
4. No Shuffle
5. Special Forces
6. S.FR Nomenklatura
7. Body to Body*
8. See the Future+
9. In November+
10. Special Forces#
*from E.B.M. Compilation
+Live in Ghent
#Demo version
The last
song on Geography
was "Kampfbereit" ("Ready For Battle"), and on their second album No
Comment, Front 242 indeed went to war. No Comment is a more
organic sounding, more explosive and 'physical,' album than its predecessor. The music is
dominated by deep, throbbing percussion tracks, with many effect sounds, audio samples
(especially from Apocalypse Now), and vocals that at times are reduced to distorted
yells and screams echoing through the sonic chaos -- as if through the underbrush of some
tropical rainforest. This turn towards the more aggressive earned Front 242's
music the predicate of E.B.M. or Electronic Body Music.
No Comment opens with the
more than nine minute long "Commando Mix." Gunshots and battlecries blend in
with the pulsating march of percussion, distorted voices and samples to create a vivid and
intense aural impression of going into battle. The beat deaccelarates a little on the next
track -- "Deceit," although the structure and sound of this song carries on the
ominous tone set by "Commando." "Lovely Day" is more conventionally
arranged, with greater emphasis on vocals and harmonics, while "No Shuffle" and
"Special Forces" return to the threatening sound and 'war themes' that the album
revolves around conceptually. The album closes with another lengthy piece, the inclusion
of which is a little curious; "S.FR Nomenklatura" harks back to the symmetric
and monotone sound design of earlier Front 242, and is essentially an
exploration of the possibilities of combinations and manipulations of one sample, a couple
of synth effects and a percussion loop.
Epic's re-release
contains an additional four traks taken from a number of obscure sources. First is an
extensive reworking of the early song "Body to Body," which originally appeared
on a compilation entitled E.B.M. The addition of more elaborate percussions and a
number of X-rated samples make the song all but unrecognizable. Two live tracks from a
concert in Ghent are also included; these songs sound like Front 242's
other output of this period, and are primarily interesting for documenting just how well
the band managed to carry their sound to the stage at this point in their career. Finally,
a demo version of "Special Forces" is included, which really sounds very similar
to the finished product. Mainly the individual sounds are more isolated on this version,
making the song sound a little stripped on the whole.
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