Style: EBM
Primary Emotions/Themes: Primitive and visceral EBM
Thoughts: Front 242 were one of the main bands in the 80's EBM (electronic body music) scene. They helped create both the auditory and visual styles that are now synonymous with the genre with their uncompromising visions.
Front by Front is a no frills EBM album. There are not thousands of layers and complex drum beats that drive the listener to dig deep into the mix to find all the small details. No... this is vocals, a flat drum track and bleeps and bloops for the melody. That's it... maybe three to four things going on at once, and it's utterly glorious.
The sound design is really what draws me to this album. The instruments are so obviously created from artificial means that it creates a stark inhuman element to the music. It's dry, it's cold and it feels like it was created as an example of what music can be without a human component.
Front by Front is the kind of album I put on when I want something as straight forward as possible. The album glorifies simplicity, it extols repetition, and it abhors complexity. It's exceedingly difficult to do all of that and still create an album as catchy and solid as Front 242 have here.
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