Caustic Grip

Front Line Assembly | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 11, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Roadrunner Records
• ASIN: B000000H76
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #229,819 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars cyberpunk culture pre world wide web, November 14, 2003

By 

"noizeterror" (Kansas City, MO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caustic Grip (Audio CD)

The first electro-industrial song I ever heard was Provision off of this album. That was 12 years ago. I discovered Willam Gibson's Neuromancer and the movie Bladerunner that same day. I have been a devoted electro-industrial slave ever since. How can this even be compard to NIN or Skinny Puppy? In no universe is this the same genre.

I have over 2000+ albums and cd's of mostly electro-industrial, noize, power electronics, dark ambient, and all the new school sing-songy electro groups and I find myself coming back to this time and time again.

It is special because it documents pre- world wide web and the industrial cyberpunk scene of the late 80s. The mantra was Bladerunner (not The Matrix, we hadn't experienced the tech boom or Wired magazine yet), Laether Strip, Klute, 242, Funkervogt, and pure dance floor violence( we didn't call ourselves rivetheads and strap PVC pipe to our bodies either). The world had just started raving, grunge had not come on the scence, and punk was turning emo. Bill Leeb lived within a few miles of William Gibson in the western tech utopia of Vancouver. This is what the music is about.

New FLA suffers from overproduction, fascination with equipment that lets you create any sound, and a overuse of layered sequencing. This is powerful in its simplicty, after listening to something like Imminent Starvation or Somantic Reponses this is refreshing. And no Rhys induced headbanging guitars!

Caustic Grip is a classic, and the time and place it was created in is key. I recently rebought the CD as the first one I had from a decade or so ago is actually worn out.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than three cups of coffee in the morning, May 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Caustic Grip (Audio CD)

When this disc came out in 1990, it was just about the most aggressive industrial dance album out there. It hasn't aged well in this regard, but it still stands as a classic work of its time, and it established FLA as a giant in the genre. From the electro-punk of "Overkill" to the heavily sequenced industrial classics "Provision" and "Iceolate," "Caustic Grip" stomps forcefully through your eardrums at a near-steady 120-bpm clip. If you're looking for a quick energy boost, this disc will fit the bill--just don't expect happy, hi-NRG music; this is dark, dark stuff. Every picture tells a story, and the cover art speaks volumes.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a dated classic, May 24, 2002

By 

"mutante" (germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caustic Grip (Audio CD)

caustic grip by front line assembly is without a doubt one of the classics of industrial. it has a cold, mechanic sound, not as furious as let's say ministry or godflesh, but much more bleak, more mechanical. the album is mainly driven by its distorted basslines and vocals, with samples, complex programming and synths layered on top of it. lyrical themes are typically FLA, with a futuristic approach toward alienation through technology and corporate control. there are two reasons i don't rate this higher. while it is a cohesive listen it also is fairly repetetive and also it sounds dated. especially when it is compared to the likes of skinny puppy, front 242 or ministry, who released albums around the same time which sound much fresher today (ministry - mind is a terrible thing to taste, skinny puppy - too dark park, front 242 - tyranny for you)
altogether a good album, although flawed. recommended