Customer Reviews

No Comment [Vinyl]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When i listen to the music Front 242 were doing at the time, I always feel I am listening at how a style was being born and making its first steps towards what was to come.However, this was also good in itself and deserves many and many listenings. The album begins with an interesting almost instrumental song, with interesting percussion and sounds, 'Commando'. We can find another version in 'Endless Riddance'. The album gets more pop with 'Lovely Day' and 'No shuffle', this last one with a dirtier sounds than the single version. Both are very good songs, more danceable than the 'Geography' material, better done. 'Deceit' is a decent EBM song, but not awesome. 'Special Forces' is less cathy than 'No shuffle' or 'Lovely day' but with good samples. 'Body to body' is an example of the EBM Front 242 are most known for, even though I think it's simpler and more pop than later songs. 'Nomenklatura' is an instrumental song with a sample repeating all over the two parts it's divided into. It gets very repetitive, and I usually skip it after a couple of minutes. Quite boring. 'See the future' is a live song, I think there's no studio version of this one: anyway, it's quite atmospheric, not very special. 'In November' is catchier but unoriginal, similar to 'Geography' songs.
Overall, this album is necessary for those who want to understand the evolution of this type of music which made possible the appearance of such wonderful bands such as Front Line Assembly or 'Nitzer Ebb'. Very recommendable, even though it sounds old, it doesn't sound outdated.

While Geography is perhaps a little too syrupy, this is the real deal in comparison. The beats are more militant, the synths sound colder and at times the whole sound is much more harsher than Geography. There's not one track on this album I can fault but Special Forces is amazing. The chorus is really powerful - the synths sound like they're going all-out on a nuclear attack. S.FR.Nomenklatura is where it reaches it's most noisiest and abrasive. And Body to Body is an addictively fast catchy song that does beat the original for sheer energy. Perhaps this album may not be as technically good as Front To Front or Evil Off or whatever but the album is all heart and that's the way it should be sometimes

No Comment is Front 242's recordings 1984 and 1985 and showcases mid 80's ebm at its best. The sounds is not as rough as that of Skinny Puppy and the sounds are not as polished as that of sunth pop bands. There are many good tracks on this album, for instance lovely day, body to body to mention a few. Commando mix is also great but I wonder what song it is a commando mix of. The covert art was state of the art computer graphics at the time and replaced the less then inspiring first cover. There is no booklet at all and I find that to be a cheap move on beahalf of Play it Again Sam Records. The photos in the sleeve look like they were taken by friends and not by a photographer. This is a very well produced and recorded album that I highly reccomend.

The sound that Front 242 should have returned to with their abysmal revival album 'Pulse'. This is some of my favorite work by the group. And 'Deceit' is oddly enough, potentially their best and least mentioned track. Overshadowed as it was by the popularity of the up-tempo 'Lovely Day' and 'Special Forces' hits. You could slip 'Deceit' onto any contemporary electro act's CD and it would be a modern sensation.

The 'No Comment' compilation has been described as the "leftovers" during their re-release project in the 90s. However, in many ways these songs ended up ageing least or best in the new century. I don't believe we were ready to revisit this album in the 90s, where the fat analog sound of acid house reigned and these tracks sounded 'soooo eighties' and ancient. This was the past moment when 'Geography' sounded timeless and your younger friends had to check the copyright date on your LP. Now, in the age of the SidStation, the modulation wheel has turned and this album could be very inspiring indeed for the electro-kids.

If you are a front 242 fan, i mean a real fan, go ahead and spend the 13 bucks on this cd. i got my original print version at a used cd store for 4 bucks so 13 is steep. but to brag about your cd collection you should consider this one. its from 1988, pre headhunter days, back when electonic music was in the infant stage of greatness, but it still rules.