Customer Reviews

Official Version

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A friend introduced me to Industrial, EBM, Acid, and other sounds way back in 1990 while we were still in high school. What I never could've imagined is that I'd still be listening to them some 15 years later! This is testament to the genius that many of those bands were, but who never got to be appreciated by the mainstream quite the way they deserved. Official Version was to me THE album that defined Front 242's style and sound, with tracks like "Masterhit" and "Quite Unusual". I never get tired of playing this and other 242 albums, but I do go through streches of time when I don't listen to them and then I get to "rediscover" their beats and melodic sounds that really get the body moving. Front 242's Official Version. What a great band and what a great album!!

242's most remarkable album. This one had a profound effect on me in 1987. To this day I still can hear Jean Luc DeMeyer's vocals in my head ("Hey man you better move aside or I'll run you over..."-Television Station/ "The way the morning broke was quite unusual..."-Quite Unusual/ "It's a carnage, it's a carnage...official version..."-Slaughter). This album was a huge cold war statement and at the time really prevailed as well as 1988's VIVIsectVI by Skinny Puppy. Front 242 are THE prolific pioneers of the EBM movement. Bands like Funker Vogt, In Strict Confidence, VNV Nation, Informatik, etc. are obviously heavily influenced by 242. A "Tour De Force" album and by far my favorite!

I was a big Front 242 fan in high school, and now, a decade later, I have begun listening to their music again with a new appreciation for how far ahead of their time this band truly was. This music was created 15 years ago, but still sounds like it is too perfect to be for real. This may not be my favourite album of theirs, but it is certainly the album I respect the most considering what their peers were putting out at the time. Its too bad 242 weren't as commercially successful as Nine Inch Nails or Depeche Mode, but then again, pop culture has often failed to appreciate genius in its time. The writing is dark and brilliant, the beats are tight, there is not a false note on the album. "Quite unusual" is the best track- apocalyptic yet pulsating with energy.

By incorporating some pop melodies into their barely human soundscapes, Front 242 prove they are capable of making a consistently accessible and enjoyable album. "Masterhit" even sounds like Depeche Mode at their best, and the rhythm backing is awesome. Less one-dimensional than previous or subsequent releases (like the forced "Front by Front"), this album also was their commercial breakthrough. Without ever making compromises on this album, Front manage it to appeal both to fans and the masses. This is really their best album and it's a must-have for every fan of electronical music.

"Official Version" shows Front 242 finding for the first time the nuances, production values, and maturity that make them a classic group. Compared to "Geography", their previous full length, this album is much more powerful, layered, melodic and memorable. It's also consistent. The use of rhythmic, spliced samples is prevalent, and the synth work has grown beyond "tweaking" into full blown melodicism. Every song is a constantly shifting patchwork of sounds.

Jean Luc de Meyer is obviously much more comfortable with his elegant, low, smooth voice here. His vocal hooks provide most of the memorable moments on "Official Version". Unlike all but the best of "Geography", these lyrics are hard NOT to memorize. You'll have "The way morning broke was quite unusual" (Quite Unusual) and "It's up to you to decide!" (Agressiva Due) running through your head for days. Every lyric seems to function as a catchy, anthemic slogan, and yet they are all so meaningful. The attitude here is classic 242: clinical and analytic, yet socially conscious, mature and honest.

This album is FULL of classics. "Masterhit" is a danceable song with a beautiful, tasteful refrain that proves that an absurdly catchy EBM chorus need not be irritating or lacking in depth. "Quite Unusual" is a similarly wonderful dance track. "Rerun Time" shows their newfound ability to build tension over the course of a song. "Television Station" is one of my favorite tracks... a 2 minute build up that starts off sounding like late Skinny Puppy with a disjointed rhythm, whispered vocals and airy atmospherics (think "Mirror Saw" from Last Rights), and culminates in an indescribable melodic flourish.

There are several tracks here that branch into new directions, different from anything 242 have ever done. "Red Team" is such a track; a monologue over beautiful synth washes. de Meyer's political and intelligent lyrics shine here. The song is written from the perspective of the aggressor... "My willingness to destroy is your chance for improvement".

I could go on about every track here, but I've already written enough. Suffice to say "Official Version" is near perfect, and one of the absolute classics of 80's electronic music/industrial/EBM, on par with Skinny Puppy's "VIVIsect VI", Clock DVA's "Buried Dreams", Depeche Mode's "Black Celebration" and others. 5 stars.

Vengeful synths and angry rhythms, what else could we expect from Belgium's finest EBM group.

What sets this album apart from the rest though is the skill of the song structures. No track feels like it's going nowhere, this is the sound of a band who knows what it wants.

The opener, 'W.Y.H.I.W.Y.G'(What you hear is what you get) is an instrumental with menacing rhythms, but never too noisy to detract from the pleasure of listening. It is worth emphasising that, though influencing many of todays 'noise' and 'industrial' groups, Front 242 never overwhelmed the listener with noise. Every note can be heard, the force comes in the expression.

'Re-run' features Jean-Luc De Meyer in full force, his snarling tongue expressing the bands viewpoint with venom over an array of 80's synths and drumbeats.

The standout track has to be 'Quite Unusual' with it's suprisingly melodic touches.

Overall a great introduction to the sound of Front 242, and a landmark for all industrial music.

If you were expecting more fire in Geography may be partially pleased with this album . Although this is not full out war which Ministry's Twitch is .... the result is a band steadily becoming more aggressive and progressive . One to enjoy

So many *techno* albums these days sound like a runaway amusement park ride, lights flashing, samples of the crowd going wild, loud loud loud. Front 242 is anything but that. It's soothing, but not in a corny "new age" way. It's cold, calculated, precise, and gorgeous. I love dancing, but I don't classify this as a dance album. Also, to say some of the songs sound "almost like Depeche Mode" is rather an insult to Front 242!

Electronica wasn't always about "Everybody say 'Yeah!'"

This album was a taste of things to come, i.e. "Front By Front", and was typical of Front 242's militant but strangely comforting (Jean-Luc's voice?) synth sound. "Masterhit" and "Re-run Time" are pure genius with their exciting, expectant dancefloor sound. Their use of synths, samples and loops on this CD was superior for its time.

This album is great. I discovered it in 1988, and it was like a revelation into a strange apocalyptic dimension. It's like dance music, but a lot more. You can just listen to it and freak out. Plus Richard 23 is in this band. I haven't liked any of their other stuff as much. Get this one!