Geography Music Cd

Front 242 - Geography

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Geography      Artist : Front 242      List Price : $11.98 USD        ProductGroup: Music      Release Date : 1992-04-28      Studio : Sony      Label : Sony      Avg. Customer Rating : (9 reviews)

Reviews Customer Reviews for Geography      Front 242's noodly beginnings      Rating:      "Geography" is Front 242's first album, and definitely a strong debut. It's full of classic analog synth blips, buzzes and squalls, and sounds like the results of hours upon hours of tweaking these machines. Even at this point in their career, Front 242 were production perfectionists. At this point, the songs were much simpler, and percussion was fairly minimal, and generally lo-fi, hissing and static-laden. Their music was hardly danceable at this point. Sampling and vocals were not used as extensively as in later work. Other than these stylistic differences, "Geography" is basically a typical 80's 242 album, in that it has a few longer, vocal driven singles that exemplify the sound "EBM" is commonly associated with, and then a lot of noodly instrumental tracks which some may enjoy and others may wish were left out in favor of more material similar to the singles. Other albums from this era, such as Skinny Puppy's debut "Bites", were also put together this way. The singles on this album are all absolute classics, instantly memorable and catchy. The opener, "Operating Tracks" introduces Jean Luc de Meyer's voice in perfect fashion, and is driven by an ominous bass-line and an instantly addictive beat. It's one of the few danceable songs on Geography. "U-Men" features an atonal, fat, distorted bass hook and de Meyer's rallying cry of "I think it injust!" (a classic example of Front 242's sloganeering style). There's also "GVDT", a song reminiscent of Kraftwerk that could be accurately referred to as the only real synth pop song Front 242 ever wrote. There are other vocal tracks on the album that are enjoyable but not quite as memorable, such as "With Your Cries" and "Least Inkling". I'm usually a fan of the instrumentals on 242 albums, but on this album many fail to be as melodic and interesting as on later albums. Only the bubbly "Art & Strategy" and hyperactive "Geography I + II" really stand out. However, nothing on the album is boring or obviously weak. In conclusion, "Geography" is a solid 80's Front 242 album, but not as consistent, memorable, complex or beautifully executed as say, "Official Version", which I would not hesitate to give a 5 star rating. Beginners should check out that album or "Front By Front" first if they're looking to get into 242's classic sound, but "Geography" is highly recommended if you're already a fan of Front 242. 4 stars.     Customer Reviews for Geography Cd      Geography ~ Front 242      Rating:      Geography being Front 242's debute album started an entirely new form of electronic music, i.e., they started ebm, or electronic body music. Previous to this release electronic music did not not have the hard edge that Front 242 showcased with tracks such as U-men, Operating tracks, and many other fine examples. As with any debute album, yes this one also has a problem and that is the sometimes over simplified lyrics, something that improves over time. The new art for the cover is vastly superior to the one with the face and I have no idea what the band was thinking. This is a very important release and it is groundbreaking in the sense that they created a new form of electronic music, i.e., ebm.