Front 242 – No Comment

My copy's cassette clear shell is smooth, unlike the textured one pictured here.

Possibly the best Front 242 LP, and certainly the title that opened a wider audience for the band at the time. However, while their LPs were good, Front 242's most interesting efforts were their EPs and 12" - their favorite format (they published almost 20 EPs and 12"s over two decades), including some unlikely underground EBM hits such as Funkhadafi (still one of my favorite F242 tracks to this day), published with the somewhat failed remix of Commando in 1985 on Politics of Pressure ( https://www.discogs.sitioby.com/release/4748476 ).

did this ever get officially released or is it just the TP that came out on wax?

A bunch of these brand new, still sealed in Wax Trax in Denver right now. Along with a lot of the other Wax Trax tape releases.

This is probably the "rawest" sounding Front 242 album released; the reason for that is based in the technology behind the album. Front's previous album (Geography), was grounded in using instruments that had been around for a while (analog synthesizers, modular equipment, spring reverb machines, tape machines, analog drum machines), so they had the chance to build on their sound, and spend time developing it (you can hear evidence of this in the deluxe edition of Geography). No Comment was Front's first effort into new technological territory that would be the mainstay of their sound for the rest of their career (sharp FM synthesizers, digital drum machines, digital effects, and heavy samples). Two incredibly influential instruments became available between their first and second album; The Emu Emulator II digital sampler (a follow-up to the Emulator I, which had to constantly be serviced due to design flaws, the II was the first stable and truly usable affordable digital sampler), and the Yamaha DX7 (or variations of this synth, as many were released, and many were used by Front 242), these two technologies; FM synthesizers and digital samplers became directly associated with their music and related types "Electronic Body Music" for decades to come. Listening to early works like "No Comment" next to works like "Front by Front" show you the level to which they mastered that technology in a very short period. No Comment tends to have a lot of almost sloppy samples and very redundant rhythmic lines, at times sounding more live and improvised than rehearsed, both the technologies mentioned had only just become available within the last year, so it is likely that they were so inspired by the new instruments that they rushed out the material to showcase their changed sound and new efforts. Some of the tracks such as "Commando Mix", and "Nomenklatura I & II" sound and feel like a live improve performance, missing any typical musical structure, and going on for extreme periods of time (both sets of tracks time in at over nine minutes each), while others sound more like demo versions of tracks that would be released again on later releases (No Shuffle was released again on the Politics of Pressure EP, with a much more polished and developed sound). Tracks like “Deceit” and “Lovely Day”, sound more like an homage to the sound they had developed on Geography but done in the style of the new technology they were using, while the closing track “Special Forces” sounds like it could just as easily have been a continuation of the recording session of “Nomenklatura I & II”. This album tends to be a fan favorite though, possibly based in how raw it comes across. They would not end up releasing another full-length studio LP until near the end of the eighties with “Front by Front”, by that point having all but completely mastered the technology that they had begun with on “No Comment”, and even leading them to having their largest hit in their career with "Headhunter". This album tends to have a unique sound because the approach was unique, working with so many new technologies and entering musical regions that had not yet been crossed. Their sound would stay consistent until the release of “Tyranny for You”, where it once again evolved with new and fresh technology and the musical influence of “techno” going on at the time.

This 7" originally was also part of the Front 242 "No Comment" album.

This album on the other hand shows a harder edge which is probably due to more familiarity with the instruments & a more punchy mix. "Commando Mix" opens the album, being a long track (9'23"). It immediately shows iself to be harder & more compulsive dance music than the previous album with a rhythm which is so obviously Body Music. It has more tune than previous efforts, although it's mostly a bare-bone-spine of drums / percussive seq. They hold sounds back rather than using them relentlessly throughout & tapes / sampled voice give it a far more interesting edge. Considering this album is around 8 years old, this sounds fresh & vital still, a pulsating muscle of sound. "Deceit" reminds me a little of HUMAN LEAGUE, DEPECHE MODE & TALKING HEADS while still maintaining it's own identity. Again it shows improvement over the earlier album, in style if nothing else. "Lovely Day" is perhaps the most catchy, memorable track on the whole album ("Body To Body" excepted), a fast-paced track with a much-repeated chorus & powerful musical structure. It pulsates along at a good running pace, filling the body with a tsunami of adrenaline. "No Shuffle" has the same big sound but is probably a less catchy piece. It's another structured song with pained echo effects which give it a vital energy. "Special Forces" is a darker & more fractured piece of pulsating rhythmic music. It has a determined feel to it which I interpret as threatening. "S. Fr.Nomenklatura" is another 'album' track - a little more experimental than most of the others - sacrificing hookiness for an interesting sound, this has a huge sound full of white noise walls of building percussion & great chunks of drum beat washing out of the speakers in solid waves. "Body To Body" - the 'Electronic Body Music' compilation album version is no less than a classic - if you haven't heard it, there's no way to describe it except BLOODY POWERFUL! The strange thing is that it doesn't stick out as an obvious high point on this album which suggests that the other tracks are just as powerful! The next two tracks are from a live date in Ghent back in 1984. "See The Future" begins with an echoed-sampled voice saying 'enjoy' while taped voice says 'They say the futures through the binoculars of the people' (?). Drum beat grows simplistically yet dramatically, making them sound not unlike SLEEP CHAMBER - a much more flat sound - none of the high-tech wizardry but the dark drama makes up for it no end. "In November" builds up on a white noise skeleton into a nice warm piece which is more typical of the first album with elements of HUMAN LEAGUE during the 'Travalogue' period (say 'The Untouchables'). Last track on the album is a previously unreleased demo version of "Special Forces" full of experimentation especially where the drums are concerned - lots of obviously electronic "Blue Monday"-Isms - ie. thrills of fast drum beat.
This is a hard & interesting album, showing FRONT 242 at their most powerful, moving in interesting directions. A worthwhile addition to anyones collection.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.