Front 242 - Still & Raw EP

Teasingly good

Wow. Boundery pushing EBM/electro/industrial. Good music. Unfortunately this is only a single for 7rain, but the versions on Still and Raw are both better than the Pulse version. For a single, this is a good solid listen, I only wish Pulse had the same feel that Still and Raw does all the way through. September 13, 2004

First new material in ages

This is a quality EP showing a slight change in direction for Front 242. It's almost melodic at times with piano and keyboard motifs, but don't let that make you think that Front 242 have become passified by time, their music may have lost it's noise, but it's still edgy and scary.

Jean-Luc DeMeyer's vocals are more expressed and melodic than ever before, it's like he is actually singing now, much more than before where he sung with venom and anger to express the bands points of view.

'7Rain' is an excellent song with a low, rolling bassline allied to a tight electro beat. DeMeyer sings smoothly throughout it and the piano keys that wash over it are some of the most beautiful effects that 242 have ever done before.

'Still and Raw' is a top-notch return. January 18, 2004

I want to cry

Front 242 has been my favourite band since 1990. Meeting JL DeMeyer and hearing "Soul Manager" =literally= saved my life from forces that were destroying me. The albums after Tyranny For You had their moments but the slow slant to disintensity was underway. Now, I have heard this EP and its associated album and cannot bring myself to buy them! The titles are SO stupid. The lyrics - what lyrics?! No fascination, no oddity, no juxtapositions undone-before by others. Now I can say for certain: bands should just stay broken up when they lose the inspiration. I don't know what's up these days with Cobalt 60, Jean-Luc DeMeyer's solo project, but I'll follow that if it continues, but not this. This has nothing in common with the Front 242 I literally fell in love with a decade ago. I get the horrid sense they're trying to attract the new "electronica" kids. Trying to attract a certain sector of listening population, though, is the QUINTESSENTIAL DEFINITION OF SELLING OUT - and of all the bands for this to happen to, why, why Front 242? I really am crying now, real tears. I am not joking. It's not even an RIAA album and I can't bring myself to buy it. Given 3 stars out of sheer faith and because if it weren't for the song "Soul Manager" off an earlier album I might not be here to type these words right now. Maybe I'll swallow my disappointment, buy it and hope it grows on me, in fact I'm sure I will at some point because you know how it is with your number one fave even when they fade away...but I know what I like - power! - and this is only an imitation of power. Pseudo-quasi-faux power. And once again WHAT is with these stupid least common denominator titles like "Still & Raw" and "Pulse"? Sounds pre-fit for radio airplay. They have more imagination than that, did someone give the band Thorazine or something? Okay, I've whinged enough now. (eyeroll to heaven and back) October 25, 2003

Nice To Have Them Back

Front 242 have been gone for a while and it's nice to have them back on the music scene. The album is very reminiscent of their experimental days like "Off" yet this one doesn't sound like one long track. There are a few standout (read dance-able) tracks but mostly experimental sounds that are pleasing to the ear. If you've heard and liked their "Still & Raw" EP you'll not be disappointed with this album.

I would have given this 5 stars but I just don't think that this work stands out as much as "Up Evil" and "Tyranny For You". June 25, 2003

Still raw after all these years

There's a certain stigma carried by bands in any given genre that are the definition by which all other similar bands are compared. While this may not be fair, it's nothing more or less than the nature of the human mind to make these comparisons. The band is held almost constantly to its own definition, and many of us refuse to accept any foray that is not perceived consistent with that definition.

In 1981, Front 242 created, in essence, what we would all come to know as Electronic Body Music. In a sense, we have never forgiven them for that. Too many people haven't let go of the Front 242 of the 80's and 90's. Was it classic? Yes, all of it. But if you can't, as an artist, redefine your own game, then you're no better than VNV Nation. How many more remixes of "Headhunter" is it gonna take, people?

I had to get that out of my system.

So, for the first time in no less than a decade, we've been given a new offering in EP form by the ones we herald so highly. Four entirely new songs, and two additional remixes. But unless you've got the ear for these things (and if you take out DeMeyer's vocals), you'd swear it wasn't 242. For the most part, there's no discernable song structure here, and certainly nothing that really makes you want to get up and shake your groove thang. Train your ears a little bit and look through those facts, now. Can you hear it? Right there, right in front of your ears, is the raw absolute of Front 242's equation: sound design. Okay, sound design and Jean-Luc. If you go back though any and all of the 242 back-catalogue, you'll find the very same elements. It's all there; you just have to listen between the lines.

At least a few people didn't like this EP. They can't be faulted for that, but I personally find this disc fascinating. You can listen to it all day (as I have), and find new elements in the music that weren't there last time. From the reflection of "7Rain" and the brooding of "Loud", to the stuttered, cut-up vocal track on "Strobe", I think this is an EP that I'll be able to listen to, with continued interest, for a prolonged period of time. My favourite track off here is the remix "7Rain (GHost)." The atmosphere is mellow and spectacular, and I particularly liked the added lyric stanzas at the end.

I could have asked for something more, but I'm pleased with what was produced. I do wish the vocals were a little more prevalent, because J.L. DeMeyer still ownz in the vocal department. Supposedly the forthcoming full-length, Pulse, is going to be quite different from Still & Raw. Sadly, it'll have the same butt-ugly artwork. I can only hope that those who weren't satisfied with this one will be sated by the next. I'm sure I myself will enjoy it regardless. May 24, 2003

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