Biography of Front 242

When the Belgian synth-dance group began recording in 1982, their style followed the cold, clinical work of Kraftwerk and Cabaret Voltaire yet their music had none of the dark mystery or threat of those early electronic bands. As the decade progressed, they captured that mystery; by the end of the decade, Front 242 were on the cutting edge of the experimental industrial dance groups, combining political sound bites with their dance samples and beats. Their 1988 club hit, "Headhunter," cemented their reputation and provided a good example of their aggressive style. After their 1988 album, Front by Front, the group left the seminal industrial record label Wax Trax for a major label, Epic. Front 242's first major label release, 1991's Tyranny for You, showed no concessions and was another strong statement. However, their subsequent albums in the '90s showed that the group was beginning to slip from the cutting edge. By the mid-'90s, their cult had declined significantly, and the group lost their major-label contract with Epic. Mut@ge.Mix@ge, released in 1996, was their first independent release since their recordings for Wax Trax in the '80s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine