Search - Front 242 :: Geography

Geographically speaking

Catfood03 | in front of my computer typing reviews | 02/17/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Not only is this one of Front 242's best works, it is also, in my opinion, one of the better "Industrial" releases of all time. It is also unique among the Front 242 catalog, in that most of the songs are quite short and has a rougher, edgier sound than it's successive releases. It's quite a revelation to listen to GEOGRAPHY now, some 25+ years after it's release, and to re-discover why this had become such an influential album on the development of industrial music throughout the 80's and beyond.



This particular edition of GEOGRAPHY stands high above older releases of this album for it's dynamic sound quality. The new re-mastering breathes fresh life into a mix that once sounded muddled and flat. Obviously extraordinary care was taken in re-mastering this music to truly make it the best it can be.



As an extra treat for 242 fans is the inclusion of the previously unreleased "He Runs Too Fast For Us", originally created shortly after the GEOGRAPHY sessions. Following this track are three more additional songs, which, if I remember correctly, are the same tracks that made up the bonus selections of Sony's 1992 CD edition. Unfortunately, all the bonus tracks are combined into one 15 minute selection, which makes selecting an individual song a chore.



The packaging of this latest re-issue is minimal on both visuals and content. Printed on a digipak format the cover is restored to it's original artwork with a second photo of mannequin heads on the back. There is the track list on the back and a brief paragraph on the re-mastering. Unfolded, the packaging opens to two blank white panels, with a couple lines of text for publishing notes. (Here is where a nice band photo, lyrics, or additional artwork could have been placed). The CD face has a nice design printed on it. Curiously there is a "1" arranged predominately on the disc design, which left me to question if this re-master of GEOGRAPHY is the first in a series of re-releasing the remainder of 242's catalog, which seems to be swiftly falling out of print.



Still, packaging aside, I'd make this version of GEOGRAPHY the one to get. Unfortunately, the high import price tag may keep many 242 fans and newcomers for hearing this classic in it's deserved sound quality.



Final Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

Favorite tracks: "Operating Tracks", "U-Men", "Least Inkling", "GVDT"

"

Incredible!

Richard E. Forrest | 12/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This Classic remastered album is incredibly fresh and bright compared to the original! The liner notes state that it was also "slightly" remixed through modern equipment and several songs have an extra second or two that were cut from the original release. The songs sound brand new and I'm hearing lots of things I never heard before! The extra track is awesome!! And there are 3 hidden tracks; Ethics, Principles and Body to Body that are on the Sony version.

It's a little pricey since it's a European only release but worth every penny!

If you've ever owned Geography, this version is better by leaps and bounds!!"