Line #50 Music/Front242


1	[[quoteright:345:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/242_50.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:345: Front 242]]
3
4	->''One, you lock the target. Two, you bait the line. Three, you slowly spread the net, and four you catch the man!''
5
6	'''Front 242''' is a Belgian EBM band and the TropeNamers (but not the TropeCodifier) for Electronic Body Music: this term was coined for their 1984 album ''No Comment.''
7
8	Their style, EBM, is a subgenre of {{Industrial}} that resembles the DarkerAndEdgier cousin of SynthPop. "DarkerAndEdgier Music/{{Kraftwerk}}" is a good description. The music itself is punk like, aggressive and danceable ElectronicMusic with mostly conventional (verse-bridge-chorus) song structures.
9
10	Front 242 member Richard 23 was a founding member of Revolting Cocks alongside Music/{{Ministry}}'s Al Jourgensen.
11
12	Although they have not released a full-length album of new material since 2003, they have begun to introduce new songs into their live sets as of 2021.
13
14	Unfortunately, Front 242 have at times [[MusicToInvadePolandTo been accused of Nazism]]. This accusation is severely misplaced.
15
16	! Discography
17	* ''Geography'' (1982)
18	* ''No Comment'' (1984)
19	* ''[[GreatestHitsAlbum Back Catalogue]]'' (1987)
20	* ''Official Version'' (1987)
21	* ''Front by Front'' (1988, the one album featuring "Headhunter")
22	* ''Tyranny (For You)'' (1991)
23	* ''Live Target'' (1992, live album)
24	* ''06:21:03:11 Up Evil'' (1993)
25	* ''05:22:09:12 Off'' (1993)
26	* ''Live Code'' (1994, live album)
27	* ''Mut@ge, Mix@ge'' (1995, remix album)
28	* ''Re-Boot: Live '98'' (1998, live album)
29	* ''Pulse'' (2003)
30	* ''Moments...'' (2008, live album)
31	* ''Transmission [=SE91=]'' (2013)
32
33	!!Front 242 provides examples of the following tropes:
34	* AlbumTitleDrop: There's one for ''Official Version'' in "Slaughter".
35	* TheBackwardsR: Some of their graphic design work with Cyrillic letters is this, other times it's actual Russian.
36	* BigBrotherIsWatchingYou: "Circling Overland" describes a dystopia where surveillance aircraft rule the skies. [[HarsherInHindsight Remind you of what the US DHS is doing today?]]
37	* CoolShades: In nearly every promotional shot, music video, and live performance, the band members wear futuristic looking sunglasses or goggles, to the point that this has become an indispensable part of their image.
38	* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Tyranny (For You)'' largely dispensed with the sardonic sense of humor that had pervaded much of their previous work, and overall displayed a darker, harder-edged, and more ominous sound that was more in line with 90's industrial. As a whole, Front 242 can be considered a Darker And Edgier successor to electronic groups that came before them, such as Music/{{Kraftwerk}} and Fad Gadget.
39	* EpicRocking: "Not Bleeding Red'' by Nothing But Noise, an ambient side project of Music/{{Front 242}}, is a total of 96 minutes, and two of the tracks clock over 18 minutes in length.
40	** They also have a few songs of their own that go into the 7-8 minute range- "Commando Mix", "Masterhit (Parts 1 & 2)" and "Junkdrome" are all good examples.
41	* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Several examples.
42	** [[GratuitousRussian Russian]]: "S.Fr Nomenklatura" I & II. They occasionally stylize their logo "фронта! 242".
43	** [[GratuitousGerman German]]: The songs "Kampfbereit" and "Im Rhythmus Bleiben"
44	** [[GratuitousItalian Italian]]: A few brief lines: "I nostri sogni sempri presenti.", "due quattro due"
45	* HarshVocals: Christine "99" Kowalski on the ''05:22:09:12 Off'' album. In recent years, primary vocalist Jean-Luc De Meyer tends to affect a more harsh vocal delivery for live sets, as opposed to the cold, detached style he favored in previous decades.
46	* HiddenTrack: On ''Tyranny (For You)'', there are 2 minutes of silence after the last track, followed by 2 songs: "Hard Rock" and an alternate mix of "Trigger 2" entitled "Trigger 1".
47	* InitialismTitle: "W.Y.H.I.W.Y.G."
48	* TheInvisibleBand: None of their album covers feature any band members.
49	* Letters2Numbers: Played with; their 1993 albums ''06:21:03:11 Up Evil'' and ''05:22:09:12 Off'', when translating the numbers to their appropriate letters, read ''Fuck Up Evil'' and ''Evil Off'' respectively.
50	* ListSong: "Headhunter" (or at least its chorus) may well count. It's even a numbered list!
51	-->1. You lock the target\
52	2. You bait the line\
53	3. You slowly spread the net... and\
54	4. You catch the man
55	* NewSoundAlbum: ''No Comment'' introduced the harder EBM sound the band are most known for (after a SynthPop-y debut) and even named the genre to boot! ''Tyranny (For You)'' had a slightly more textured, layered sound, and ''06:21:03:11 Up Evil'' was harder-hitting, had slightly more guitars and a slight {{Techno}} influence. ''Pulse'' has distinct {{Ambient}} and IDM elements, as well.
56	* NonAppearingTitle: The majority of their tracks follow this trope. "Special Forces", "Don't Crash", "GVDT", "Im Rhythmus Bleiben", and "Never Stop" are notable exceptions.
57	* RecurringRiff: The riff from "Until Death (Us Do Part)" reappears as the main melody of "Agony (Until Death)".
58	* RedOniBlueOni: In live performances, Richard 23 plays the energetic, hype man-like Red Oni to Jean-Luc De Meyer's more reserved, stoic Blue Oni.
59	* SurrealMusicVideo: "Headhunter" and "Tragedy (For You)", both directed by Creator/AntonCorbijn.
60	** In the case of ''Headhunter'', the surrealism was a case of SureLetsGoWithThat: A misunderstanding of the lyrics and a confusion over the concept for the video resulted in the everpresent theme of eggs. The band decided that they liked it this way and ran with it.
61	* {{Sampling}}: Used in almost every song.
62	* SingerNameDrop: "242" shows up a lot in titles and lyrics.
63	* SpellingSong: "Until Death (Us Do Part)"
64	-->''L-O-C-K''\
65	''L-O-C-K space T-H-E space D-O-O-R space F-O-R-E-V-E-R''\
66	''F-O-R-E-V-E-R''
67	* TropeCodifier: For the the EBM genre.
68	* TropeNamer: Again, for the EBM subgenre of {{Industrial}}.
69	* VoiceClipSong: "Welcome to Paradise" and "Angst". Incidentally, both sample ranting preachers. Often times, if a song doesn't have any sung lyrics, it uses voice clips.
70	* WordPureeTitle: "Funkahdafi" [[note]]''Funk'' (German for "radio") + [[UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi al-Gaddafi]] [[/note]]
71	* [[YouAreNumberSix You Are Number Twenty Three]]: Richard 23 (a.k.a. Richard Jonckheere).

Context Music / Front242