Front 242

Overall, Front 242's new work continues to reveal new ideas in music to fellow musicians and fans alike. Besides remaining original members, "The Dead" usually feature a few rotating musicians on their tours to fill the missing guitar and keyboard slots. Meanwhile their enthusiasm for side projects has continued, as Patrick Codenys started appearing with a new group called Red Sniper, Bresanutti started recording with a new group called Troisseure, and Codenys and Richard 23 formed a quasi-DJ project called Coder23 which is touring in late 2004 and early 2005 as the opening act for VNV Nation. Other variants had been tried since 1996, but this was the first use of the word "Dead" in the name. They have also recently issued another re-release of their first album "Geography" on Alfa-Matrix, this time newly remastered personally by Bresanutti to surprisingly powerful effect, and with extra tracks and a second disc filled with very early material that had never before been released. Remaining members came together as "The Dead" in 2003. They have made occasional appearances in Latin America and Europe, even being rejoined by Dirk Bergen for a reunion concert in Aarschot in 2004 under the original lineup of Bresanutti, Bergen, Codenys and De Meyer (kept secret until two days before the show). The Grateful Dead broke up in 1995 after the death of Jerry Garcia.

tour showcasing the new material from "Still and Raw" and "Pulse", originally indicating that it would take place in autumn 2004, though that has been pushed back. Because the of the technology available at the time, this resulted in poor vocal quality. Front 242 also promised a new U.S. They sang into the top microphone, while the bottom microphone picked up sound from the wall, the sound wave from the bottom microphone was then inverted and inserted into the top microphone output. The new releases also feature a much more emotional style from De Meyer than his previous Front 242 work, but which was presaged in his later recordings with C-Tec and particularly Cobalt 60 on its album "Twelve". There were two microphones, a top and bottom. The style of the two new releases tends to be a little more mellow than some of their past work, and makes revelatory use of glitchy and bleepy notes, while it also introduces a whole new level of manipulating De Meyer's vocals to achieve novel effects of the human voice as musical instrument. Because the wall had to be placed behind the band, vocalists sang into a phase canceling microphone setup, to elimante feedback.

These represented another iteration of Front 242's explicitly stated goal of reinventing itself on almost every new album, as it has done through its history. The wall was built up over time, several speakers were added each year until the wall was 32 feet high and weighed several thousand pounds. "Still and Raw" and the album "Pulse", released on XIIIBis Records in Europe and Metropolis in the U.S. The Wall of Sound was an enormous structure of speakers. Then, 2002 and 2003 also saw the release of the long-awaited first new material from Front 242 proper in a decade: the E.P. On February 14, 2003, (as they said) "reflecting the reality that [was]," they renamed themselves The Dead, keeping "Grateful" retired out of respect for Garcia. In 2002 and 2003, Morf released an album, an E.P., a double album, and a DVD/CD two-disc combo, on the Belgian record label Alfa-Matrix, and went on tour through the U.S. The mid-2002 fall tour of The Other Ones, with Bob, Bill, Phil and Mickey, was so successful and satisfying that the band decided the name was no longer appropriate.

Morf, a new guise for Bresanutti and Codenys along with vocalist Elko Blijweert. The remaining members occasionally got together under the pseudonym Crusader Rabbit Stealth Band during the late 1990s, infrequently playing unannounced shows. Within three months of "Speed Tribe" was the first release from Male or Female, a.k.a. Though some of them occasionally toured through the late 1990s under the name "The Other Ones" they mainly chose to pursue various solo projects: most notably Bob Weir's Ratdog, Phil Lesh and Friends and Mickey Hart's music for the 1996 Olympics. The DVD was a collaboration with experimental documentary filmmakers Rod Chong and Sharon Matarazzo filming the 2001 24 Hour Le Mans, in which the racecars, clouds, rain and spectators are all used as impressionist elements of a visual backdrop for the music. Following Garcia's death in 1995, the remaining members formally decided to retire the name "Grateful Dead". This began in August 2002 with the release of a DVD/CD two-disc set called "Speed Tribe", released by Dance.com. All three series of releases continue to this day.

Then 2002 saw the beginning of a wave of new material from Bresanutti and Codenys, and then of Front 242 itself. A series of videos began to trickle out of "The Vault", starting with View From the Vault (recorded in Pittsburgh on July 8, 1990 at Three Rivers Stadium) and View from the Vault II (recorded in Washington, DC on June 14, 1991 at RFK Stadium). However, they once again seemed to become only minimally active after 1998, making occasional appearances in Europe and Mexico, while Codenys recorded under the name Gaiden with Steve Stoll in 2001. There have been at least 31 DP releases as of March 2004. Front 242 also indicated at this time that they were recording new material. Starting in 1991, the Grateful Dead released numerous live concerts from their archives in two concurrent series: the From the Vault releases are multi-track remixes, whereas the Dick's Picks series are based on two-track mixes made at the time of the recording. with Metropolis Records. In the 1980s, the band scored a top 40 hit "Touch of Grey" which garnered a much younger and more mainstream fandom that was considered sharply different from the traditional Dead Heads.

The new tour material was the subject of Front 242's new recording contract in the U.S. The band allowed sharing of tapes of their shows, as long as no profits were made on the sale of their show tapes. They acknowledged the influence of Prodigy and their "Fat of the Land" album in crafting the new, more techno style of Re:Boot. For many years, almost all of their shows would have dedicated taping sections. The four core members of Front 242 regrouped in 1998 to compose radically reworked versions of many of their songs, which they then performed on their first tour in five years, appropriately called the Re:Boot tour. In contrast to many other bands, the Grateful Dead encouraged their fans to tape their shows. Meanwhile, Richard 23 recorded with the groups Holy Gang and later LeTschak. Many of their fans, commonly referred to as Dead Heads, would follow the band on tour.

This was the start of a number of releases from Cobalt 60. A hallmark of their concert sets were continuous sets of music where each song would blend into the next (a segue). Musically this may be illustrated in that the band not only improvised within the form of a song, yet also improvised with the forms. Dominique Lallement and Frederic Sebastien of Reims, France. The band was famous for their extended jams, which showcased both individual improvisation as well as a singularly unique "group-mind" improvisation where each of the band members improvised individually, while still blending spaghetti together as a cohesive musical unit, often engaging in extended improvisational flights of fancy. 1996 also saw the debut album "Elemental" from Cobalt 60, which De Meyer formed with the members of Kriegbereit, i.e. Their numerous studio albums were generally collections of new songs that had been initially played in concert. De Meyer also took over as vocalist for Birmingham 6 for their 1996 album "Error of Judgment". With the exception of 1975, the Grateful Dead toured regularly around the USA from the winter of 1965 until July 9, 1995—with a few detours to Canada and Europe (see the albums Dick's Picks 7, Hundred Year Hall, Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead, and Europe '72) and 3 nights at the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt in 1978.

After the departure of Sharp and the demise of the Cyber-Tec label, the remaining group continued working under the name C-Tec. Touring was the hallmark of the Grateful Dead. In 1995, De Meyer met Marc Heal of Cubanate at a Front Line Assembly concert, and the two of them collaborated along with Ged Denton and Jonathan Sharp, to record as Cyber-Tec Project for the new (and short-lived) Cyber-Tec record label. Robert Hunter and John Perry Barlow were the band's lyricists. Earlier, Richard 23 had a side project as a member of Revolting Cocks, and De Meyer had a side project doing vocals for Bigod 20 for their debut single, "The Bog" in 1990. For a year and a half, Welnick was often joined by special guest Bruce Hornsby on piano. However, this period also saw a proliferation of side projects, an inordinate number of which involved De Meyer. Almost immediately, former Tubes keyboardist Vince Welnick joined on keyboards and vocals.

To the disappointment of many, the years following 06:21:03:11 Up Evil and 05:22:09:12 Off would be bereft of new material from Front 242 under any lineup, filled instead with a stream of live recordings and remixes. He became the third Dead keyboardist to die. commercials for the film "K2" were set to the Front 242 song "Moldavia", also from the album "Tyranny >For You<", although there was no Front 242 in the film itself. Brent Mydland was the keyboardist for the Dead for 11 years until his death in 1990. Also in 1992, the T.V. Keith Godchaux died in a car accident in 1980. is playing the Front 242 video for "Tragedy >For You<" from the album "Tyranny >For You<". In early 1972, Keith's wife, Donna Jean Godchaux, joined the Dead as a backing vocalist. Keith and Donna were fired from the band in 1979, and Brent Mydland joined as keyboardist and vocalist.

to drown out the sound of Fonda calling for help; the T.V. Two years later in late 1971, Pigpen was joined by another keyboardist, Keith Godchaux, who played grand piano alongside Pigpen's Hammond B3 organ. A broader segment of the non-industrial-music-loving public was exposed to Front 242 in 1992 in the film "Single White Female" starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh, when evil roommate Leigh ties up good roommate Fonda to a chair, and then turns the volume way up on the T.V. Tom "TC" Constanten played keyboards alongside Pigpen from 1968 to 1970. 99 Kowalski is the assumed name of Kristin Kowalski, making a tradition out of Richard 23's idea of number-as-name. Hart rejoined the Dead for good in 1974. On the other hand, a variety of new contributors were listed as members of Front 242 on these albums: Jean-Marc Pauly and Pierre Pauly on Up Evil, and 99 Kowalski and Eran Westwood on Off. Hart quit the Grateful Dead in 1971, embarassed by the actions of his father, Dead money manager Lenny Hart (for whom the song "He's Gone" is penned), leaving Kruetzmann once again as the sole drummer.

Neither of these albums had significant input from Richard 23, and 05:22:09:12 OFF only intermittently included their lead vocalist, Jean-Luc De Meyer. Bill Kruetzmann played drums, and in September 1967 was joined by a second drummer, New York native Mickey "Cow-Bell" Hart, who also played a wide variety of other percussion instruments. (The numbers correspond to letters, spelling "FUCK UP EVIL" and "EVIL OFF".) However at this point there were strains emerging, with the band members apparently having different artistic views about how to progress. All of the previously mentioned members shared vocal duties. 06:21:03:11 UP EVIL and 05:22:09:12 OFF were brilliant releases musically and once again showed that Front 242 did not need to follow existing trends to stay fresh and original, even using a female vocalist. Bob Weir (usually referred to as "Bobby"), the youngest member of the group, played rhythm guitar. Bluesman Ron "Pigpen" McKernan played keyboards, harmonica and was an inspirational vocalist until his death in 1973. Front 242's style shifted abruptly with each of their next two albums, released in rapid succession in 1993 (originally planned as a double-CD). Bandleader Jerry Garcia played lead guitar and classically trained musician Phil Lesh played bass guitar.

This is the only known solo work from any of Front 242's members. These records featured the band's laid-back acoustic musicianship and more traditional song structures. Bresanutti also composed a solo half-hour atmospheric recording called Art and Strategy (or The Art Corporation) to play during viewings of the lithographs, and released this in a limited edition of 1,000 CD's. The 1969 live album Live/Dead did capture more of their essence, but commercial success did not come until American Beauty and Workingman's Dead, both released in 1970. 1992 saw Bresanutti return his focus on combining graphic arts with music, with a tour of his lithographs to three U.S. galleries. The early records reflected their live repertoire—lengthy instrumental jams with guitar solos by Garcia, best exemplified by "Dark Star"—but lacked the energy of the shows and did not sell terribly well. Sony/Epic also issued re-released versions of Front 242's five earlier albums, with several E.P.'s and singles consolidated as extra tracks on the albums. These various influences were distilled into a unique new music that was a synthesis of all American folk music forms to-date; it paid homage to previous forms, and also reflected a sense of adventure and a continuous quest for the "musical unknown"; more often than not, exploration and a search for continual newness were the hallmarks of their live performances.

Tyranny was also the first album they released under contract with a major corporate label, Sony/Epic, after the widespread popularity of "Front by Front". Their musical influences varied widely with input from the psychedelic music of the era, combined with rhythm and blues, jazz, and country. This album, like Front By Front was a huge success and it seemed as if the Frontmen could just go from strength to strength. These events are covered in detail in Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Tyranny >For You<, released in 1991, brought the world a much denser, multi-layered sound which would push them straight into the 1990s. Playing originally as The Warlocks, and later "Grateful Dead" (a name chosen at random from the dictionary by Jerry Garcia), they became the de facto resident band of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, with the early sound heavily influenced by Kesey's LSD-soaked Acid Tests as well as Rhythm and Blues . With the turn of the decade the band went through many changes. The band's numerous fans, called Dead Heads, were renowned for their dedication to the band's music; many followed the Dead from concert to concert for years.

They're too stupid!". The Grateful Dead was known for its unique and eclectic songwriting style, which fused elements of rock, folk music, bluegrass, blues, country, jazz, and for long modal jams. In fact the complete opposite is true, with them famously saying that "Neo-nazis couldn't make the music we do. The Grateful Dead was an American rock band, which was formed in 1965 in San Francisco from the remnants of another band, Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions. Possibly due to this rather in-your-face approach, they have often been falsely accused of being neo-nazis or extreme right-wing. Vince Welnick - vocals, keyboards (1990 - 1995). As they put it, they were merely presenting the world around them as it was. Brent Mydland - vocals, keyboards (1979 - 1990).

They would use militaristic samples, preachers and the TV as a source for inspiration, but refused to admit to having any message. Donna Jean Godchaux - vocals (1972 - 1979). During these releases Front 242 also presented a style and imagery which was political in a decidedly apolitical style. Keith Godchaux - keyboards (1971 - 1979). "Headhunter" is possibly one of the most popularly played and remixed songs of the entire genre. Tom Constanten - keyboards (1968 - 1970). By this point, Front 242 had developed a style of strong backbeats, slices, samples, and ominous vocals. Mickey Hart - drums (1967 - 1971, 1975 - 1995).

Their popularity would reach even higher with the 1988 "Headhunter" single and video by Anton Corbijn, and its accompanying album Front By Front. Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - keyboards, vocals, harmonica, percussion (1965 - 1973). The 1985 album BackCatalogue collected material from the group's earlier years, but their international breakthrough didn't occur until the release of Official Version in 1987, on the Red Rhino Europe label, followed by their "Official Warfare" tour in support of the album. Bill Kreutzmann - drums (1965 - 1995). This tour led to the creation of Revolting Cocks by Richard 23, Alain Jourgensen of Ministry and others. Phil Lesh - bass, vocals (1965 - 1995). Front 242 signed with the legendary Wax Trax label in 1984, and started their first tour in the United States with Ministry. Bob Weir - guitar vocals (1965 - 1995).

Front 242 was becoming the most popular musical group in Belgium; their next album, No Comment would cement the group's place in electronic music, and was the first to introduce the term "Electronic Body Music" in association with their sound. Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals (1965 - 1995). Jonkheere was usually referred to by the name Richard 23. In 1983, Dirk Bergen left the band to pursue graphic design full time, and Richard Jonckheere was admitted to the group as a loosely backing vocalist and charismatic stage presence. These first releases, while cited as influential by a number of other artists in the genre, were not as characteristically strong and hard-hitting as the group's later efforts.

Their next single, U-Men, would be released in 1982, followed by the band's first album Geography in 1983. They also decided during this formative period never to use the regular waveform settings on their synthesizers, saying instead that creating the waveform itself for each note was part of the creative process. De Meyer also came to write almost all of the lyrics. Bresanutti, Codenys and De Meyer all took turns on vocals at first, until they settled on De Meyer as the lead vocalist; only recently have early recordings with Bresanutti on vocals been widely released.

Contact between Bresanutti and Codenys led the two duos to join together in 1982. Codenys said his father received a lottery winning and shared enough of it with him so that he could buy a car, but he bought his first synthesizer instead. Patrick Codenys and Jean-Luc De Meyer had separately formed a group called Under Viewer at about the same time. The first single to be released was Principles, late in that year.

They were interested in creating both music and graphic design using emerging electronic tools, and reportedly decided on changing their name to Front 242 because the name had greater potential as a subject of graphic design. Front 242 was created in 1981 in Aarschot, Belgium by Daniel Bresanutti and Dirk Bergen, who originally went by the name Prothese. It is perhaps no coincidence that Varese's great mark on the music world took place at the 1958 World Fair in Brussels, where Front 242 would work a few decades later. Going back earlier, these innovations can be seen as an extension of the work of Edgard Varese, the first significant composer to adopt electronic sources of sound as musical instruments, and who also used overwhelming percussion including with found objects.

The origin of Front 242 should be understood within the rise of industrial music, which originated in England in 1975 with the first performances of Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle. These revolutionary groups introduced elements of style later taken up by Front 242 such as electronic instrumentation, overwhelming percussion often with found objects, and looped samples of found soundbytes. Front 242 is a pioneering Belgian electronic music group that came into prominence during the 1980s. During their most active period (effectively ending in 1993 with the albums 06:21:03:11 UP EVIL and 05:22:09:12 OFF) they were influential to a number of other industrial and electronic artists, coining the term electronic body music (EBM) to describe their music. Coder 23 - Patrick Codenys, Richard 23. Troissoeur - Daniel Bressanutti.

Red Sniper - Patrick Codenys. Male or Female - Daniel Bressanutti, Patrick Codenys. Gaiden - Patrick Codenys. LaTchak - Richard 23.

Grisha Zeme - Daniel Bressanutti, Patrick Codenys. Cobalt 60 - Jean-Luc De Meyer. C-Tec - Jean-Luc De Meyer. Cyber-Tec Project - Jean-Luc De Meyer.

Holy Gang - Richard 23. The Art Corporation - Daniel Bressanutti. Birmingham 6 - Jean-Luc De Meyer. Bigod 20 - Jean-Luc De Meyer.

Revolting Cocks - Richard 23. Under Viewer - Patrick Codenys, Jean-Luc De Meyer. Prothese - Daniel Bressanutti, Dirk Bergen. Still and Raw (e.p., 2003).

Religion (e.p., 1993). Angels Versus Animals (e.p., 1993). Animal (single, 1993). Mixed By Fear (e.p., 1991).

Rhythm of Time (single, 1991). Tragedy (For You) (single, 1990). Never Stop! (e.p., 1989). Headhunter (single, 1988).

Masterhit (single, 1987). Interception (single, 1986). Politics of Pressure (e.p., 1985). No Shuffle (single, 1985).

Live in Chicago (e.p., included free with early copies of No Comment, 1984). Two In One (e.p., 1983). Endless Riddance (e.p., 1983). U-Men (single, 1981).

Principles (single, 1981). Singles and EPs: