Front 242 – USA 91 / Live In The USA (Album – Alfa Matrix)
Genre/Influences: EBM.
Format: Digital, 2 Vinyls.
Background/Info: The “Tyranny For <You>”-tour from 1991 moved from Europe to the USA. This album is another collector’s item for the Belgian EBM formation. And just as for “91 / Live In EU” the album features fourteen songs recorded at different places during the North American tour of the band. The work is again available as a limited vinyl edition.
Content: The tracklist is somewhat different than on the European album. Songs like “Don’t Crash” and “Never Stop” were played while there’s no longer a trace of “No Shuffle”. They played less tracks from the new album and chose for a greater melting pot of their biggest hits. The album is driven by energy and testosterone; it smells like the sweat of EBM concerts and will incite you to shout the chorus of “Headhunter”.
+ + + : This recording appears to be a better representation of what Front 242 live stands for. A visionary formation, which created impressive live shows. The songs were driven by energy, but more than this there was a true symbiosis between the band and their fans. I got the chance to see Front 242 during this legendary tour and I can assure you it was simply unforgettable. This album brings this feeling better alive than the European edit. It starts with a great intro “D.S.M. / Moldavia” and never stopped increasing in power. Especially the last part of the album especially hits hard.
– – – : I have one personal regret, which is that back in 1991 they didn’t get back to their debut album “Geography”; not one single song from this album was played live.
Conclusion: Covid-19 has seriously affected all artistic activities and it’s now a long time ago Front 242 has ever played live. But thanks to this album the “Tyranny For <You>”-tour is still alive thirty years later…
Best songs: “Im Rhythmus Bleiben”, “Don’t Crash”, “Headhunter”, “Never Stop”, “Tragedy For You”, “Welcome To Paradise”, “Rhythm Of Time”.
Rate: (8½).
Artist: www.facebook.com/Front.242
Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix
About Front 242
Front 242 formed in 1981 in Aarschot, near Leuven, Belgium, founded by Daniel Bressanutti (electronics, production) and Dirk Bergen (graphic design). Patrick Codenys (keyboards, programming) and vocalist Jean-Luc De Meyer joined in 1982, and Richard “23” Jonckheere (electronic percussion, backing vocals) joined in 1983 as Bergen moved into design and management. The 1984 album “No Comment” was among the first releases to use the term “electronic body music” in its liner notes. Front 242 signed to Wax Trax! in the US in 1984, then released “Official Version” (1987) and “Front By Front” (1988) via Red Rhino Europe/PIAS, and “Tyranny (For You)” (1991) via Epic, its highest-charting album in the US. “05:22:09:12 Off” followed in 1993, and the most recent studio album “Pulse” appeared via XIII Bis/Metropolis in 2003. Drummer Tim Kroker joined for live performances in 2008.
In 2021 Alfa Matrix opened the band’s archive of live recordings. Hamburg 87 / Official Version and Ancienne Belgique 89 / Front By Front were reviewed on Side-Line in March 2021, and the two “91” albums from the “Tyranny For
“USA 91 / Live In The USA” holds fourteen tracks recorded at various locations during the 1991 North American tour: “D.S.M. / Moldavia”, “Rhythm Of Time”, “Masterhit”, “Soul Manager”, “The Untold”, “Until Death (Us Do Part)”, “Im Rhythmus Bleiben”, “Slo-Mo”, “Don’t Crash”, “Never Stop”, “Headhunter”, “Tragedy For You”, “Welcome To Paradise” and “Punish Your Machine / Neurobashing”. Thierry Herremans (Hills Music) mixed the recordings from tape and assembled them, and Daniel B. mastered them. It was issued as a download, as a six-panel digipak CD whose first 1,000 copies carry soft-touch varnish, and as a limited double vinyl edition.
Front 242 co-headlined the “Join The Forces” tour with Nitzer Ebb in 2023, announced its farewell “Black Out” tour in March 2024 and played its final three shows at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels on 23-25 January 2025. The live album Black Out, drawn from more than forty farewell-tour shows, followed via Alfa Matrix on 19 June 2026. “USA 91” is the fourth of the 2021 archive live albums reviewed on Side-Line.
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