Talk:Front 242

Untitled
Kowalski's first name is spelled differently in two spots on the page (Christine and Kristin). Which is correct?Amber388 15:54, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

As per discussion on Talk:Assemblage 23 and Category talk:Goth, removing from Category:Goth and adding to List of non-goth musical artists popular within goth subculture. - Korpios 02:08, 20 Jun 2004 (UTC)

How exactly is Front 242 said: front two four two, front two forty two or front two hundred and forty two? Did the members of this band grow up in the Dutch or the French section of Belgium?
 * It's said "Front Two Four Two", and they grew up in the french section. Twiin 00:53, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Is 99 (aka Christine) Kowalski the vocalist on "Crushed" (from "05:22:09:12 Off")? --Popefelix 04:36, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

The general belief is that the number 242 refers to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 242.
 * No, that's not "general belief". The members have dismissed that the number stands for anything, and that they went with 242 because it looked good in a strict graphical way. There are lots of beliefs and myths about the origin of the game, but no general belief. Maybe the "swearing" explanation in the article is true, I don't know.
 * I "heared" that the name "Front 242" came from the german front line in february 1942... --vanbauseneick 20 Feb 2008 —Preceding comment was added at 10:43, 20 February 2008 (UTC)
 * "The members have dismissed that the number stands for anything" - Correct. And those reasons given in the article (242 belgian citizens killed, resolution 242) should be removed as speculative. -- Lothar. 16:22, 31 October 2010 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.98.48.15 (talk)

I had always assumed that the name of the band had something to do with the offset of the length of the year...it is accepted as about 365.242 days long, which is why leap year corrects a full day every four years. Thus, the 'front 242' could be the odd little leftover bit that people don't usually think about. -TMITS

About the name, once and for all. From interview at http://www.waste.org/front242/interviews/technologyworks7.html : "Technology Works: The name Front 242, who thought of it and what does it mean? Patrick Codenys: It doesn't mean anything it's just a good name, including a lot of people working for the same cause, like a front of people. And the number is just sort of a design work. It's more like a company like Fuji or Coca-Cola. We thought the design was good. You can also say "Front" in any language. It really has no special meaning whatsoever." The specualations in the artcle about UN resolution 242 and belgian survivors of WWII are extremely out of place in an encyclopedia since there are no citations that prove those theories have any thruth to them. Even the swearing thing is higly doubtful, but at least there is a claim that it's been heard in a tv interview (although I personally think it should be removed until proper verification can be shown). Or we could include all other theories pulled out of the air, like the "german front line" and "length of year" ones proposed above. I would edit this myself, but I'm not familiar with wiki guidelines to know if my quote above from the interview is considered as a good enough verification. 83.248.0.48 (talk) 17:59, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Thank You. And now there is some drivel about Fiat engines? As the above poster I'm not familiar enough with wikipedia to edit (especially remove) stuff, but could please someone fix this as it's making this article a joke. 83.248.46.212 (talk) 23:06, 27 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Done. Let's see if anyone complains. - Doctorx0079 (talk) 23:56, 27 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Thank you very much 83.248.35.158 (talk) 03:33, 5 October 2011 (UTC)

Record label to list?
Hey, I added some info to a few albums today, but am now wondering what record label to list. I initially put "Red Rhino" as the was the initial/original label, but should Epic be used instead? Tarc 00:04, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Audio compression
the section labeled "2008" is completely weird. what does releasing in 4 formats have to do with audio compression? the audio compression "controversy" isn't over MP3 codec compression, it's over transient-removing loudness maximization. what could that possibly have to do with a live recording? i think someone is very confused.
 * By all means, make changes that correct the errors. That is the point of a community-driven effort like Wikipedia.  If you see innaccuracies that you KNOW are innaccurate, then correct them appropriately.  Cheers --–m.f (t • c) 13:01, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

More references
There are almost no references in this article, and the ones that do exist are slim. Nothing in the history is referenced at all. This page needs a major clean-up. Torchiest (talk | contribs) 05:31, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Agreed. It was worse than I thought after I started reading. I'm going to make a WikiProject Industrial task for this one. Xe7al (talk) 19:29, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

This page claims that Industrial music started in England in 72 with Throbbing Gristle and Cabret Voltaire But Kraftwerk came out of Germany in 69 and Suicide out of New York in 71. Throbbing Gristle May have given the Genre It's name but it hardly started there. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.30.110.28 (talk) 17:52, 11 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately, the bulk of the article appears to be an opinionated, unsourced fan site. The shortage of reliable sources has allowed all sorts of fancruft to prevail.  It needs a major re-write to even approach an encyclopaedic quality.


 * Derek R Bullamore (talk) 23:17, 13 May 2012 (UTC)

"regular waveform settings"
The "Formation" section says: "They decided not to use the regular waveform settings on their synthesizers, arguing that creating the waveform for each note was part of the creative process.[citation needed]"

Speaking as someone with 25 years of experience with synthesizers: this is close to meaningless. The phrase "regular waveform settings" doesn't really mean anything. Different types of synthesizers are capable of producing different types of waveforms, but none of them are any more "regular" than the others. And synth players certainly don't "create the waveform for each note". They *do* commonly design their own patches (sounds), but to say that they are "creating waveforms" is, at best, an odd way of putting it.

I suspect the author meant to say something like: "They decided not to use the presets [default sounds] on their synthesizers, arguing that designing their own patches was part of the creative process", but lacked the vocabulary to say it accurately.

At any rate, there's no cite for it—so I'm inclined to remove it.

Greenie2600 (talk) 00:33, 26 February 2016 (UTC)


 * Since it's been there uncited for three years, and it's not very clear on the meaning, or perhaps even lacks meaning, I agree. I've gone ahead and removed it. Also moved your section to the bottom of the talk page to keep the chronology straight. —Torchiest talkedits 03:51, 26 February 2016 (UTC)

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Belpop Documentary
This is a wealth of information and includes footage from a 1986 documentary (which I hope to source as well). The video was subtitled and re-released in advance of Festival Forte, but I am not sure of the copyright status of the this version; here's the link for reference and in lieu of an original from Canvas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E99NNvo8nW4 -- t_kiehne (talk) 01:07, 20 September 2020 (UTC)

Style & Influences Sections
I've stubbed out two sections: Influences & Style (for their musical influences, music process, and style aspects & evolution) and Legacy (for cultural use of their materials, charts, and those who are influenced by 242). These are a bit light on content now, but plenty out there that can be added here when referenced examples are found. -- t_kiehne (talk) 03:59, 23 September 2020 (UTC)


 * For legacy I suggest "242" an Amiga demo by Virtual Dreams & Fairlight. The demo involves buying a Front 242 record, and was notable for its superior video compression. Reference : https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=3202 217.155.10.206 (talk) 17:14, 24 September 2023 (UTC)