| Front by Front | |
| Type: | Studio album |
| Artist: | Front 242 |
| Cover: | Front242.Front.By.Front.Original.gif |
| Released: | November 1988 |
| Genre: | EBM, industrial |
| Length: | 36:28 41:46 1988 CD issue 69:37 Epic CD issue |
| Label: | Red Rhino Europe Wax Trax! Animalized Epic |
| Producer: | Front 242 |
| Prev Title: | Official Version |
| Prev Year: | 1987 |
| Next Title: | Tyranny (For You) |
| Next Year: | 1991 |
Front by Front is the fourth studio album by Front 242, released in 1988, and has been labelled as "easily one of the greatest industrial albums ever made". The album was reissued in 1992 by Sony Music Entertainment. The song "Headhunter" became an industrial dancefloor hit, accompanied by a music video directed by Anton Corbijn, and has since been subject to over 20 remixes.
Miss Kittin used "First In / First Out" on her mix album A Bugged Out Mix.[1]
Front by Front was one of Wax Trax! Records' most successful releases, selling more than 90,000 units in its first run.[2] The album, and its lead single "Headhunter", elevated the public awareness of EBM and industrial music in the late 1980s.[3]
In 2019, Pitchfork ranked it at number 6 in its list of the "33 Best Industrial Albums of All Time".[4] In 2023, Consequence ranked it at number 9 in its list of the "50 Best Industrial Albums of All Time".[5] Spin named it one of the ten essential industrial records.[6]
The 1992 bonus tracks were originally released on the Never Stop! EP, except for "Headhunter v1.0" which was originally released on the Headhunter EP.