| The Initial Command | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Front Line Assembly |
| Cover: | Front Line Assembly - The Initial Command.jpg |
| Released: | [1] |
| Genre: | Industrial, EBM, electro-industrial |
| Length: | (original release) (1997 release) |
| Label: | KK, ROIR, Third Mind, Cleopatra, Zoth Ommog |
| Producer: | Bill Leeb, Michael Balch |
| Prev Title: | Total Terror |
| Prev Year: | 1986 |
| Next Title: | State of Mind |
| Next Year: | 1987 |
The Initial Command is the first full-length studio album released by Canadian industrial band Front Line Assembly, released in 1987 through Belgian label KK.[2]
Since the 1987 release of The Initial Command, the album has been re-issued several times. American label ROIR released the album in 1990 on cassette[3] with a different cover. It was the first release of the album in the United States[4] and the second Front Line Assembly album released by ROIR after the band's second album State of Mind.[3] British label Third Mind followed in 1992 with a licensed CD version in the United States. Los Angeles–based Cleopatra's and German Zoth Ommog's release in 1997 contained two new tracks and new cover art. This re-release incorrectly listed the second track "Core" as "Intelligence Dream" while the liner notes have the correct title.[5] "Complexity" and "Core" appear to be new songs at the time of release. Polish label Mecanica issued a vinyl edition of the 1997 release in summer 2002,[6] while Cleopatra re-issued a remastered version of the album on September 3, 2022 on vinyl and with the two bonus tracks on CD.[7]
The music was recorded on a 4-track tape.[8]