Search - Front Line Assembly :: Hard Wired

Takes on almost an organic-like form

Staring Girl | Thornton, CO | 05/25/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I actually give this 4.5 stars.

Infra Red Combat is right up there with my favorite `industrial' songs of all time. I love music that builds and builds into a mound of emotion and sound, and this song does just that. The whole album almost takes on an organic-like form. Every piece twists and grows through amazingly talented instrumentation, vocals and lyrics. I'm not even going to attempt to analyze every track or do a long drawn out comparison from previous albums, because I'm just not good at doing that. I will, however, tell you this is (in my opinion) Front Line Assembly's finest piece of work. I have listened to this album countless times from start to finish and it never fails to amaze me."

Sci-fi horror in your music is what you need ? Get this !

SOUNDWAVE | Decepticon Headquarters | 01/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A hard and heavy FLA album with a bit more of that fear that makes you grip onto your chair than most of their other albums have, except of course 'CAUSTIC GRIP', now that is as cold as it gets, but this is on the other side of the fear scale, as I get a feverish fear feeling from this cd. This album is almost like The Black album was for Metallica, I'm not saying it sounds anything like it, but FLA have grown into a competent beast and at the same time have become a bit too cliched, but this is still an excellent cd with lots of interesting aspects that will make you think "f$#k, this is pretty good music" especially upon first listen. It's quite hard to say this isn't a good listen. There's quite alot of that early 90's sci-fi movies feeling here, which works really well. The BASS lines are incredible, plus there are guitars on this album which I don't like that much, but they don't really bother me either like they did on the 'MILLENIUM' album.



Hard Wired is worth having in your cd collection, but make sure you also get Caustic Grip, Gashed Senses and Crossfire, and Tactical Neural Implant. Total Terror II is a must have if you like simple effective beats with samples and a jumpy bassline, very early 80's typical electro/synth that is fun to hear again and again.



Hard Wired is as the name implies, it is a hard album with wires hooked up to the guitars and synthesizers. The result is a very chaotic ensemble of hard driving syth/bass, haunting samples, and a rhythm guitar that takes the music into a more organic form, but still retaining their purpose which is to accompany the lyrics which are mainly focused around disease, epidemic, war, murder, death, all envisioned in a sci-fi perspective. The vocals on track 6 are amazing. One must hear this album in order to fully appreciate it."

More Great Industrial Music From Leeb & Fulber

Xander Xavier Xymox | Frederick Co :( | 06/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I wouldn't call this my favorite FLA cd, but it comes pretty close. This is kind of a mix of FLA style's. It's not as abrasive as Caustic Grip, Not as danceable as TNI or FLAvour of the weak, and not as metal as Millennium. It does however incorporate the styles of all the ones I just mentioned. Take those four Cd's and put them in a blender and you have Hardwired.



Neologic Spasm 10 This is a epic industrial masterpiece. I always wondered why it never got as much respect as I think it deserves. Awesome opening sample. Not as good as the movie samples from Millennium but pretty darn good anyway. This song has everything from dark opera chants, chaotic noise, and a great heavy beat that could get a quadruple amputee to dance.



Paralyzed 10 As good as Neologic Spasm. More danceable, and not as dark. Leeb & Fulber and Leeb & Peterson are genius's. In my opinion they are as good as Key and Goettel of Skinny Puppy. I love both bands equally. The most amazing thing about these guys is the endless variety and quality of there music from FLA, Noise Unit, old Delerium, protech, and Synaesthesia. And those are the ones I have heard so far. They actually have about 20 more Cd's that I have yet to hear. So far everything I have from them is special. Anyways the point I am trying to make in this long winded diatribe is that in this song alone there are more quality hooks, and beats than some bands have in there entire catalogue.



Re-Birth 7.5 Another very solid song. Personally it doesn't grab me like the first two do, but I still love it. Also 7.5 is still a pretty good rating since I grade FLA and Skinny Puppy songs on a curb. So 7.5 here might be a 8 or 9 with most other bands.



Circuitry 9 Very good beats, synth's, and chorus. There is some good guitar in this song, but they are not in the fore-front of the mix. Speaking of guitar's there are a lot of FLA fans who don't like them. I on the other hand being a Rivet/Metal head always thought that Leeb & Fulber should start a side project with Al Jourgenson of Ministry. That would be the best Industrial metal project ever. That's just wishful thinking though.



Mortal 8 Kind of a cool instrumental with perfect sample's from Dawn of the Dead.



Modus Operandi 10 This is truly Leeb at his most Diabolical sounding moment. Everything about this song is t!ts.



Transparent Species 9 Too many things for me to try to describe here. This is probably the most layered and complex song on this Cd.



Bar-code 8.5 I cant figure out what the sample in the beginning is saying. It sounds like one of those backwards messages. This song has a great atmosphere. Very catchy but in a good way.



Condemned 10 This one sounds like it belongs on Millennium. This song brings beauty, anger, and intensity. One of my favorite parts of the Cd.



Infra Red Combat 10 They saved the best for last. This one starts off slow, but it gradually builds into a juggernaut of a industrial anthem. This song is so good that at one time I didn't own this Cd for about a year and I still could play parts of this song in my head. Definitely one of the band's crowning achievements.



If you are already a FLA fan you have this Cd. If you are curious I would say this is a good place to start."