Search - Front Line Assembly :: Tactical Neural Implant

The quintessential EBM record... period.

suchman | 04/17/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Shame on Third Mind Records or whoever owns the rights to this for not making it readily available in the States...This is the only EBM album you will ever need... everything else is simply derivative. FLA fans pretty much agree that this is the gem of the FLA backcatalogue. Moreover, I really believe that this is one of those records than any serious music fan should own... regardless if you are interested in EBM or FLA. Not having this record is kind of like not having albums like Sergent Peppers, Mezzanine, The Wall, The Doors, White Rabbit, or Run DMC... you know, those kinds of records that define genres or break them down.Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber may be more well-known for Delerium and Conjure One and maybe some of the new FLA stuff, but digging back into their history and you will stumble across this record. I invariably hated it on the first few listens... it seemed boring and monotonous. The problem is that when you listen more carefully, you will discover, as I have, the subtlety and brilliance underneath.Leebs mechanized vocals (think battlestar galactica) are vocoded into the songs, rather than sung over the songs... making for a perfect blend of man and machine which so defines EBM. Steady mid-tempo beats tend to "lick" out of your speakers (you'll know when you hear it) rather than pound out. The basslines are a bit quirkier and less direct (except for Gun) than other, more aggressive FLA releases. The melodies tend to more of a retro-sci-fi kind of sound that will bring to mind some sort of soundtrack to Dune or Blade Runner.Perhaps the record is a bit old for electronic music, running on 10 years now. But perhaps TNI is more relevant now after we have seen where electronic music has gone and continues to go, and how no one before or since has been able to recreate this kind of sound."

Necessary to understand industrial-EBM music

D. M. MATALLIN | Valencia, Spain | 05/20/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tactical Neural Implant is necessary to understand the so-called EBM-industrial branch of music; After the quite good and promising 'Caustic Grip', in 1992 came one of the most important electronic cds of all times, in my opinion. If you know FLA, then you understand what are their strong points: excellent electronic basslines, distorted and deep voice, samples everywhere helping to conform a barrier of sound very muscular and dense. 'Tactical Neural Implant' is maybe, together with their penultimate effort 'Implode', the most ellegant example of FLA music. Here everything was more polished and accurate than in previous albums; the agressiveness is not absent, but the dirty sound of 'Caustic Grip' here disappears a bit. The choruses are catchier than ever, following the collection of impressive choruses begun in 'Caustic Grip'. No song here is bad or mediocre.
My review of the songs:
Final Impact (7/10): a strong beginning, with a monotonous voice but incredible bassline, somewhat anticipating later songs like 'Neologic Spasm'.The Blade (8/10): a more minimalistic song, repetitive, with hip-hop beats and guitars, extremely robotically distorted voice, one of the favourite of the fans which I find much too repetitive but good.Mindphaser (9/10): layers and layers of samples, impressive chorus, agressive voice, everything sounds more melodic here. One of the FLA highlights ever.Remorse (10/10): this is one of the most melodic FLA songs ever. The voice is distorted but not in an agressive way, the chorus is very catchy and addictive; the song is not a prodigy of sound, but a prodigy of melody.Bio-Mechanic (10/10): I love this one. Slower than the rest, addictive chorus with robotical voice, a lot of samples, less catchy perhaps at first listening. The live version in 'Live Wired' is amazing.Outcast (8/10): again more techno influence, something like hip-hop rhythms, agressive voice, quotes of Skinny Puppy's 'Worlock', guitars, good chorus. A good song which seems even mediocre compared with the rest.Gun (9/10): after an impressive intro which comes to an electronic climax, here comes the only song whose chorus is not cacthy but a very good song anyway. FLA at its most danceable.Lifeline (9/10): As in Caustic Grip's 'Threshold', Leeb sings almost with his natural voice a ballad (well, a FLA-style, at least). FLA reminding us of Depeche Mode? well, this comes closer, and it's a perefct way to end an almost perfect album.If you want to listen to Leeb and Fulber at their best, listen to this. TNI is not as raw as 'Caustic Grip', not as hard and metal as 'Millenium', not as overloaded with samples as 'Hard Wired', and it's the best FLA album only comparable, in my preference, with 'Implode'."

I don't think that the real violence has even started yet

simpcity | 06/19/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Vancouver's Holy Trinity -- Skinny Puppy, NoMeansNo and FLA -- share a common interest in social themes. SP is, of course, famous for its treatment of vivisection, addiction and "smothered hope" (a punk sensibility for sure). NoMeansNo, while very punky, started discussing child abuse long before Jon Davis, while also experimenting with noise.FLA, especially on Tactical Neural Implant, hammered away at issues of race, crime fear and the death penalty. This was a great historical outburst which has been eclipsed by the millennial shift. I mention all of this because I believe these three bands are best viewed in light of each other.This cd would be hard to classify as dance music, but it's truly dancable. But check out the words of Mindphaser for the commentary on the 80's:
...Mesmerized by a decade of faith, flowers and remorse, fading vision lost in time, tragedy of course...I don't think it's fair to say that FLA went soft in the late 90's. There are no extra points given in life for being cutting edge. It's just that space and time are moving around you. What is true there and then may not be true here and now.This is late-stage Cold War renaissance music. The Vancouver bands seem to have been quite close to it for reasons we'll probably never know.Tactical Neural Implant and Caustic Grip are absolutely fine cds. You need to revisit them often to appreciate the good and bad of the late 20th Century. Eight songs. All of them great. Some quite beautiful (like Remorse). Canada's gift to the world."