{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2019}} {{Infobox album | name = The Initial Command | type = studio | artist = [[Front Line Assembly]] | cover = Front Line Assembly - The Initial Command.jpg | alt = | released = {{Start date|1987|12}}<ref name="reclamationbooklet">{{Cite AV media notes | title=Front Line Assembly - Reclamation | others=[[Front Line Assembly]] | year=1997 | pages=2–3 | publisher=[[Roadrunner Records|Roadrunner]] | last=Levermore | first=Gary | type=booklet | location=[[New York City|New York]]}}</ref> | recorded = {{Start date|1987|8}} | venue = | studio = | genre = [[Industrial music|Industrial]], [[Electronic body music|EBM]], [[electro-industrial]] | length = {{Duration|m=48|s=40}} <small>(original release)</small><br>{{Duration|m=62|s=46}} <small>(1997 release)</small> | label = KK, [[ROIR]], [[Third Mind Records|Third Mind]], [[Cleopatra Records|Cleopatra]], [[Zoth Ommog Records|Zoth Ommog]] | producer = [[Bill Leeb]], Michael Balch | prev_title = [[Total Terror]] | prev_year = 1986 | next_title = [[State of Mind (Front Line Assembly album)|State of Mind]] | next_year = 1987 | misc = {{Extra album cover | header = Alternative cover | type = Studio album | cover = The_Initial_Command_2.png | border = | alt = | caption = Re-release (1997) }} }} {{Album ratings | rev1 = ''Rear Garde'' | rev1score = Favorable<ref name="reargarderev">{{cite magazine |last=Miller |first=Greg |date=April 1988 |title=Front Line Assembly, The Initial Command |url=https://archive.org/details/88-04-Number24/page/n17 |magazine=Rear Garde |location=Montreal |publisher=Squishy Productions |issue=24 |page=19 |issn=1185-1937 |oclc=1081144492 |access-date=April 13, 2020}}</ref> | noprose = yes }}
'''''The Initial Command''''' is the first full-length studio album released by Canadian [[Industrial music|industrial]] band [[Front Line Assembly]], released in 1987 through Belgian label KK.<ref name="roirreleasenotes">{{Cite AV media notes |title=In the Front Line |title-link=The Initial Command |last=Woods |first=Karen |others=[[Front Line Assembly]] |date=1990 |at=2 |type=booklet |publisher=ROIR |location=New York City}}</ref>
==Release== 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 tape|cassette]]<ref name="cashboxnewmusic">{{cite magazine |last=Woods |first=Karen |date=August 25, 1990 |title=New Music |url=https://archive.org/details/cashbox54unse_3/page/10/mode/2up |magazine=[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]] |location=New York |volume=54 |issue=4 |page=11 |access-date=July 18, 2021 |issn=0008-7289 |oclc=436591198}}</ref> with a different cover. It was the first release of the album in the United States<ref name="wpsynthetic">{{cite magazine |last=Jenkins |first=Mark |date=January 25, 1991 |title=Synthetic Appeal of Industrial Mix |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/01/25/synthetic-appeal-of-industrial-mix/2b55122e-0b0d-44c6-b401-b9670957eedb/ |magazine=[[The Washington Post]] |location=Washington D.C. |publisher=[[Fred Ryan]] |access-date=July 18, 2021 |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=2269358}}</ref> and the second Front Line Assembly album released by ROIR after the band's second album [[State of Mind (Front Line Assembly album)|State of Mind]].<ref name="cashboxnewmusic"/> British label [[Third Mind Records|Third Mind]] followed in 1992 with a licensed CD version in the United States. Los Angeles–based [[Cleopatra Records|Cleopatra]]'s and German [[Zoth Ommog Records|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.<ref name="mpinitialcomand">{{cite web | url=http://www.mindphaser.com/index.php?page_id=252 | title=Front Line Assembly > The Initial Command | work=Mindphaser 3.0 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516015915/http://www.mindphaser.com/index.php?page_id=252 | archivedate=May 16, 2012 | accessdate= April 10, 2010}}</ref> "Complexity" and "Core" appear to be new songs at the time of release.<ref name="mpinitialcomand" /> Polish label Mecanica issued a vinyl edition of the 1997 release in summer 2002,<ref name="2022mecanicarel">{{cite web |url=https://www.side-line.com/4-earliest-albums-of-bill-leebs-front-line-assembly-reissued-on-double-vinyl-with-bonus-tracks/ |title=4 earliest albums of Bill Leeb's Front Line Assembly reissued on double vinyl with bonus tracks |last=van Isacker |first=Bernard |date=May 31, 2022 |website=side-line.com |access-date=December 5, 2023}}</ref> while Cleopatra re-issued a remastered version of the album on September 3, 2022 on vinyl and with the two bonus tracks on CD.<ref name="2022rerel">{{cite news |last=Yücel |first=Ilker |date=July 15, 2021 |title=Cleopatra Records announces limited edition vinyl reissues of Front Line Assembly's first two albums |url=https://regenmag.com/news/cleopatra-records-announces-limited-edition-vinyl-reissues-of-front-line-assemblys-first-two-albums/ |work=ReGen Magazine |location=Beltsville, Maryland |access-date=September 25, 2022}}</ref>
==Production== The music was recorded on a 4-track tape.<ref name="flipsideinterviewleeb">{{cite interview |last=Leeb |first=Bill |subject-link=Bill Leeb |interviewer=Dan |title=Interview |work=[[Flipside (fanzine)|Flipside]] |date=September 1992 |location=Pasadena |issue=80}}</ref>
==Track listing== {{tracklist | all_writing = Bill Leeb, except where noted | headline = 1987 Release | title1 = The State | writer1 = Bill Leeb, Rhys Fulber | length1 = 6:16 | title2 = Insanity Lurks Nearby | length2 = 6:10 | title3 = Casualties | writer3 = Bill Leeb, Rhys Fulber | length3 = 4:46 | title4 = Ausgang Zum Himmel | writer4 = Bill Leeb, Rhys Fulber | length4 = 7:14 | title5 = Nine Times | length5 = 6:27 | title6 = Black March | length6 = 5:59 | title7 = No Control | length7 = 6:37 | title8 = Slaughterhouse | length8 = 5:11 }}
{{tracklist | headline = 1997 Re-release | total_length = 62:46 | title1 = Complexity | length1 = 7:48 | title2 = Core | length2 = 6:12 | title3 = The State | writer3 = Bill Leeb, Rhys Fulber | length3 = 6:17 | title4 = Insanity Lurks Nearby | length4 = 6:03 | title5 = Casualties | writer5 = Bill Leeb, Rhys Fulber | length5 = 4:46 | title6 = Ausgang Zum Himmel | writer6 = Bill Leeb, Rhys Fulber | length6 = 7:16 | title7 = Nine Times | length7 = 6:30 | title8 = Black March | length8 = 6:02 | title9 = No Control | length9 = 6:40 | title10 = Slaughterhouse | length10 = 5:12 }}
==Personnel== ===Front Line Assembly=== * [[Bill Leeb]] – production, engineering, vocals * Michael Balch – production (1987 Release), mixing (1987 Release) * [[Rhys Fulber]] (1987 Release 1, 3, 4) * [[Chris Peterson (producer)|Chris Peterson]] – mixing (1997 Re-release 1, 2)
===Technical personnel=== * Carylann Loeppky – cover art (1987 Release) * David Rosychuk – design (1987 Release), artwork (1987 Release)
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Front Line Assembly}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Initial Command, The}} [[Category:Front Line Assembly albums]] [[Category:1987 debut albums]] [[Category:ROIR albums]] [[Category:Cleopatra Records albums]] [[Category:Zoth Ommog Records albums]]