Since September 2010, this blog has recorded the journey of this music junkie as I attempt to listen to all the music in my CD collection. CDs revisited in their entirety from start to finish - no skipping tracks, no shuffle. Compact Discs only - no vinyl, no tapes, no files.

Friday, September 11, 2020

Devo - Oh, No! It's Devo/Freedom Of Choice (1982/1980)


1993 Virgin reissue, printed in Holland.

Full disclosure: 73 minutes of Devo is a bit much to absorb in one sitting, so this listening was done in three stages while following the CD's sequencing: 1982 album, 1980 album, 2 bonus tracks.

No liner notes other than track listing and publishing info. C'mon.


OH, NO! IT'S DEVO (1982)
Tracks 1-11, bonus track 25

I'll be honest, as a teenager I thought of Devo as a novelty act - the costumes, the artwork, the quirkiness - so I never paid them much mind beyond Whip It. In The New York Times, they were once compared to Kiss:
two highly theatrical concept rock groups — Devo and Kiss. Devo has smarts and, so far, no overwhelming commercial success. Kiss has dumbs and lots of commercial success.
But once you get past all that, they occasionally would throw out a worthwhile tune that you'd catch yourself humming later in the day. Still not something I necessarily enjoy as a complete album, but if I happen to hear the right song at the right time in the right mood, it's perfect. I could complain that it's all the same speed and orchestration, but I can't imagine a string-drenched Devo ballad so I won't.

Press of the time:
  • Billboard: "high-tech dance rock"
  • Rolling Stone (★★★): "Nobody should be able to stretch a spud joke out for this long"
  • Smash Hits (2 out of 10): "sounds like a collection of those "new wave" dry-roasted peanuts TV commercials"
  • Stereo Review: "Rank hucksterism"
  • Trouser Press: "The band seems to pay more attention to silly costume changes that its music"
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #47
Peak on CashBox album chart: #47
Peak on the Rolling Stone chart: #28

Tracks: The singles were Peek-A-Boo (peaked #13 on the Dance charts) and That's Good (#6 Dance). Neither charted on the Hot 100 and I'm not much for the former, but That's Good is without a doubt the best cut on this album. I also dig Out Of Sync and Big Mess. I don't know if I just get tired of listening or the quality of songs declines, but for me, the album kind of falls apart at the end. However, all the tunes are highly danceable and if any of these tunes had been played at one of my high school dances in 1982, I would have been on the floor.

Bonus track (track 25): The Dance Velocity 12" remix of Peek-A-Boo.





FREEDOM OF CHOICE (1980)
Tracks 12-23, bonus track 24

It's ridiculous to think about, but we thought Freedom of Choice was our funk album. That's as funky as Devo gets, I guess.

From top-to-bottom, a much better album than Oh, No! It's Devo and not just because of the inclusion of Whip It. More guitar and real drums plus the tempos vary to a greater degree. The band denies it, but to these ears this album is heavily influenced by both Get The Knack and The Pleasure Principle and would go on to greatly influence Whammy! (not that there's anything wrong with any of that). I'm on record as not paying much attention to lyrics, but these caught my ear and I gotta admit there's some funny stuff here.

Press of the time:
  • Billboard: "The band's odd world vision is still present though it is not as irksome this time around."
  • CashBox: "Record buyers, by now, either want to get silly or they don't."
  • Rolling Stone: "suspicious emptiness"
  • Record World: "an LP full of life"
  • Smash Hits (6 out of 10): "there's little here that's truly impressive"
  • Trouser Press: "conceals as much as it reveals"

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #22
Peak on CashBox album chart: #23
Peak on the Rolling Stone chart: #24

Tracks: Twelve 2½ minute gems. My top cuts are Girl U Want, Whip It, Snowball, Gates Of Steel, That's Pep, and Planet Earth.

Bonus track (track 25): Turn Around, the b-side of the Whip It single. Not bad - it certainly works as a 13th track to this album.


I recently read the 33⅓ book about this album and will say it is one of the better editions in the series. Each track gets a chapter in which particulars of the song are discussed for a few pages before being used as a point of departure to provide band history and background info. Well done.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Devo performing That's Good at Muffy's Bat Mitzvah on the classic TV series Square Pegs.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Greatest Hits (1990)

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