| Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo | 1978 |
| Duty Now For The Future | 1979 |
| Freedom Of Choice | 1980 |
| New Traditionalists | 1981 |
| Oh, No! It's Devo! | 1982 |
| Shout | 1984 |
| E-Z Listening Disc | 1987 |
| Total Devo | 1988 |
| Now It Can Be Told (Devo At The Palace 12/9/88) (live) | 1989 |
| Smooth Noodle Maps | 1990 |
| Hardcore Devo, Vol. 1 (compilation) | 1990 |
| Greatest Hits (compilation) | 1990 |
| The Rest: Greatest Misses (compilation) | 1990 |
| Hardcore, Vol. 2 (compilation) | 1991 |
(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
This was a very weird album when it came out at the height of the late 70's 'new wave' period. The songs deal with odd topics such as weird creatures and space, and sexual topics such as masturbation. Actually, a great deal of the songs are about masturbation: "Uncontrollable Urge" (the highly energized punky opener), "Praying Hands" (an exaggerated anthemic song about masturbation), and "Shrivel Up" (a weird and snappy song with some electronic keyboard sounds) all deal with it in a humorous manner. On this first album of theirs, they are a guitar dominated band that uses some space-age synthesizers and sound effects. One of the best songs on here is their signature tune "Jocko Homo" which contains the lines 'Are we not men, we are Devo' to a fine whiplashing beat.
Other neat songs include "Space Junk" and "Mongoloid" which are spacey tunes, and the short rave-ups "Too Much Paranoias" and "Sloppy (I saw My Baby Gettin')". The melodies are all pretty odd and interesting, they even do a weird take on the Rolling Stones "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by adding a mechanical beat and repeating the word 'baby' a million times to great effect. "Gut Feeling/(Slap Your Manny)" is also a highlight on here because its gets faster and faster as it goes along, before turning into a punky rave-up at the end. This is a futuristic- sounding and enjoyable album with only one slightly weak cut called "Come Back Jonee", but it still has the same weirdness as the other tracks.
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COMMENTS
Every track on Devo's first album is pioneering and way ahead of it's time,,WHAT THE HELL IS A RAVE-UP,ANYWAY??? Come back Jonee is the best track on the album,,and it's SLAP YOUR MAMMY..
(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
This greatest hits album of theirs contains 16 songs, from their successful period of 1978- 1984. It's a good introduction to this new wave group that influenced techno and the way videos were made in the 1980's. Three songs from the first album are included, one of them being the Devo anthem "Jocko Homo" which without it would have made this collection incomplete. "Smart Patrol/Mr. Dna" which is also from the early period is the oddest, and maybe the best on here, as it is filled with synthesizer experiments, a decent guitar solo, and a perky and energetic section in the last few minutes that is really fun to listen to.
Elsewhere we have the big hits "Whip It" and "Gates Of Steel", along with many of the key tracks from their early 80's albums like "Through Being Cool" and "Jerkin' Back And Forth". By their 5th album in 1982 Devo had made their transition from new wave/punky rock to almost pure techno. From that period they take the best like "Big Mess" and "That's Good" along with the danceable song "Here To Go" from 1984. By the mid 1980's they certainly went stale, so what is on here is from their most fruitful period, and is simply excellent.
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