Devo Album: “Duty Now for the Future/New Traditionalists [UK]”

Devo came on the music scene at a time of great upheaval and flux. Heavy Metal, Disco, Power Rock, Punk, New Wave, and Pop(whatever fell through the cracks) were all vying for attention.

Devo's first three albums were evolutionary/revolutionary. The breakthrough - Q. Are We Not Men A. We Are Devo, is their best known. Freedom Of Choice was also a strong album but had some tracks that would have been better off left out. Not that the music itself was bad, just the vocals were bland and uninspired.

Buy it, put it in, and turn it way up.

My fondest memory of this was seeing the Atlanta concert supporting this album, and during a guitar solo, one of the Bob's fell off the stage and landed on top of me. My buddies and I lifted him back up on stage and he kept right on playing.

New Traditionalists was not in the same class, but a few songs were very good. Shaking Back And Forth, Going Under, Race Of Doom, and Beautiful World were the highlights of this album.

While other acts sang about drugs, the devil, and anarchy, Devo's concerts, music, and certainly their wardrobe were fun, creative and different from anyone else's. Some people will never get it. "Pity You" if you don't.

As the other reviewer stated, this CD combines two great albums. In fact, Duty Now For The Future is my favorite Devo record. The only problem I have with this disc is the sound quality. There are occassional "drop-outs" that occur throughout the disc that are a little annoying. Unfortunately, this disc is the only way to get a hold of these two albums. Maybe someone will remaster these albums one of these days? Oh well. This disc is still well worth picking up.

The good thing about these overseas compilations is that you get a 2 for 1 deal on the recordings. The bad thing is that with a band like Devo, who constantly morphed from one album to the next, it renders a different feel to the CD half-way through due to the overall tone and attitude of one album to the next. DNFTF exhibits a sound not typical of any other Devo record, not quite as 'punk' as their earlier material and not quite as 'squared off' as their later material. Often with a feel of some other 'progressive rock' emerging at the time, this album explores odd time signatures and new approaches to rock. New Traditionalists falls into the 'squared off' genre. This is post-Whip It, very synth heavy and finely tweezed, as if they had steriled their own safety pin. This features their other siren songs: Through Being Cool and Workin' In A Coalmine (their 'radio songs'?), however there are far more substantial tracks on this record than these. All in all, it seems NT is the destination of Devo's journey....all things prior seem to lead to this point. As usual, both album are laden with prophetic visions of 'de-evolution' and when looking back today it inspires one to say, 'Devo was right'.

It's funny that this cd is like the Oreo cookie outside to the creamy "Freedom Of Choice" commercial success center. Looked and listened to in that perspective, it does show where the potato heads' heads were at.

"Duty Now" is a really good album that came after a perfect one, and it does shrivel in comparison. The DEVO eyes had turned from the sound of things falling apart to the machinery that made it go. Having used up most of their "conceptual" songs for the debut, we were served up musings on love work and death.

In part, the blame does rest on producer Ken Scott, who obviously didn't understand the band with anywhere near the depth that Brian Eno did. Where Eno might have encouraged brighter production in (for instance) "Swelling Itching Brain," Scott instead chose to make it murkier. That most of the songs here are great overcomes the cloudy sound, and "The Day My Baby Gave Me A Surprise" is a DEVO hall of famer.

This is also the home of one of DEVO's best statement of purpose songs, the concert fave "Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA." Declaring themselves to be "suburban robots to monitor reality," DEVO make the claim that they are here to protect both man and mutant, only to discover that Mr. DNA deems them fit to "sacrifice themselves so many others may live!" it also rocks harder than anything else DEVO ever recorded for the first part of their career. After this, the slick success of "Whip It" kind of tamed them...if you ever considered DEVO tamable.

"New Traditionalists" found DEVO in a precarious state. Their arty irony and brainy pop smarts had made them a flavor of the moment via the "F.O.C." hit single and video, and suddenly the whole world was chanting "are we not men?" It both emboldened them and deepened their cynicism. "Through Being Cool" rallied the alienated to rise against the ninnies and the twits at the same time "Beautiful World" wearily declared that it might have been a beautiful world for you, but "it's not for me." After all, how could you rail against the lemming/jock mentality when they were the ones donning energy domes at the football games and singing "Whip It" at corporate synergy rallies?

But having been touched by the gold finger of hit making, DEVO did their best to fill an album with enthusiastic pogo anthems about their favorite topics. "Jerking Back and Forth" and "Love Without Anger" are typical visions of human relationships ala DEVO. (The stop motion doll video for "L.W.A." is among the band's best.) "Going Under" had them tinkering with their sound a little, and "Working In A Coal Mine" was given the DEVO oldie treatment. All in all, a solid album.

As a double record on one disc, worth every penny, especially since the import individual discs are getting really hard to find.