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

I suppose it was just some bozo in marketing that prevented these dual sets from being released in proper chronological order... it would have been so much more satisfying to have Q: and Duty Now on one disc, and Freedom of Choice / New Traditionalists on the other, but whatever, such is life.

At any rate, these are still two of my all-time favorite albums hanging out in one place, which is very, very good for the world. New Traditionalists boasts some classic songs, e.g. the oft-mentioned Beautiful World and Through Being Cool, and my personal favorites, Jerkin Back & Forth and Going Under; and I just adore the hilarity that is Duty Now for the Future - from the somber strands of Devo Corporate Anthem to the rollickin' good time of Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA, this album is chock full of great songs, bizarre sounds, and more of that early, rawer (read: guitar/bass/drums rather than synth) sound.

All in all, excellent music, excellent entertainment, and a great antidote to having accidentally listened to some of those terrible later releases like Shout or Smooth Noodle Maps.

This twofer set offers the casual devo-tee a chance to really understand the evolution of the de-evolution band. By sandwiching the immediate predecessor and immediate progeny of "Freedom of Choice," the listener can truly understand how FOC is the missing link between organic Devo (Duty Now for the Future) and synthetic Devo (New Traditionalists).

"Duty Now" was Devo's apocalyptic warning against a wiggly world taken over by corporate culture; by the time "New Traditionalists" came out, the members of Devo had been fully re-programmed to trumpet the coming of a Brave New World.

Or had they?

Songs like "Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA," "Devo Corporate Anthem," "Clockout" and "Blockhead" were harbingers of a "one-size-fits all" universe that came to fruition with "Freedom of Choice," though the spudboys by that time all chose to march in energy-dome topped-off lockstep.

"Triumph of the Will" was their eerie anthem, in lockstep with the aesthetics of filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl's vision of Nazi utopia. But, for Devo, there is no beautiful world on the horizon yet, only Duty and Fatherland. Duty Now, for the Beautiful World of the Future.

But, there is a premonition of revolt in such songs from "New Traditionalists" as "Beautiful World" (for YOU; IT'S NOT FOR ME), "Through Being Cool" and "Going Under." "Working in a Coal Mine" was Devo's attempt at nostalgia as only they could understand it; disembodied computer-synth hu-boon vocals over steel guitar. It really takes a great swipe at all the MOR so-called "blues" artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton.

Devo never sold out, they just constantly repackaged themselves.

I've loved Devo since their birth back in the 70's. Duty Now For The Future...their second album, is by far the best! Although most true spud fans would argue that - Q: Are We Not Men is their best work, I would disagree. The band seems to be more together in this work of art. Every band member is tight and precision is rampant like a group of surgeons. In short, they jam on this disc. If you want an album that will blow your mind and shake the art off your walls, Duty Now For the Future is for you!

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.

Duty Now For The Future is one of DEVO's finest creations. All of the songs on this dark masterpiece are killer futurist, electro-spud rock'n'roll monsters. Duty Now For The Future is a follow lp to the great Q: Are We Not Men album and expands on the DEVO manifesto. Songs like "Clockout", "Wiggly World" and "The Day My Baby Gave Me A Suprise" are great rock'n'roll tunes while being gross and darkly humorous at the same time. DEVO was now developing and expanding the notion that DEVO was just doing a job and entertainment was just that-a job. This is the DEVO war machine at the hight of it's power! For great live footage of the band during the "Duty Now" era try to find the video The Men Who Make The Music. Too bad the original cover that featured a super-cool removable postcard and great bar-code graphics has been replaced with the UK/European version of the jacket art.