Disco de Devo: “Duty Now for the Future”

Almost all the material on the second album had been written BEFORE the first album. I find it funny how people think Devo wrote the second album after the first. Devo had a huge back catalog of music when they got signed to Warner Brosthers and picked the best material to make both records. Because of this the strength of the writing is about the same on both albums. The big difference is the production. Devo did not like the sound of the first album back then at the time, the second album actually sounds more like Devo in the early days. The band is more confident,tighter and more powerful on the second record. The instrumental Timing X is brutal and tight. Smart Patrol/ Mr.DNA rocks harder than any other Devo song. The producer Ken Scott worked with the Beatles, David Bowie and Elton John. He does a great job giving us Devo in their pure form. Don't listen to the ninny and the twits. There was only nine months between the first and second album, it is the same band. I think by the second album the shock and newness of Devo had worn away abit and made the second album,(part 2) of the early material not as exciting to people. but man what a great album it is.

This album is a musical assembly.That is,surf rock influence,and punkish mind,and humorous rock taste,and garage rock influence.This band is a vehicle that can convey their humour and punkish energy.Producer KEN SCOTT mixed the album so solid and dried ,giggling.This band has the one and only attraction which excels any other rock band.The attraction is what is called cool perspective.The DEVO members succeeded in swimming through the late 70s by their sharp edged-blade and intellectual sound style so smoothly.SECET AGENT MAN is the giggling tune we have to attend to.They are MUSICAL AGENT MAN from outer space.

DEVO caught a case of the sophomore slump after thier brilliant debut. "Duty Now For The Future" 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.