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Duty Now for the Future/New Traditionalists

Devo - Duty Now for the Future/New Traditionalists Audio CD

A fair review of the Devo "Duty Now for the Future/New Traditionalists" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Devo reviews here, or go back to the Devo tabs.

Band: Devo
Title: Duty Now for the Future/New Traditionalists
Rating:

Release Date: 1993-05-27
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Devo Corporate Anthem 2: Clockout 3: Timing X 4: Wiggly World 5: Blockhead 6: Strange Pursuits 7: S.I.B. (Swelling Itching Brain) 8: Triumph of the Will 9: Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprise 10: Pink Pussycat 11: Secret Agent Man 12: Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA 13: Red-Eye Express 14: Through Being Cool 15: Jerkin' Back and Forth 16: Pity You 17: Soft Things 18: Going Under 19: Race of Doom 20: Love Without Anger 21: Super Thing 22: Beautiful World 23: Enough Said 24: Working in the Coal Mine

Only completists on a budget and gullible nerds need apply

If you want to check out what these albums have to offer without the chaff go for the anthology, or the hits/misses collections if you'd like to catch some of the quirkier tracks as well. Neither of these are strong albums, and even at half the price this double disc just isn't worth it with such solid collections available.

Even the packaging sucks. It's Devo! Where's the gimmicky album art and liners to distract me from all the unlistenable parts?.

two great albums on one CD!

You see, Ken Scott didn't make the production "murkier," as some reviewers claim. Yay! I can't believe this -- there are others here who think "Duty Now for the Future" is better than "Are We Not Men" also! I'm not the only one! Finally. He just made it more INTERESTING. Of course, I love "Are We Not Men" -- a complete classic from start to finish. But this album is just more interesting, more fun, more well made -- heck, even the instrumentals "Devo Corporate Anthem" and "Timing X" are spectacular. Everytime "Anthem" starts up, I always get a feeling that something special is going to happen. And I'm always correct.

"Clockout" is one of the best Devo songs, EVER. It doesn't have the traditional verse/chrous/verse template as other songs. . . it's an odd listen at first, but it will grow on you like . . . fungus. Or something. It's got some kicka** guitar and the lyrics are Devo at it's best.

"Wiggly World" is a great combonation of post-punk and new wave. . . it hits incredibly hard, and it moves at a blazing pace.

Other top songs on this album include "S. I. B. (Swelling Itching Brain)" (this song even gets scary!), "The Day My Baby Gave Me A Surprise," "Pink Pussy Cat" (great voices), and, the best Devo song ever, "Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA. "

And contrary to popular opinion, "New Traditionalists" is only a notch below Devo's other works. I'm particularly fond of the last five songs. "Love Without Anger" and "Beautiful World" especially. Great songs, GREAT lyrics.

All in all, one of the best purchases around for a Devo fan. Buy it before it goes out of print!.

Only four stars because of New Traditionalists.
All of the songs on this dark masterpiece are killer futurist, electro-spud rock'n'roll monsters. Duty Now For The Future is one of DEVO's finest creations. 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.

Is it on? Is it off? Reply!

After the tour-de-force that was Devo's first full-length album, "Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!", the band switched gears and switched producers from Brian Eno to Ken Scott (known for his work with Supertramp, among others), to produce a chilling, icy work, still with intelligence, energy, and quirky creativity, but with a sound that smacked of anything but commercialism (listen to "Timing X" and "S. This CD represents an unusual yet remarkable pairing of two absolutely essential recordings by the Spud Boys from Akron. I. B"), and was nonetheless very appealling in an emotionally backdoor way; disturbingly catchy, a metaphor for the desire our darker consciousness emits.

I always felt "Freedom Of Choice" was the band's attempt at gaining a more commercial acceptance; not a bad record, but light-hearted when compared to the first two major releases. That's one of the reasons I was glad to see "New Traditionalists" coupled with "Duty Now. . . ". It returned the band to a harder sound, more reminiscent of "Are We Not Men. . . ", while somewhat refuting their more commercial leanings of "Freedom" with songs such as "Through Being Cool" and "Pity You". The attitude was still there, the vision, the disturbing catchiness. They hadn't lost it after all; if anything, they were juxtaposing their original fan base with those who came along upon hearing "Whip It". And it worked very well.

Get this CD. It will inform, entertain, and satirize as only Mothersbaugh and company could. Even 20-plus years down the line.

Good Devo/Bad Devo
The pairing of these titles is interesting in that both represent follow-up efforts to successful albums ("Q: Are We Not Men?. . " successful critically, and "Freedom of Choice" commercially).

"Duty Now. . . " retains the flavor of the first album; still blaring from that contaminated factory-world. It lacks the novelty and punch of "Q:/A:" (which was an avant-garde masterpiece), but it still bangs and sputters and whizzes and cranks, especially "Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA," which is just great rock. By the way, "Red Eye Express" contains my favorite Devo lyric:

Let me tell you a story
Let me shovel some dirt
Long time no sugar
And it's starting to hurt

With "Freedom of Choice" Devo shifted gears. They got the hit single, but seemed to abandon the creepier Devo elements (like nuclear contamination and birth defects) that were part of the attraction/repulsion that made Devo what it originally was. "New Traditionalists," their next album, is, in my opinion, an empty effort. Devo had lost its teeth by this point, was actually becoming "cute," and was well on the way to self-parody.

You can see a complete list of all Devo discography, or go back to the Devo tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.