Oh, No! It's Devo / Freedom of Choice

Album Review

Virgin combined two of Devo's early-'80s albums, Oh, No! It's Devo and Freedom of Choice, on one disc. Freedom of Choice, arguably Devo's strongest musical effort, revolves around relationships, insecurity, and the lack of flexibility in the American psyche. Their arrangements achieve an effective balance between guitars and synths, and the band's highly stylized visual component, this time featuring flowerpot-shaped "energy dome" hats, paid off in the video for "Whip It." The single went gold and helped the album sell over a million copies. Just barely less essential than Q: Are We Not Men?. However, by the point of 1982's Oh, No! It's Devo, much of the band's endearing quirkiness had evaporated. Their sound here was not all that distinguishable from other new wave groups, and apart from a few songs, such as "That's Good" and "Peek-a-Boo," they simply weren't as musically or lyrically interesting as before. Incredibly, it seemed that Devo had not only lost their focus, but were out of ideas as well. Subsequent releases would only confirm this assessment.