Devo - Freedom of Choice poll

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gates of steel

what an album

KROQ top 50 1980:
1. Devo - Whip It
17. Devo - Freedom of Choice
48. Devo - Girl U Want
66. Devo - Gates of Steel

#148 in ILM's 80s Albums poll and did not place any songs

Acclaimed Musie:
DNP Album
16. Whip It
138. Girl U Want

kaboom, the last single album in this series and what a way to close single albums. Surprised this has yet to be polled but happy that I unearthed it.

crazy that only two of the songs crack the 3 minute mark

Gates of Steel. The Breeders version is pretty sweet.

Hey, I never heard that before, pretty great!

Girl U Want

might vote for Snowball, which I think might be the only genuine love song they've ever done?

"Snowball" is one of my favorite songs of all time, incredible stuff

Title track.

i'm gonna have to be basic and vote Whip It

Gates of Steel. Sort of a desperate optimism punching through sheet metal that I find very moving. I love Bob 1's guitar.
This is an amazing TV performance, one of my favourite to watch by anyone ever.

I'm listening to this album in full for the first time. It's so so so so good.

Of the deeper cuts I didn't already know, That's Pep is the one I would have voted for

Gates of Steel. That Fridays performance is all time, but I love the live version on Now It Can Be Told

voted girl u want

The title track pops in my head a lot

Also the video is all time

“Snowball” without hesitation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WJd4iEQRIg

side 2 of this album is why devo is good.

Snowball is one of their best, a top-10 Devo song for me. Gates of Steel too, but I gotta rep for Snowball here

Lots of covers from this album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK-iJ-bfjJY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BDLO5269Lk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf_XoInMzJE

Gates Of Steel was such a core soundtrack of teenage skateboarding, I can't not vote for it.

Speaking of.. if you ever see the Donovan Piscopo vid for NikeSB... I wonder if it's out there?

well well well, starts at 2mins:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpDd9QLqz2A

I just saw an Old Nevy commercial and they used "Whip It." I don’t think I have ever heard Devo in a commercial before?

i thought everyone was familiar with the legendary "pringle pack it"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PE-rFtvMwU

i can think of several other "whip it" examples, has to be one of the most commercially used songs of the new wave era

search "Commericals with Devo music" for a comprehensive playlist.

...on YouTube

Memory must be going

I know I have never seen that linked commercial, lol. Very retro

That pringles ad is quintessential 90s

I think "Beautiful World" was in a Target commercial, but it was re-recorded presumably so the band could make more money

"Freedom of Choice" would have been one of the first videos I ever saw (on The New Music TV show), along with "Ashes to Ashes". At the age of eight I was unsettled by the tale of the indecisive Roman dog. My brother had their first two albums, but I didn't hear the rest of this one for another 35 years. There's too much lightweight synthpop on this for me to rank it with the earlier records, though several of the tracks are catchy and interesting.

Snowball, which I think might be the only genuine love song they've ever done?

They have a few unhappy relationship songs, especially from this point on, but I'd say "The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprize" is a lot more open-hearted than "Snowball"?

In the 33 1/3 book on this record, Mark Mothersbaugh describes "Mr. B's Ballroom" as the sort of song that listeners only play once, a description that again left me unsettled. Is he being cynical, or clear-eyed about how little his audience wants to have its narrow focus expanded?

Gates of Steel was a song that I taped off the radio and the DJ didn't announce the name of. It was the late 80s; I was probably 10 or so. About five years later, I bought a copy of Freedom of Choice from a thrift shop, just as a gag because it had Whip It on it and they looked ridiculous on the album cover. I hadn't even read the song titles when I put it on the turntable, but when Gates of Steel came on, it was a moment of such elation and relief at finally finding that song.

Of the deeper cuts I didn't already know, That's Pep is the one I would have voted for

The words to this were taken in their entirety from an ancient self-help book that Mark Mothersbaugh found. Of course, coming out of his mouth, the homilies sound rancid.

I used to be quite certain the last verse in Planet Earth was about Ian Curtis (especially with the previous verse about watching a girl "lose all control", but now I just saw on Wikipedia the album was recorded before Curtis' suicide, and released days before.

Gates of Steel. That Fridays performance is all time, but I love the live version on Now It Can Be Told

― Elvis Telecom,

a live album that gets no love from the devo fans, except from me.
it's genuinely brilliant (and funny) in the build up from the acoustic opening to the full on machine noise.
such a great live album.
also it's not an album you see too often in the uk.
i only got it cos i was in a 2nd hand cd shop when someone was trying to trade it in, but the shop owner was not interested.
so, i waited outside and did the deal with the fella as he left.

David Kendrick on drums for that one. Just did a small tour with him he's amazing (currently in Xiu Xiu).

Funnily enough reviews of that album singled out Kendrick’s drumming as particularly bad.

Evie Nage's 33 1/3 is one of the best, in large part b/c she explains how this album took off in middle America.

Kendrick is a fine drummer and he seems to be a good dude but I don't think he was the right fit for Devo at all. Myers is such a tough guy to replace, you sorta have to forget what you know about drumming to do it. that said Freese fills in really well

Mark E - I'm with you as that live album was the first Devo I owned!

Nothing against Kendrick—“Are You Ready for the Sex Girls?” and its accompanying video are all time.

no one could be alan! but that live album with dk rips.

Hearing Yo La Tengo tear into “Gates of Steel” is a top 5 concert memory.

Hearing Yo La Tengo tear into “Gates of Steel” is a top 5 concert memory.

Kinda surprised and heartened to see so many Snowball stans out there. I figured i was going to be sole vote.

honestly Gates of Steel has a good argument as Devo's best song but I still voted Snowball

The "Live in Seattle 1981" disc they released for RSD a few years ago ends with an amazing 15 minute sequence - Smart Patrol/Mr DNA/Gut Feeling and then finally instead of Slap Your Mammy they go straight into Gates of Steel and it's very, very epic.

Difficult poll. This is one of those albums where I feel like there is an objectively best song ("Gates of Steel") but after listening to this album hundreds of times over the years I know in my heart that it's not my favorite song (though tbf it probably was once upon a time). So, I'm voting for my favorite, which is the title track

Freedom from choice is what you want

The aforementioned Breeders cover of "Gates of Steel":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1-mgCsEwuw

I always thought of this album as the point where they used up the pool of songs they'd been rehearsing throughout the 1970s. They basically stuck their live show on Q: Are We Not Men and the early Stiff / indie singles, and the b-list songs on Duty Now, at which point they had to start writing new songs. And it turned out that they were really good at short snappy pop songs!

Girl U Want

Bob 1's guitar on Girl You Want is one of the best things a human has ever done

I love how It's Not Right is like sci-fi Beatles

The sole legit live DVD of their "classic era" is from their tour behind this album, and it's pretty great. Bear in mind it's a 1980 video production (albeit professional quality) so the technical shortcomings compared to 4K or even HD will be obvious, but I was blown away by how physically intense and focused their shows were back in the day. In hindsight, Mark must have pretty great lung capacity from the aerobic workout he put himself through night after night, something that might've paid off big when he was fighting a serious COVID infection. Even when he's not singing or playing, he's literally jumping around like a pogo stick or doing jumping jacks.

has the Rockpalast show from 1978 really not been released officially? wow.

I'm not sure how that works with Rockpalast because they've put out a ton of stuff on CD and DVD - maybe they have to negotiate with the artists or rights holder first? Regardless, they put even more stuff on their online accounts like YouTube so it could be out there streaming in official capacity in some territories.

FWIW archivist Peter Conheim says he's been gradually working on restoring two particular shows, Budokan/Japan 1979 and Starwood/LA 1978 (both of which have excerpts on THE MEN WHO MAKE THE MUSIC, but with mediocre audio compared to what is possible). He's hoping to make these available soon, possibly as bonus material on an upcoming Blu-ray (of what I'm not sure).

It's a pipe dream for numerous reasons, but how wonderful would a Criterion box set edition (ala Monterey Pop) of URGH: A Music War be?

The biggest problem there of course being that a lot of possible extra footage is probably either lost or didn't exist in the first place. OTOH, some extra stuff from earlier in the Cramps performance has surfaced on YouTube (allowing viewers to see how Lux's pants began sliding off).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4Q35e0-fPQ-

For the curious...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2gkYrgnff0

"Human Fly" & "I Was A Teenage Werewolf" (quality on both ruff AF, but they are properly edited and synched)

Btw for anyone interested - I do an Urgh based podcast with Chris from Guided by Voices. We’ve had on Stan Ridgeway, Leslie from Au Pairs, Skafish, Steve from Oingo Boingo, two members of Invisible Sex, the guy from the Members and John Doe and an Alley Cat are coming on soon.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Coincidentally this was reposted by Consequence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWibVxUJQgk

I left my TV on during work on Friday and must have heard that commercial a half a dozen times. I felt the calling but in the end I had to vote for "Gates of Steel."

Btw for anyone interested - I do an Urgh based podcast with Chris from Guided by Voices. We’ve had on Stan Ridgeway, Leslie from Au Pairs, Skafish, Steve from Oingo Boingo, two members of Invisible Sex, the guy from the Members and John Doe and an Alley Cat are coming on soon.

Cool!

What's the status of the Devo doc? It's still touring festivals?

Another vote for "Snowball" - got into it via this Felix da Housecat sample:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieu959PeBjU

Wow I should listen to this album again. It was huge for me in the moment because it was right when I was getting into pop music and my dad bought it because he liked "Whip It." As one of the few albums in the house at that point that was plausibly MY music rather than my parents', I thought it was the coolest thing. Off the top of my head it's "Girl U Want" vs. "Gates of Steel," but it's been so long that several of the titles don't register to me.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

seems about right to me!

curious who voted "Don't You Know"

I got a rocket in my pocket
I don't know what to do
Like a plug without a socket
I'm just waitin' 'round for you

Glad it got a vote

Good turnout! Both ways

To compare and contrast, results from ILM artist poll linked in OP:

3. Freedom of Choice 471 / 19 / 1
5. Girl U Want 438 / 18 / 1
8. Gates of Steel 393 / 15 / 1
11. Whip It 293 / 13 / 1
18. Snowball 200/ 9 / 1
31. It’s Not Right 104/ 4
32. That's Pep 102 / 4 / 1
43. Planet Earth 65 / 3
50. Ton O Love 46/ 3
57. Mr. B's Ballroom 34 /2
78. Don’t You Know 18/ 1

voted Girl U Want when the poll arrived but relistened over the weekend for the first time in many years and had forgotten how great “cold war” is — could almost be a wire song

#76, "Cold War" is our only difference ironically.

I'm actually astonished that "Girl U Want" is in 4th place here