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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Many years after the event I feel it's now my duty to report that I spoke to the members of Devo after a gig in the 80s and was delighted to discover that my favourite album of theirs is also their favourite album: Duty Now for the Future! It's a contentious point because the first album was such an amazing debut, but the production on the second album is just so much better.
Although Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA has always been my favourite track, you also have S.I.B. (which also has a tremendous version on the Dev-O Live album), Pink Pussycat, Secret Agent Man, The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprise, Blockhead, Strange Pursuit - all strong numbers in my opinion! The album has a highly unified feel to it, a very strong identity. I bought it on vinyl when it was released and it gave me a surprise, a new sound. The band were obviously very proud of what they achieved with this album, too. They felt that the people who engineered the sound on this album produced the sound and the effect they were looking for, and I knew what they meant when they said it.
Although Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA has always been my favourite track, you also have S.I.B. (which also has a tremendous version on the Dev-O Live album), Pink Pussycat, Secret Agent Man, The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprise, Blockhead, Strange Pursuit - all strong numbers in my opinion! The album has a highly unified feel to it, a very strong identity. I bought it on vinyl when it was released and it gave me a surprise, a new sound. The band were obviously very proud of what they achieved with this album, too. They felt that the people who engineered the sound on this album produced the sound and the effect they were looking for, and I knew what they meant when they said it.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This disc comprises of Devos 2nd and 4th release on one disc with a few (i think) single only tracks.
This cd is the best of this set from Virgin Records, it has two great albums instead of a great album and an okay but not vital release (like the live ep and the album Oh No It's Devo).
The packaging is just plain bad, it has none of the charisma of the original releases and on a few songs even spells tracks wrong!
If you get all 3 of these releases you get 6 albums, and thats great for the price, but if you can, get either the original vinyls or more devo-ted re-releases. This simply feels like a way for Virgin to cash in on them which is sad.
Worth getting for the music alone, but the packaging is worth only one star out of five.
This cd is the best of this set from Virgin Records, it has two great albums instead of a great album and an okay but not vital release (like the live ep and the album Oh No It's Devo).
The packaging is just plain bad, it has none of the charisma of the original releases and on a few songs even spells tracks wrong!
If you get all 3 of these releases you get 6 albums, and thats great for the price, but if you can, get either the original vinyls or more devo-ted re-releases. This simply feels like a way for Virgin to cash in on them which is sad.
Worth getting for the music alone, but the packaging is worth only one star out of five.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
'Duty Now for the Future/New Traditionalists' is probably the least attractive of the three Virgin Records double LP Devo CDs released in the early 90s. It is hardly the fault of the material, 'Duty Now For the Future' (1979) was a fine follow up to 'Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!' but the songs weren't as memorable. 'New Traditionalists' (1981) was their follow up to the stateside hit album 'Freedom of Choice'. It too is a weaker album than its predecessor. Devo seemed to lose momentum after 'Freedom of Choice', they were still recording brilliant singles, but on each album the number of weak and novelty songs began to cloud the albums.
An overall criticism of the trilogy of Virgin releases is the pairing of albums. Sonically `Duty Now For the Future' should have been paired with 'Are We Not Men', 'New Traditionalists with 'Oh, No! It's Devo' and 'Freedom of Choice' with the 'Devo Live EP'. This is only a minor quibble as the value for money ratio cancels out issues of ordering and the albums cheapo packaging. One other set back is that the two albums are presented with less bonus tracks than the other pair. Only (the admittedly smashing) `Working in a Coalmine' appears additionally.
The individual albums are full of quality moments. The out and out highlight of 'Duty' is the six-minute 'Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA'. As the title suggests it is a two part song, first half has a military stomp in which vocals and instrumentation becomes more vitriolic. The second half turns punky and shouty but the synthesizers remain pronounced but as a gurgling bassline. The singles 'Secret Agent Man' and 'The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprize' are strong but hardly as iconic as 'Jocko Homo' and 'Mongoloid'. Other bright moments include the dark electronic workout 'S.I.B (Swelling Itching Brain)' and the raucous 'Clockout'.
'New Traditionalists' is a more uneven affair. The problem is that the songs are colder, display less humour and rather monotonous. 'Freedom of Choice' had made a virtue out of monotonous simplicity, and the songs were all so brief it was impossible to grow tired at any given time. The album does however begin with a super 1-2 punch of 'Through Being Cool' and 'Jerkin' Back 'n' Forth'. The two have fairly harsh and stomping electronic grooves. The former criticises their new-found poppy audience, the later comically compares dancing to sexual frustration and fulfilment. The middle of the album is extremely patchy, only 'Going Under' and 'Love Without Anger' deserve mention. The albums strongest song and closest example of a hit single is the penultimate track 'Beautiful World'. It is an anthemic and expansive song. Its one of the few examples where the percussion isn't thudding, the keyboard lines are bright and the song has a great hook.
For issues of cost it is difficult to fault this release. This CD set has the least 'hits' of the three Devo sets, but has many very good Devo songs. Fans of the punky 'Are We Not Men' or off the new wave 'Freedom of Choice' can find lots of appreciate.
An overall criticism of the trilogy of Virgin releases is the pairing of albums. Sonically `Duty Now For the Future' should have been paired with 'Are We Not Men', 'New Traditionalists with 'Oh, No! It's Devo' and 'Freedom of Choice' with the 'Devo Live EP'. This is only a minor quibble as the value for money ratio cancels out issues of ordering and the albums cheapo packaging. One other set back is that the two albums are presented with less bonus tracks than the other pair. Only (the admittedly smashing) `Working in a Coalmine' appears additionally.
The individual albums are full of quality moments. The out and out highlight of 'Duty' is the six-minute 'Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA'. As the title suggests it is a two part song, first half has a military stomp in which vocals and instrumentation becomes more vitriolic. The second half turns punky and shouty but the synthesizers remain pronounced but as a gurgling bassline. The singles 'Secret Agent Man' and 'The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprize' are strong but hardly as iconic as 'Jocko Homo' and 'Mongoloid'. Other bright moments include the dark electronic workout 'S.I.B (Swelling Itching Brain)' and the raucous 'Clockout'.
'New Traditionalists' is a more uneven affair. The problem is that the songs are colder, display less humour and rather monotonous. 'Freedom of Choice' had made a virtue out of monotonous simplicity, and the songs were all so brief it was impossible to grow tired at any given time. The album does however begin with a super 1-2 punch of 'Through Being Cool' and 'Jerkin' Back 'n' Forth'. The two have fairly harsh and stomping electronic grooves. The former criticises their new-found poppy audience, the later comically compares dancing to sexual frustration and fulfilment. The middle of the album is extremely patchy, only 'Going Under' and 'Love Without Anger' deserve mention. The albums strongest song and closest example of a hit single is the penultimate track 'Beautiful World'. It is an anthemic and expansive song. Its one of the few examples where the percussion isn't thudding, the keyboard lines are bright and the song has a great hook.
For issues of cost it is difficult to fault this release. This CD set has the least 'hits' of the three Devo sets, but has many very good Devo songs. Fans of the punky 'Are We Not Men' or off the new wave 'Freedom of Choice' can find lots of appreciate.
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