Full title - Q Are We Not Men? A We Are Devo/DEV-O Live. Import reissue of the new wave icon's 1981 live release (out-of-print in the U.S.) combined with their 1978 debut & three bonus tracks, 'Social Fools', 'Penetration In The Centerfold' & 'Soo Bawlz'. 21 tracks.
Review by Steve Huey
Produced by Brian Eno, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! was a seminal touchstone in the development of American new wave. It was one of the first pop albums to use synthesizers as an important textural element, and although they mostly play a supporting role in this guitar-driven set, the innovation began to lay the groundwork for the synth-pop explosion that would follow very shortly. Q: Are We Not Men also revived the absurdist social satire of the Mothers of Invention, claiming punk rock's outsider alienation as a home for freaks and geeks. While Devo's appeal was certainly broader, their sound was tailored well enough to that sensibility that it still resonates with a rabid cult following. It isn't just the dadaist pseudo-intellectual theories, or the critique of the American mindset as unthinkingly, submissively conformist. It was the way their music reflected that view, crafted to be as mechanical and robotic as their targets. Yet Devo hardly sounded like a machine that ran smoothly. There was an almost unbearable tension in the speed of their jerky, jumpy rhythms, outstripping Talking Heads, XTC, and other similarly nervy new wavers. And thanks to all the dissonant, angular melodies, odd-numbered time signatures, and yelping, sing-song vocals, the tension never finds release, which is key to the album's impact. It also doesn't hurt that this is arguably Devo's strongest set of material, though several brilliant peaks can overshadow the remainder. Of those peaks, the most definitive are the de-evolution manifesto "Jocko Homo" (one of the extremely few rock anthems written in 7/8 time) and a wicked deconstruction of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," which reworks the original's alienation into a spastic freak-out that's nearly unrecognizable. But Q: Are We Not Men? also had a conceptual unity that bolstered the consistent songwriting, making it an essential document of one of new wave's most influential bands.
Review by Greg Prato
Issued just after "Whip It" became one of the early '80s' most popular new wave hits, 1981's DEV-O Live was issued by Warner Brothers to cash in on Devo-mania. The six-track EP was recorded live at San Francisco's Warfield Theater on August 16, 1980 -- officially released as a 16-track promo-only release, "Warner Brothers Music Show", Warner edited down the song list and decided to issue it domestically as DEV-O Live. Mixing favorites ("Whip It," "Girl U Want") with rarities ("Be Stiff"), album cuts ("Gates of Steel," "Planet Earth"), and a song reconstructed for the stage ("Freedom of Choice Theme Song"), DEV-O Live shows that the spazzy quintet was a fun live act. Although DEV-O Live went out of print shortly after its release, it turned up again on a British two-fer CD with their debut, Q: Are We Not Men, in 1994, and a much more expanded version (22 tracks) was issued through Rhino Handmade in 1999.
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