Devo - Hardcore Devo Vol.2

Following my previous post on Devo's Hardcore Devo Vol.1, a collection of Devo demos released in compilation form, this is the second volume. It contains more songs than the first and runs longer overall. Vol. 2 came out in 1991 and is currently out of print. In my review of the first volume I noted that Devo fans of their first few albums wouldn't have trouble digesting the demos because although stripped down and weirder sounding, they were still quintessentially Devo at the roots. The second volume takes the band's early musical experimentation much further. Unlike the first volume, I don't think any of the demos on this album ever develop and reappear on later albums. Amongst the experimental exploits found within, are some truly straight up Devo rock songs, with relatively normal song structures and writing. "A Plan For U" is a good example of this.


Devo - "A Plan For U"

The guitar flies around a bit looser than you'd typically expect from a Devo song, and you can hear the rock influence while the bass and percussion keep one tempo and beat through the entirety of the song. Vocals singing short lyrical lines, nothing earth-shattering. This is an example of how well the band can yam up the rock sound when they feel like it despite their penchant for pushing and experimenting with sounds.

There's songs like "Fountain of Filth" that with a few touch ups, would fit right in on their third album the 1980 released Freedom of Choice, and considering that most of these songs were written around '74-76, its easy to see why the stuff on these albums is so good, its all right around the band's peak years. "U Got Me Bugged" appeared on old video (dvd?) I saw awhile back, its got to be one of the weirdest, yet awesome songs within.


Devo - "Be Stiff"

You'd be hard-pressed to find a better/harder beat in any Devo song. Another lyrically sexualized song with a steady rhythm and percussive beat. Vocals and synth accent the bass kick drum beat. Guitar is mixed way in the back unfortunately, but isn't really the lead instrument on the song anyways.

There's even a cover of Lee Dorsey's "Working in a Coalmine". The instrumental songs within range from atmospheric synth creations to warped up robotic voices with little melody. These types of songs tend to be fewer in number with the majority of songs feeling like true song in the traditional sense, just stripped down. The last song "Let's Go" is a goofy triumphant cheer that in its mocking of anthems closes this collection of oddities nicely. As I mentioned previously, this and the first volume of Hardcore Devo are out of print. At the time of writing this I was able to find a few copies here at Amazon and this site claims to have both albums for download (free?).

Devo - Hardcore Devo Vol. 1

Hardcore Devo Vol.1 and Hardcore Devo Vol.2, are a collection of the early demo's and basically about everything the group had developed prior to their first official release, the Brian Eno produced Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo (1978). Obviously a fairly well known band, Devo's first few albums being primarily considered their best works. These two volumes of their earlier work should be well received by most of these fans. Though "weirder" and even more stripped down than their first couple full length albums, but lets face it, it's Devo. Weird and stripped down isn't going to chase away most that find Q:Are We Not Men?... and Duty Now for the Future a good listen. Vol. 1 contains some early versions of songs that turned up on the aforementioned albums. Songs such as "Jocko Homo", "Soo Bawls", and "Mongoloid" to name a few. The lineup at this time saw the Akron, OH band-members at their most numerous, with Mothersbaughs all over the place to say the least.


Devo - "Mechanical Man"

First song on the album, starts off with a minute of zooming sounds fading in and then out, not unlike one of those police cruisers doing a fly by from the movie Blade Runner. Robotic "mechanical man" voicing over simple guitar and keyboard/synths, but very catchy. Use of hard stereo panning, guitar to the left and keyboard/synth to the right.


Devo - "Auto Modown/Space Girl Blues"

"Auto Modown" begins with solid guitar, high-hat and bass drum, bass guitar rolls in and is given the freedom in the song to play around a bit, including some nice playing off each other between it and the guitar. Also throwing out some love to good ole' Youngstown, OH. "Space Girl Blues" kicks in about halfway through, and Mothersbaugh's distinct voice waxes on about those hard to get and rejecting space girls. Always slightly sexual, the Devo lyrics in these early works certainly reflect the same.

These early songs have really grown on me to the point that they're my first choice when going to listen to some Devo at this point. I found a few copies still available at Amazon.com. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this as anyone's first exposure to Devo, but these 4-track recorded demos are nice little diamonds in the rough for Devo fans.