Question: Are We Not Men? Answer: We Are Devo!
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| Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! |
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| Studio album by Devo | ||||
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| Released | July 1978 | |||
| Recorded | Conny's Studio, Köln, Germany; Different Fur, San Francisco 1977 | |||
| Genre | Post-punk, new wave | |||
| Length | 34:24 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Brian Eno | |||
| Professional reviews | ||||
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| Devo chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! | ||||
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! is the debut album by the American new wave band Devo. Produced by Brian Eno, it was primarily recorded in Cologne, Germany and released in the U.S. on Warner Bros. Records in 1978.
The album received somewhat mixed reviews from critics and peaked at number 12 on the U.K. album charts and number 78 on the U.S. Billboard charts. Recent reviews of the album have been more uniformly positive, with the album charting on several retrospective "best of" lists from publications including Rolling Stone, Pitchfork Media and Spin.
On May 6, 2009 Devo performed the album live in its entirety for the first time as part of the Don't Look Back concert series curated by All Tomorrow's Parties.
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[edit] Production
There was some initial jockeying for the job of producing Devo's first album. In 1977, David Bowie and Iggy Pop received a tape of Devo demos from the wife of Michael Aylward, guitarist in another Akron band, Tin Huey.[3] Both Iggy and Bowie, as well as Brian Eno and Robert Fripp, expressed interest in producing Devo's first release.[4] At Devo's New York debut show in 1977, Bowie proclaimed that "this is the band of the future, I'm going to produce them in Tokyo this winter."[4] Eventually, Eno was chosen to produce the album at Konrad Plank's studio located near Cologne, Germany.[4] Bowie was busy with filming on Just a Gigolo but helped Eno produce the record on weekends.[4][5] Two tracks, "Come Back Jonee" and "Shrivel-Up", were recorded at Different Fur in San Francisco. All tracks were mixed at Conny's Studio. Since Devo was without a record deal, Eno paid for the flights and studio cost for the band, confident that the band would be signed to a record contract.[4] In return for his work on the album, Eno asked for a share of any subsequent deals.[6]
The recording sessions were a source of frustration for Eno and Devo. Eno found the group unwilling to experiment or deviate from their early demos of recorded songs.[7] Devo later admitted that "we were overtly resistant to Eno's ideas. He made up synth parts and really cool sounds for almost every part of the album, but we used them on three or four songs."[8]
[edit] Album Cover
Devo's debut album cover is of a young 8 time PGA Tournament winner and a World Golf Hall of Fame Inductee, Juan "Chi Chi" Rodriguez.
[edit] Release
Devo received offers to release Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! from Warner Bros. Records, Island Records, Virgin Records and David Bowie's production company Bewlay Brothers.[4][8] Virgin obtained rights to release the album in the United Kingdom, while Warner Bros. held the rights for North America.[8] The album was released in the United States in August of 1978 and in the United Kingdom on September 1, 1978. [9][8]
In North America, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! peaked at #78 on the Billboard Charts, while in the United Kingdom it entered the charts on September 16, 1978 and stayed there for seven weeks, peaking at #12.[10][11] Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! also found success in Japan.[12] The album went gold in the United States on July 27, 2007 and silver in the United Kingdom on January 15, 1979.[13][9]
[edit] Reception
Initial critical reaction to Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! was somewhat mixed. Tom Carson, writing Rolling Stone, claimed that "There's not an ounce of feeling anywhere, and the only commitment is to the distancing aesthetic of the puton", and opined that "Devo lacks most of Eno's warmth and much of Bowie's flair for mechanized melodrama. For all its idiosyncrasies, the music here is utterly impersonal."[14] Critic Robert Christgau gave the album a positive rating of a B+, but noted, "In small doses it's as good as novelty music ever gets, and there isn't a really bad cut on this album. But it leads nowhere."[14] Nonetheless, it was voted one of the best albums of the year in the Village Voice's highly influential Pazz & Jop critics poll for 1978.[15] In January 1980, Trouser Press also named it one of the best albums of 1978.[16]
Later reception of the album has been more uniformly positive. Steve Huey of the online music database Allmusic gave the album four and a half stars calling it "arguably Devo's strongest set of material, though several brilliant peaks can overshadow the remainder", and "a seminal touchstone in the development of American new wave."[17] Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! has been placed on several "best of" lists, including Spin's 50 Most Essential Punk Records, Pitchfork Media's top 100 albums of 1970s and Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[18][19][20]
[edit] Track listing
| Side one | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Uncontrollable Urge" (Mark Mothersbaugh) | 3:09 | |||||||
| 2. | "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) | 2:40 | |||||||
| 3. | "Praying Hands" (Gerald V. Casale, M. Mothersbaugh) | 2:47 | |||||||
| 4. | "Space Junk" (G.V. Casale, B. Mothersbaugh) | 2:14 | |||||||
| 5. | "Mongoloid" (G.V. Casale) | 3:44 | |||||||
| 6. | "Jocko Homo" (M. Mothersbaugh) | 3:40 | |||||||
| Side two | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Too Much Paranoias" (M. Mothersbaugh) | 1:57 | |||||||
| 2. | "Gut Feeling" / "(Slap Your Mammy)" (M. Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh)/(G.V. Casale) | 4:54 | |||||||
| 3. | "Come Back Jonee" (G.V. Casale, M. Mothersbaugh) | 3:47 | |||||||
| 4. | "Sloppy (I Saw My Baby Gettin')" (M. Mothersbaugh, B. Mothersbaugh, G.V. Casale, Gary Jackett) | 2:40 | |||||||
| 5. | "Shrivel Up" (G.V. Casale, M. Mothersbaugh, B. Mothersbaugh) | 3:05 | |||||||
[edit] Personnel
- Bob Casale - rhythm guitar, additional keyboards, occasional backing vocals
- Gerald V. Casale - bass, additional keyboards, lead vocals
- Bob Mothersbaugh - lead guitar, backing vocals
- Mark Mothersbaugh - keyboards, occasional guitar, lead vocals
- Alan Myers - drums
[edit] Technical personnel
- Brian Eno – producer
- Dave Hutchins - engineer
- Patrick Gleeson – engineer
[edit] Charts
Album
| Year | Chart | Peak Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Billboard Pop Albums | 78 [21] |
| 1978 | UK Albums Chart | 12 [22] |
[edit] Certifications
| Organization | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| RIAA – U.S. | Gold | July 27, 2007 [23] |
[edit] Notes
- ^ Strong, 1998. p.200
- ^ a b Strong, 1998. p.2010
- ^ Adams, 2002. p.385
- ^ a b c d e f Reynolds, 2006. p.80
- ^ Sanford, 1998. p.172
- ^ Casale, Gerald V. Drooling For Dollars (The Complete Truth About De-Evolution DVD Special Features) (DVD Region 1). Rhino Entertainment, 2003.
- ^ Howard, 2004. p.199
- ^ a b c d Reynolds, 2006. p.81
- ^ a b "Q: ARE WE NOT MEN? NO WE ARE DEVO BPI certification". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/platinum/platinumright.asp?rq=search_plat&r_id=22368. Retrieved on 2008-06-22.
- ^ Warwick, 2004. p.320
- ^ "Devo > Charts & Awards". Allmusic. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3ifixqe5ld6e~T5. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ Buckley, 2003. p.288
- ^ "RIAA Gold and Platinum". http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php. Retrieved on 2008-05-22.
- ^ a b "Devo : Review: Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/123736/review/19548068?utm_source=Rhapsody&utm_medium=CDreview. Retrieved on December 6, 2008.
- ^ http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres78.php The 1978 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll
- ^ http://www.stat.ualberta.ca/people/schmu/trouserpress.html Trouser Press Best Albums of the 1970s
- ^ "Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! > Review". Huey, Steve. allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gxkqikv6bb19. Retrieved on 4 December 2008.
- ^ "Devo : Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! > Review". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/devo-q/. Retrieved on December 6, 2008.
- ^ "Top 100 Albums of the 1970s: Pitchfork". Pitchfork Media. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/36725-top-100-albums-of-the-1970s. Retrieved on December 6, 2008.
- ^ "447) Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6626932/447_q_are_we_not_men_a_we_are_devo. Retrieved on December 6, 2008.
- ^ "allmusic (((Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums)))". http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gxkqikv6bb19. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
- ^ "UK Top 40 Hit Database". http://www.everyhit.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
- ^ "RIAA Gold and Platinum". http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php. Retrieved on 2008-05-22.
[edit] References
- Reynolds, Simon (2006). Rip it Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984. Penguin. ISBN 0143036726.
- Howard, David N. (2004). Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings. Hal Leonard. ISBN 0634055607.
- Adams, Deanna R. (2002). Rock 'n' Roll and the Cleveland Connection. Kent State University Press. ISBN 0873386914.
- Sandford, Christopher (1998). Bowie: Loving the Alien. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306808544.
- Warwick, Neil; Jon Kutner, & Tony Brown (2004). The Complete Book of the British Charts: Singles and Albums. Omnibus Press. ISBN 1844490580.
- Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 1843531054.
- Strong, M. C. (1998). The Great Rock Discography. Giunti. ISBN 8809215222.
[edit] External links
- Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! at Rate Your Music
- Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! at MusicBrainz
