Disc 2:
General Boy Visits Apocalypse Now-General Boy—-A nice fun intro that continues the fun and prepares you for more quirky madness from the masters.
Peek-A-Boo!—-With one of the best synth lines of the band’s career, this song is a straight retro fly back to the early 80’s sound of the band. This is fantastic…catchy and fun, the breaks and great drums give the song a life of its own.
That’s Good—-Again, the band displays a great retro sound that reminds one of the early days of the band. staying true to the vision despite the changing times, these recordings display the catchy addictive nature of the bands sound. this is brilliant…the technology was growing and so was the clarity of the vision.
Big Mess—-with a much more mainstream sound to the vocal, the band delivers a song that sounds like it was straight off New Traditionalists. This is typical and acceptable, although the song suffers a bt from sameness…only the fresh style of the vocal saves it rom obscurity.
One Dumb Thing—-Full of energetic dance grooves, the vocal returns to a more robotic delivery that we are all accustomed to. This is wonderfully delivered…the synth delivery now almost overpowers the instruments at this point in the band’s career. The synth beats are irresistable though. Fantastic!!
Theme From Dr. Detroit [Dance Mix]—-Full of pogo styled synth beats, the band is given a nice remix and the result is a huge fun 80’s filled romp that just manages to make you happy. This is damn near perfect Devo. I have no complaints!!
Shout—-Full of synth induced horns, the song has a huge feel. The band seemed to take some odd twists and turns at this point in their career…seemingly losing some inspiration and motivation. This comes across now as lackluster and dull.
Here To Go [Go Mix Version]—-With guitars that again remind you of the B52’s, the song is full of little odd noises and bleeps…the vocal seems bored and uninspired….the remix treatment keeps the song from being inadequate.
R U Experienced?—-A huge and fun electro/psychedelic delivery of a fantastic masterpiece. One of the most brilliant compositions from the band during the 90’s, this remains a favorite of mine to this day.The synth lines are perfect, the bass hits at just th right tempo and you have a nice groove that is danceable and pleasant. The song has a built-in urgency that is fresh and bombastic…I love this!!!
I Wouldn’t Do That For You—-Taking on a more mainstream synth sound, the song only maintains that danger for a short time. the song is even more quirky that normal…the lyrics seem heartfelt and human for a change. This is a nice change…almost a song that talks of real human emotion..there are even some female vocals in the chorus of the song. Nice!!!
Bread & Butter—-Even more bizarre and challenging that other things on this composition, the song has a heavy 50’s feel and the synth grooves are all over the place. this is just pure novelty…hard for me to take it seriously…of course, that is probably the point.
Let’s Talk—-With a heavier bass sound, the synth sounds are spaced and futuristic. The voice is less remote and has more inflection and emotion. this is wonderfully preformed..the auto tune gives the song a nice body and a different flavor. the times, they were a changin’!!!
Itsy Bitsy Bikini—-Very strange and with little redeeming qualities, the song again falls into the novelty era of the band…they seemed at this point to not even take themselves or their craft seriously. Too bad….I hope for great things in the coming year.
Baby Doll [Single Mix]—-Given a nice feel with a remix, the song seems to find the band back in a more typical fashion of music delivery. the song still has a level of silliness that lacks the straight forward post punk feel of the early stuff. This compilation is about 20 songs too long.
Disco Dancer [7 Inch Version]—-With a huge sounding beat, the song moves at a pretty impressive pace. The feel of the song is dance floor ready and fun. The voice is strange and oddly manipulated. The content is silly as expected, but it is nice to see the band having fun again.
Some Things Never Change—-Sounding like a classic 80’s New Wave band, the band manages to defy the year and take us back to the fun glory days of early 80’s pogo music. the voice is really high and the change is very welcome. This is classic stuff…I never really paid too much attention to this and am glad to rediscover it. Brilliant!!!
It Doesn’t Matter To Me—-Live and damn near acoustic, this is very strange. The song is almost folksy in sound until it opens up and inspires me to dance once again. Starting off slow, it is well worth the wait for the song to develop. this is great!!!
Stuck In A Loop—-Wonderfully constructed, the song is a huge synth driven opus that just makes you feel good. This is brilliant….the machines have almost completely replaced the instruments in the band and it works very well. There are some nice harmonies that give the song body and the pace is very nice.
Post Post Modern Man—-This is classic Devo…the silliness and the fun is in full swing. the sound of the song is rather bland, but the voice is what matters with this track. sounding as fresh and new as the very first single, the band has returned to fine form the second half of this Disc. Very nice…the synth does open up and allow for some grooves just in time to prevent the track from becoming boring.
Head Like A Hole—-The Devo treatment of the NIN classic is anything than expected. This is fantastic!!! dissolving most of the industrial leanings of the song, the band instead takes a rather serious song and makes it trademark Devo fun. This is brilliant…who knew!!! The entire delivery of the song is quirky and devolutioned….wonderfully so I might add.
Thanks To You—-With trade mark sounds that have not been heard in a while, the band delivers a surf style sound that makes you think od cheesy Annette Funicello movies and Tab Hunter!!! This is remarkably fun and silly….
Communication Break-up—-With a heavy bass line and a horn playing in the background, the song is obscure and almost unlistenable…it is everywhere and goes nowhere. I really do not like this.
Duty For Now! General Boy—A nice and fun silly interlude.
The Words Got Stuck In My Throat—-A horrible end to what had some real high points. Let’s hope the coming year holds new and fresh devo classics for the diehard fans.
*** out of 5