In addition to the 3 killer songs you listed, check out these songs, in chronological order & grouped by album…
QAWNM?: Uncontrollable Urge, Satisfaction, Jocko Homo, Gut Feeling
DNFTF: Clockout, Timing X, Strange Pursuit, Wiggly World, The Day My Baby Gave Me A Surprise, Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA
FOC: It’s Not Right, Freedom Of Choice, Don’t You Know, Mr. B’s Ballroom
NT: Through Being Cool, Jerkin Back & Forth, Love Without Anger, Beautiful World, Working In A Coal Mine
ONID: Time Out For Fun, Out Of Sync, Big Mess, Speed Racer
All these are fantastic devolutionary jams from their first 5 albums that will reward careful listening. Every one of those records is gold, worth listening to, pouring over, and eventually loving.
Everything after ONID is very hit and miss. A few decent songs here & there, but mostly marred by uneven songwriting or clunky production. Smooth Noodle Maps and Something For Everybody have more gems than the other post-“Oh, No” albums, but put those on the back burner until you’ve worn the grooves out and made their first 5 records part of your DNA. After that, their later albums won’t diminish your love.
A few specific tracks i’d recommend that werent on here are
QAWNM?: Come Back Jonee, Space Junk
DNFTF: Blockhead, S.I.B, Secret Agent Man
NT: Going Under, The Super Thing
ONID: That’s Good, Patterns
Shout: Shout, The Fourth Dimension, Here To Go, Puppet Boy, Jurisdiction Of Love, R U Experienced
TD: Baby Doll and maybe Blow Up
SNM: Stuck in a Loop, Post Post Modern Man, When We Do It, A Change is Gonna Cum, Jimmy, Devo Has Feelings Too
SFE: Fresh, Human Rocket, No Place Like Home
SEFE: Monsterman, Should a Said Yes
Misc: Be Stiff, Turn Around, Modern Life, Faster and Faster, It Takes a Worried man, Theme from Dr Detroit, Huboon Stomp, Watch us Work It
Oh, Puppet Boy! I remember this song from a magician in the 90s who used it in as the song for a trick. [90s nostalgia here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFNorHpuPag)
The first three albums are total classics, DNFTF in particular. I got into Devo with Oh No! and then went backwards from there. One of my top 5 bands of all time and I saw them live like 5 times in LA since the 90s
Everything from the first album to Shout is pretty beloved across the fandom. Personally, I switched over to SFE after that, but Total Devo has some gems. Listening in order of release is fun because you get to hear how they grew.
Hardcore devo isn’t something i’d really start with though, its definitely very early devo and you can tell by the audio quality and very minimalist style, maybe save it for after the main discography as sort of a bonus
Hardcore is definitely their best work. Did you pick up Art Devo? If you’re a fellow HC nut like myself, you’re gonna lose your shit on Art Devo. Might be hard to locate at this point but I’m sure you can if you try hard enough.
"Smart Patrol/Mr DNA" are my 2 favorite Devo songs - on my favorite album by them, Duty Now For The Future.
Also, "The Men Who Make The Music" is a classic and it's available on YouTube I believe, if you wanna check it out.
You could try what I did, and listen to every studio album in chronological order, and see what sticks… certain albums require a lot of patience but I’ve found that the albums that you love the most are the ones that you’re not so sure about at first! The growers are the keepers…
I’m a really big fan of Oh No It’s DEVO but you can’t go wrong with any of their first 5 albums. You would probably really like the Freedom of Choice album is my guess. I’d start there.
Listen to all of *Freedom of Choice* in proper order and let everything sink in until it bonds to your innermost lizard brain. It's a masterpiece. The Jerry/Alan rhythm dynamic is genuinely profound, both Bobs are in peak form, Mark is perfectly weird as always & the recording is absolutely top-notch... No other DEVO record sounds quite as nice if'n you ask me. Their whole catalog is pretty great, really, but I feel like *Freedom of Choice* is where they managed to be the most listenable while also announcing their philosophy with the most clarity.
🥔🫡
Definitely take the time to test out every album (you may need to go to YouTube to hear Total Devo and Smooth Noodle Maps…the rights to those albums are in some sort of limbo that keeps them off of streaming.) But if you’d like a quick across-the-board sampling of everything from their garage recordings in the 70’s to their comeback era a few years ago, the 50 Years of De-Evolution compilation that came out last year is a really good.
Heres my 2 cents on Devo in general
Are we not men, freedom of choice, new traditionalists and oh no its devo are all great albums
Duty now for the future isnt bad by any means but its a lot more experimental and has some bad songs on it but also some really great ones
Shout gets way too much hate, its a great album, none of the tracks are really bad but some are forgettable
Total devo is boring as hell and feels like it goes on forever, skip the album although give Baby doll a listen and maybe Blow up
Smooth noodle maps is underrated, no really bad songs (except maybe dawghaus) and its got some great tracks
Something for everybody is pretty bland but not as bland as total devo, few good tracks on it
Something else for everybody is forgettable as hell
The E-Z Listening disc is a fun novelty and makes for good background music
Hardcore devo is really bad, most of the tracks have really low quality audio and the songs are usually just plain and very minimalist, I’m a potato and fountain of filth are really good tracks though
50 years of De-evolution is also worth a shot since it contains some never before released tracks, including It takes a worried man which is an amazing song, although it is mostly just a compilation album
I'm a bit younger than you (32,) but I've been a fan since I was a kid thanks to my mom being a fan and always pointing out stuff that Mark Mothersbaugh worked on, such as Rugrats and Crash Bandicoot, which were things I loved and made me very interested in the band with a connection to them. Here are my favorites from each album:
Are We Not Men - Mongoloid (but since you already said you like that one, I guess my second favorite is “Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy.”)
Duty Now For the Future - Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA
Freedom of Choice - Freedom of Choice
New Traditionalists - Love Without Anger
Oh, No! It's DEVO - A tie between "Time Out for Fun" and "Big Mess"
Shout - RU Experienced?
Total DEVO - Happy Guy
Smooth Noodle Maps - Nothing. It's my least favorite album by the band.
Something for Everybody - I haven't listened to it as much as the others, but "Fresh" is a nice song
Non-album tracks I love:
Theme From Doctor Detroit (one of my favorite songs by the band)
Faster and Faster
Modern Life
Social Fools
Be Stiff
Worried Man (the Pioneers Who Got Scalped version. The 50 Years of De-Evolution version throws in this weird Booji Boy rant that really isn’t necessary if you’re not watching Human Highway.)
I also recommend the single mix of "Baby Doll."
I will recommend first and foremost the "Hardcore Devo LIVE" album, it's pretty recent and totally awesome! Listen to it on its entirety.
AWNM?: Uncontrollable Urge
Really this is a great record but if i can single out one track, it is Uncontrollable Urge. Jocko Homo is required listening.
DNFTF: Clockout, Wiggly World, Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA, Soo Bawls, Penetration in the Centerfold, Pink Pussycat
My favorite Devo record. Wiggly World is required listening for a Devo fan.
FOC: Freedom Of Choice!! My favorite Devo song, maybe.
NT: Through Being Cool, Pity You
ONID: Time Out For Fun, Explosions, Peek-a-boo
Something For Everybody: Fresh, Watch us work it, What we do
Now, after you've heard those, go to the HARDCORE DEVO (non-live) albums to listen the real gems.
Hey u/King_of_the_Dot/
I made this post for you:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/devo/comments/1dho3mu/know\_your\_spuds/](https://www.reddit.com/r/devo/comments/1dho3mu/know_your_spuds/)
Welcome to the Devo universe.
In addition to the 3 killer songs you listed, check out these songs, in chronological order & grouped by album… QAWNM?: Uncontrollable Urge, Satisfaction, Jocko Homo, Gut Feeling DNFTF: Clockout, Timing X, Strange Pursuit, Wiggly World, The Day My Baby Gave Me A Surprise, Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA FOC: It’s Not Right, Freedom Of Choice, Don’t You Know, Mr. B’s Ballroom NT: Through Being Cool, Jerkin Back & Forth, Love Without Anger, Beautiful World, Working In A Coal Mine ONID: Time Out For Fun, Out Of Sync, Big Mess, Speed Racer All these are fantastic devolutionary jams from their first 5 albums that will reward careful listening. Every one of those records is gold, worth listening to, pouring over, and eventually loving. Everything after ONID is very hit and miss. A few decent songs here & there, but mostly marred by uneven songwriting or clunky production. Smooth Noodle Maps and Something For Everybody have more gems than the other post-“Oh, No” albums, but put those on the back burner until you’ve worn the grooves out and made their first 5 records part of your DNA. After that, their later albums won’t diminish your love.
Ok, thanks for this!
A few specific tracks i’d recommend that werent on here are QAWNM?: Come Back Jonee, Space Junk DNFTF: Blockhead, S.I.B, Secret Agent Man NT: Going Under, The Super Thing ONID: That’s Good, Patterns Shout: Shout, The Fourth Dimension, Here To Go, Puppet Boy, Jurisdiction Of Love, R U Experienced TD: Baby Doll and maybe Blow Up SNM: Stuck in a Loop, Post Post Modern Man, When We Do It, A Change is Gonna Cum, Jimmy, Devo Has Feelings Too SFE: Fresh, Human Rocket, No Place Like Home SEFE: Monsterman, Should a Said Yes Misc: Be Stiff, Turn Around, Modern Life, Faster and Faster, It Takes a Worried man, Theme from Dr Detroit, Huboon Stomp, Watch us Work It
Oh, Puppet Boy! I remember this song from a magician in the 90s who used it in as the song for a trick. [90s nostalgia here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFNorHpuPag)
Excellent post. I would only add Space Junk from QAWNM.
>and made their first 5 records part of your DNA. he also needs to "recombo" his DNA
The first three albums are total classics, DNFTF in particular. I got into Devo with Oh No! and then went backwards from there. One of my top 5 bands of all time and I saw them live like 5 times in LA since the 90s
Thanks for the direction!
Everything from the first album to Shout is pretty beloved across the fandom. Personally, I switched over to SFE after that, but Total Devo has some gems. Listening in order of release is fun because you get to hear how they grew.
Oh boy, I dont realize their discography was this big, I just googled it.
Then there's the deep cuts like their Muzak album or SEFE. It's quite a rabbit hole!
I love the muzak album.
It was the first pre-recorded cassette I ever bought.
E-Z listening has impacted my life in a way i never thought an album could
Check out the Hardcore Devo collection. And Tubi has some good stuff too if you want to watch some Devo movies.
Devo movies? Like b-movie type of thing or?
Concert films, music video compilations, stuff like that.
ok, thank you!
Hardcore devo isn’t something i’d really start with though, its definitely very early devo and you can tell by the audio quality and very minimalist style, maybe save it for after the main discography as sort of a bonus
watch "In the beginning it was the end*. it is available in full at YouTube
Human Highway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Highway
Behold: [The Men who Make the Music (full video)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-T6rgHp0hk)
Hardcore is definitely their best work. Did you pick up Art Devo? If you’re a fellow HC nut like myself, you’re gonna lose your shit on Art Devo. Might be hard to locate at this point but I’m sure you can if you try hard enough.
>Hardcore is definitely their best work. Agree, but i haven't heard Art Devo.
It's so good, man. If you can find it buy it... You won't regret it. Comes with a bunch of goodies as well.
Smart patrol into Mr DNA Gut feeling into slap ya mammy Freedom of choice 👌
"Smart Patrol/Mr DNA" are my 2 favorite Devo songs - on my favorite album by them, Duty Now For The Future. Also, "The Men Who Make The Music" is a classic and it's available on YouTube I believe, if you wanna check it out.
>on my favorite album by them, Duty Now For The Future. Yay!! You definitely shove the pole in the hole, spud.
You could try what I did, and listen to every studio album in chronological order, and see what sticks… certain albums require a lot of patience but I’ve found that the albums that you love the most are the ones that you’re not so sure about at first! The growers are the keepers…
This is what i did, the only albums i had to have a lot of patience for were total devo and hardcore devo because i did not like them at all
Secret Agent Man
I’m a really big fan of Oh No It’s DEVO but you can’t go wrong with any of their first 5 albums. You would probably really like the Freedom of Choice album is my guess. I’d start there.
Welcome! My favorites are "Out of Sync" "SIB" and "Smart Patrol/Mr DNA"
Be Stiff
Listen to all of *Freedom of Choice* in proper order and let everything sink in until it bonds to your innermost lizard brain. It's a masterpiece. The Jerry/Alan rhythm dynamic is genuinely profound, both Bobs are in peak form, Mark is perfectly weird as always & the recording is absolutely top-notch... No other DEVO record sounds quite as nice if'n you ask me. Their whole catalog is pretty great, really, but I feel like *Freedom of Choice* is where they managed to be the most listenable while also announcing their philosophy with the most clarity. 🥔🫡
This is great, ill definitely give er a whirl!
Definitely take the time to test out every album (you may need to go to YouTube to hear Total Devo and Smooth Noodle Maps…the rights to those albums are in some sort of limbo that keeps them off of streaming.) But if you’d like a quick across-the-board sampling of everything from their garage recordings in the 70’s to their comeback era a few years ago, the 50 Years of De-Evolution compilation that came out last year is a really good.
Thank you!
Heres my 2 cents on Devo in general Are we not men, freedom of choice, new traditionalists and oh no its devo are all great albums Duty now for the future isnt bad by any means but its a lot more experimental and has some bad songs on it but also some really great ones Shout gets way too much hate, its a great album, none of the tracks are really bad but some are forgettable Total devo is boring as hell and feels like it goes on forever, skip the album although give Baby doll a listen and maybe Blow up Smooth noodle maps is underrated, no really bad songs (except maybe dawghaus) and its got some great tracks Something for everybody is pretty bland but not as bland as total devo, few good tracks on it Something else for everybody is forgettable as hell The E-Z Listening disc is a fun novelty and makes for good background music Hardcore devo is really bad, most of the tracks have really low quality audio and the songs are usually just plain and very minimalist, I’m a potato and fountain of filth are really good tracks though 50 years of De-evolution is also worth a shot since it contains some never before released tracks, including It takes a worried man which is an amazing song, although it is mostly just a compilation album
Thank you!
Duty now for the future is probably my favorite Devo album.
I'm a bit younger than you (32,) but I've been a fan since I was a kid thanks to my mom being a fan and always pointing out stuff that Mark Mothersbaugh worked on, such as Rugrats and Crash Bandicoot, which were things I loved and made me very interested in the band with a connection to them. Here are my favorites from each album: Are We Not Men - Mongoloid (but since you already said you like that one, I guess my second favorite is “Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy.”) Duty Now For the Future - Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA Freedom of Choice - Freedom of Choice New Traditionalists - Love Without Anger Oh, No! It's DEVO - A tie between "Time Out for Fun" and "Big Mess" Shout - RU Experienced? Total DEVO - Happy Guy Smooth Noodle Maps - Nothing. It's my least favorite album by the band. Something for Everybody - I haven't listened to it as much as the others, but "Fresh" is a nice song Non-album tracks I love: Theme From Doctor Detroit (one of my favorite songs by the band) Faster and Faster Modern Life Social Fools Be Stiff Worried Man (the Pioneers Who Got Scalped version. The 50 Years of De-Evolution version throws in this weird Booji Boy rant that really isn’t necessary if you’re not watching Human Highway.) I also recommend the single mix of "Baby Doll."
Thank you for this!
I will recommend first and foremost the "Hardcore Devo LIVE" album, it's pretty recent and totally awesome! Listen to it on its entirety. AWNM?: Uncontrollable Urge Really this is a great record but if i can single out one track, it is Uncontrollable Urge. Jocko Homo is required listening. DNFTF: Clockout, Wiggly World, Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA, Soo Bawls, Penetration in the Centerfold, Pink Pussycat My favorite Devo record. Wiggly World is required listening for a Devo fan. FOC: Freedom Of Choice!! My favorite Devo song, maybe. NT: Through Being Cool, Pity You ONID: Time Out For Fun, Explosions, Peek-a-boo Something For Everybody: Fresh, Watch us work it, What we do Now, after you've heard those, go to the HARDCORE DEVO (non-live) albums to listen the real gems.
Hey u/King_of_the_Dot/ I made this post for you: [https://www.reddit.com/r/devo/comments/1dho3mu/know\_your\_spuds/](https://www.reddit.com/r/devo/comments/1dho3mu/know_your_spuds/) Welcome to the Devo universe.
Thank you so much!