Devo Creates a New-Wave Milestone Via Futuristic R&B and Radio-Accessible Songwriting: Platinum-Certified Freedom of Choice Includes “Whip It” and “Girl U Want”

Put on Your Energy Dome Hat and Experience the 1980 Album in Definitive Sound on Disc: Mobile Fidelity’s Numbered-Edition Hybrid SACD Presents Robert Margouleff’s Much-Lauded Production with Incredible Clarity 

Devo faced considerable pressure when it started laying the groundwork for Freedom of Choice. Given an ultimatum by its record label, which dictated the group make a commercially successful album or lose its deal, the Ohio quintet wrote all-new material and pursued a futuristic vision of R&B. A winning partnership with Stevie Wonder collaborator Robert Margouleff, a decision to pen radio-friendly songs, and a geographic reset helped inspire what became the group's signature effort — one long recognized as a new-wave milestone. 

Sourced from the original master tapes, mastered by engineer Rob LoVerde, and housed in mini-LP-style packaging, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition hybrid SACD presents the 1980 album in definitive sound. Never before on disc have the much-lauded aspects of Margouleff’s production been as clear, sharp, or present. The record’s dry, raw feel — as well as its emphasis on the grooves and percussion, captured with the intention of positioning the listener just a few feet away from the band in the studio — pairs with Margouleff’s expertise with electronic instrumentation. The diverse array of synthesizers (Moog, Minimoog, Moog Liberation, ElectroComp 500, Prophet-5 among them), as well as the live-in-the-studio blend of guitar, bass, and drums, come across with visceral realism. 

Though the finalized songs signal a wholesale evolution from members Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale’s original ideas of robots playing a modern update of Motown and funk music, the shifty beats, swerving bass lines, and exotic keyboards that provide the foundational elements find Devo tapping into a soulful side concealed on its prior albums. Another important change: The wholesale incorporation of synthesizers and electronics. 

Due to that reason alone, several critics have anointed Freedom of Choice as the first American synth-pop record. Debates and distinctions aside, the platinum-certified work features a blend of concision, consistency, and coherency that, for all the allure of Devo’s other albums, goes beyond anything the group did before or would do again in the future. In retrospective interviews, the band credited Margouleff’s optimism, open-mindedness, and studio proficiency for largely contributing to the record’s success. 

For all the positivity that surrounded expectations for the album, few expected the now-ubiquitous “Whip It,” a Top 15 smash originally intended as a campaign-theme song for then-President Jimmy Carter, to become a pop-culture sensation. Its concoction of motorik beats, alternating tempos, contagious chorus, and eccentric albeit provocative lyrics echo the approaches Devo takes on the entire album. 

Clean, precise, and sharp, with the band’s earlier herky-jerk motions, detached singing, and fractured edginess smoothed out for mass consumption: Freedom of Choice prioritizes catchy melodies and forward movements. And still the collective retains its license to inject social satire at strategic junctures. The grinding, riff-driven title track addresses the hypocrisy of crass commercialism and marketing campaigns that seemingly tout options albeit actually limit choice. Bouncing akin to a rubber ball, “Planet Earth” leans on truthful observations about human behaviors to deliver subtle, biting commentary about our species. 

In addition to the well-honed sonics and streamlined arrangements, Freedom of Choice witnesses Devo embracing suggestions of romanticism, desire, and empathy. It's uncertain as to whether the thematic transition spurred the record’s crossover appeal. Yet the near-universal relatability of the fraught “Cold War,” yearning “Don’t You Know,” and cautiously hopeful “Ton o’ Luv” cannot be denied. Then there’s the unrequited magnetism of “Girl U Want,” whose winding guitars, inescapable hooks, and urgent vocals brand it a new-wave standard. 

“Freedom from choice,” Devo sings on the title track. “Is what you want.” Maybe not most of the time. But when it comes to this particular album and reissue, it’s hard to argue with the claim.