Freedom of Choice is the third album by New Wave musicians Devo, released in 1980 (see 1980 in music). It saw the band moving in more of an overt synthpop direction, even though guitars still played a prominent role. The album is considered to be quintessentially Eighties. The album was produced by Robert Margouleff, famous for his synthesizer work in Tonto's Expanding Head Band and with Stevie Wonder. On the Billboard Music Charts, Freedom of Choice peaked at #22 on the Pop Albums chart. It contains Devo's most well-known song, "Whip It", which hit #8 and #14 on the Club Play Singles and Pop Singles charts, respectively. The group later performed an alternate version of "Girl U Want" that appeared on the Tank Girl soundtrack.
Covers
Several songs from Freedom of Choice have been covered by other musicians, most notably "Girl U Want", which has been recorded by Superchunk, Soundgarden, and Robert Palmer. The album's title track has been covered by 16 Volt, The Aquabats, A Perfect Circle, Lagwagon, Snapcase, Psychotica, Big Drill Car, and Fu Manchu. Collide and Face to Face recorded versions of "Whip It", which has also been performed in concert by numerous musicians including the String Cheese Incident; "Gates of Steel" was covered by Skankin' Pickle, Supernova, Yo La Tengo, Groovie Ghoulies, and Junkyard Dogs. "Turn Around", the B-side to "Whip It", has been covered by Nirvana.
Track listing
- "Girl U Want" (Casale/Mothersbaugh) – 2:55
- "It's Not Right" (Mothersbaugh) – 2:20
- "Whip It" (Casale/Mothersbaugh) – 2:37
- "Snowball" (Casale/Mothersbaugh) – 2:28
- "Ton o' Luv" (Casale) – 2:29
- "Freedom of Choice (Casale/Mothersbaugh) – 3:28
- "Gates of Steel" (Casale/Mothersbaugh/Schmidt/Smith) – 3:26
- "Cold War" (Casale/Mothersbaugh) – 2:30
- "Don't You Know" (Mothersbaugh) – 2:14
- "That's Pep" (Mothersbaugh) – 2:17
- "Mr. B's Ballroom" (Mothersbaugh) – 2:45
- "Planet Earth" (Casale) – 2:45
(The track listing is from the CD release. This album was originally released on LP and cassette.)
- The 1993 UK CD re-issue paired this album with Oh, No! It's Devo and added two bonus tracks: the "Whip It" b-side "Turn Around" and the "Peek-A-Boo!" b-side "Peek-A-Boo! (Dance Velocity)."
Personnel
- Devo - Producer
- Mark Mothersbaugh - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
- Ken Perry - Mastering
- Gerald V. Casale - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
- Bob Casale - Keyboards, Vocals
- Robert Margouleff - Producer, Engineer
- Bob Mothersbaugh - Guitar, Vocals
- Alan Myers - Drums
- Howard Siegel - Engineer
- Karat Faye - Assistant Engineer
- Artrouble - Cover Design
Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
| 1980 |
Pop Albums |
22 |
Album - (UK)
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
| 1980 |
UK Album Chart |
47 |
External links
View More Summaries on Freedom of Choice
