Freedom of Choice
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| Freedom of Choice | |||||
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| Studio album by Devo | |||||
| Released | July 1980 | ||||
| Recorded | 1980 | ||||
| Genre | New Wave | ||||
| Length | 32:14 | ||||
| Label | Warner Bros. | ||||
| Producer | Devo, Robert Margouleff | ||||
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Freedom of Choice is the third album by New Wave musicians Devo, released in 1980. It saw the band moving in more of an overt synthpop direction, even though guitars still played a prominent role.
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.
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[edit] 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, Chancho En Piedra, 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, Fu Manchu, and the Frustrations. 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, Shihad and Junkyard Dogs.
"Turn Around", the B-side to "Whip It", has been covered by Nirvana.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald V. Casale except as noted.
- "Girl U Want" – 2:55
- "It's Not Right" (M. Mothersbaugh) – 2:20
- "Whip It" – 2:37
- "Snowball" – 2:28
- "Ton o' Luv" (G. Casale) – 2:29
- "Freedom of Choice" – 3:28
- "Gates of Steel" (G. Casale, M. Mothersbaugh, Sue Schmidt, Debbie Smith) – 3:26
- "Cold War" – 2:30
- "Don't You Know" (M. Mothersbaugh) – 2:14
- "That's Pep" (M. Mothersbaugh) – 2:17
- "Mr. B's Ballroom" (M. Mothersbaugh) – 2:45
- "Planet Earth" (G.V. Casale) – 2:45
- In 1993 a U.K. 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)."
[edit] Personnel
- Mark Mothersbaugh – guitar, keyboards, vocals
- Gerald V. Casale– guitar, keyboards, vocals
- Bob Casale – keyboards, vocals
- Bob Mothersbaugh – guitar, vocals
- Alan Myers – drums
[edit] Charts
Album
| Year | Chart | Peak Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Billboard Pop Albums (U.S. | 22 |
| 1980 | UK Album Charts | 47 |
Single'
| Year | Single | Chart | Peak Position |
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| 1980 | "Whip It"/"Gates of Steel"/"Freedom of Choice" | Billboard Club Play Singles | 22 |
| 1980 | "Freedom of Choice" | Billboard Pop Singles | 14 |
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