Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! |
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Studio album by Devo | ||||
Released | August 28, 1978 | |||
Recorded | October 1977–February 1978 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 34:24 | |||
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Producer |
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Devo chronology | ||||
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Singles from Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10 |
The Village Voice | B+ |
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! is the debut studio album by the American new wave band Devo. It was originally released in August 1978, on the labels Warner Bros. and Virgin. Produced by Brian Eno, the album was recorded over a period of four months between October 1977 and February 1978, primarily in Cologne, Germany,
The album received somewhat mixed reviews from critics and peaked at No. 12 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 78 on the U.S. Billboard chart. Recent reviews of the album have been more uniformly positive and the album has charted on several retrospective "best of" lists from publications including Rolling Stone, Pitchfork Media and Spin.
On May 6, 2009 Devo performed the album live in its entirety for the first time as part of the Don't Look Back concert series curated by All Tomorrow's Parties. On September 16, 2009, Warner Bros. and Devo announced a re-release of Q: Are We Not Men? and Freedom of Choice, with a tour performing both albums.
In 1977, David Bowie and Iggy Pop received a tape of Devo demo songs from the wife of Michael Aylward, guitarist in another Akron, Ohio band, Tin Huey. Both Pop and Bowie, as well as Brian Eno and Robert Fripp, expressed interest in producing Devo's first release. At Devo's New York debut show in 1977, Bowie proclaimed that "this is the band of the future, I'm going to produce them in Tokyo this winter." Eventually, Eno was chosen to produce the album at Conny Plank's studio located near Cologne, Germany. Bowie was busy with filming Just a Gigolo but helped Eno produce the record during weekends. Two tracks, "Come Back Jonee" and "Shrivel-Up", were recorded at Different Fur in San Francisco, California. All tracks were mixed at Conny Plank's studio named Conny's Studio. Since Devo was without a record deal, Eno paid for the flights and studio cost for the band, confident that the band would be signed to a record contract. In return for his work on the album, Eno asked for a share of any subsequent deals.