Review Summary: More like Total Trash.
After the semi enjoyable, yet still lackluster “Shout”, you’d think the band would’ve made the comeback album of the century—since we’ve seen them in top form plenty of times from the late ‘70s to early ‘80s, and seeing how the main problem with “Shout” was that the band got a little too carried away with synths and drum machines despite having some actually good music on it, the stars seemed to have aligned for the album afterwards. Thankfully, the band would finally go back to a more diverse instrument set while still keeping the trademark futuristic sound. That, alone, makes the album sound like a big, if not huge step in the right direction, because unlike “Shout”, I don’t mind the production or the composition. While Alan Meyers could never be replaced, David Kendrick does a good enough job to help the album transition well enough from “Shout”.
At this point, the album sounds like a huge step up. Unfortunately, they seem to have focused too hard on the exact opposite of what they focused on with “Shout”, and the results are much worse. While the album definitely sounds better, the music is just hookless nonsense that shows the band having no clue what musical direction to take. Nothing on the album is anything to write home about—with a few just being bad: “Sexi Luv”, “Blow Up”, for example. The only decent songs being “Baby Doll” and “Disco Dancer”, the latter still being a bit cringe-inducing. Everything else sounds like a bunch of jumbled half baked ideas and gimmicks to make up for any lack of enjoyable hooks, which all results in a collection of songs that have basically no actual depth to them whatsoever. Say what you will about “Shout”, but at least the band seemed to care about the music itself. Here? Not really. Sure, this album SOUNDS better, but there’s nothing to it, otherwise, as this album, besides the better production and composition, is a downgrade across the board.
Perhaps I wouldn’t be this salty had the band released the album sooner than it did, because between “Shout” and this album, it has been 4 years, 2 more than the years between “Shout” and “Oh, No! It’s Devo”, and 3 more than the years between each of their releases before that! The album could have been AND should have been so much better, because the band has shown us that they, indeed, can make some great stuff. To me, everything they’ve done between 1978-1982 are all great in their own way, with their 1978 debut being one of the best new wave/post-punk albums of all time—and this album had far more time between releases than anything beforehand, so there’s really no good excuse as to why the songs are this soulless.
Overall, the album is just bad. While it’s not the worst I’ve ever heard, it certainly may be the worst by the band. It focuses on flair over function, which results in an album that not only tries too hard, but doesn’t try hard enough where it actually matters. This album is like a really nice expensive sports car that you can’t drive because there’s no way to put a motor or gas in it. The outside is technically made well, but what’s the point if there’s nothing you gain out of it? And just like that car I’ll never drive, this is an album I’ll probably never listen to again. Talk about lame, especially from a band that that has proven time and time again to not be.
