Freedom of Choice

***Freedom of Choice*** is the third studio album by the American new wave band Devo. It was originally released in May 1980 on Warner Bros. Records.

Recorded between October 1979 and early 1980, at the Record Plant in Hollywood, California, *Freedom of Choice* saw Devo moving in more of an overt synth-pop direction, though guitars remained prominent. It was co-produced by the band with Robert Margouleff, who is notable for his synthesizer work in Tonto's Expanding Head Band and with Stevie Wonder.

*Freedom of Choice* peaked at No. 22 on the *Billboard* Pop Albums chart. The single "Whip It" quickly became the band's biggest hit, reaching No. 8 and No. 14 on the *Billboard* Club Play Singles and Pop Singles charts, respectively. It received very positive reviews upon release, and is widely regarded as one of their finest efforts.

## Background

### Writing (1979 - 1980)

Whilst *Q: Are We Not Men* and *Duty Now For The Future* had largely been written concurrently, Freedom of Choice was made up of entirely new material written between August of 1979 and early 1980.

Early material intended for, but cut from, Freedom of Choice was performed on stage as part of the *Duty Now For The Future* tour throughout June and September of 1979. The material performed on the tour (Going Under, Those Darn Girls & The One That Gets Away) reflected the style of Duty Now more than the final product.

By the time the second leg of the tour began in December of 1979, Mark and Jerry had already written most of Freedom of Choice, with songs 'Whip It', 'Girl U Want' & 'Gates of Steel', as well as the outtakes 'Jesus' (based on the earlier Beulah) & 'Freedom of Choice Theme Song' being premiered on stage during said tour. In 1980, Mark wrote "It's Not Right", "Don't You Know" & "Mr. B's Ballroom" followed by the album's title track, co-written by Gerald Casale.

## Track listing

***Side One (16:17)***

1. Girl U Want (M.Mothersbaugh/G.Casale) (2:55)
2. It's Not Right (M.Mothersbaugh) (2:20)
3. Whip It (M.Mothersbaugh/G.Casale) (2:37)
4. Snowball (M.Mothersbaugh/G.Casale) (2:28)
5. Ton o' Luv (G.Casale) (2:29)
6. Freedom of Choice (M.Mothersbaugh/G.Casale) (3:28)

***Side Two (15:57)***

7. Gates of Steel (M.Mothersbaugh/G.Casale/Schmidt/Smith) (3:26)
8. Cold War (G.Casale/B.Mothersbaugh) (2:30)
9. Don't You Know (M.Mothersbaugh) (2:14)
10. That's Pep! (M.Mothersbaugh) (2:17)
11. Mr. B's Ballroom (M.Mothersbaugh) (2:45)
12. Planet Earth (G.Casale) (2:45)

## Credits

***Credits adapted from 'DEVO LIVE 1980' Film***

* Mark Mothersbaugh:
	+ Lead Vocals on all tracks except 'Snowball', 'Ton O' Luv', 'Cold War' & 'Planet Earth'
	+ Additional Keyboards on 'Girl U Want', 'Whip It' 'Ton O'Luv', 'Cold War', 'Gates of Steel', 'That's Pep'
	+ Toy Gun on 'It's Not Right'
	+ Backing Vocals on 'Snowball'
* Gerald Casale:
	+ Bass Keyboard on all tracks except 'Freedom of Choice' & 'Gates of Steel'
	+ Backing Vocals on 'Girl U Want', 'It's Not Right', 'Whip It', 'Freedom of Choice', 'Gates of Steel' & 'Planet Earth'
	+ Lead Vocals on 'Snowball', 'Ton O' Luv', 'Cold War' & 'Planet Earth'
	+ Bass Guitar on 'Freedom of Choice', 'Gates of Steel' & Don't You Know',
* Bob Mothersbaugh:
	+ Guitar on all tracks
	+ Backing Vocals on 'It's Not Right', 'Freedom of Choice' & 'Planet Earth'
* Bob Casale:
	+ Keyboards on all tracks
	+ Backing Vocals on 'Girl U Want'
* Alan Myers: Drums

## External links

* *Freedom of Choice* at Wikipedia
* *Freedom of Choice* on Discogs