Customer Reviews

Hardcore 1

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

And that's just not hyperbole. Pardon my ignorance, but I was just not aware of the full extent of Devo's power. These seminal recordings (this and Volume 2) truly blew my mind, and actually made me ashamed that I had not heard them previously. I was only familiar with Devo post-77, which is some of the finest post-punk, new wave ever. If you have not heard these two albums, do yourself a favor and seek them out. Kill if you must. These tracks are much rawer and more deranged than later Devo. From crude vocoder paired with detuned synth duets, to fuzzy guitar rock, this is some truly Devolutionary music for Devolutionary spuds. Some of these songs have a leering, almost sinister edge which was later smoothed out for mass consumption. It is absolutely criminal that these two albums are out-of-print. I sure hope Mark Mothersbaugh and Company hold the rights to these gems, because they deserve exposure. You need this, you just don't know how much yet. I feel that these two albums made me a better and smarter person (than you).

If your expecting songs like "Whip It" you aren't reading the title. This is a compilation of awesome stripped down songs that contain truly great melodies and socially cutting, humorous lyrics. Songs like "Automodown", "I'm A Potato", "Midget", "Ono", "Stop, Look, And Listen", "Soo Bawlz", "Social Fools", etc... contain the most adventerous, funny music ever produced. I love this album, and would love to hear in a different context if Eno produced it. It would be my favorite album of all time. As it is it is just a lot of fun and a great hidden treasure in an awesome career.

at the time of purchasing the two volumes of obscure early-70's 4-track Devo mutations that they would be out of print, highly sought after, and so expensive. I just remember grousing about the exorbitant price at the music store for something there was no way I was walking out of without. Not meaning to gloat (too much), but I'm glad I ponied up.

For the reviewer lamenting his inability to secure a copy of Vol. 1, take heart; you have the better of the two available. That's not to say it isn't something yearn-worthy. It's just that IMHO, vol. 1 = 4 stars, and vol. 2 = 5.

However no Devo fan should be without Auto-Modown/Space Girl Blues, I'm A Potato, and Ono. The whole collection is great, but these three songs are truly the sounds of things falling apart. Both volumes chronicle Devo at their most creative, chaotic, and frightening.

In spite of what the apparently retarded David Cavanagh thinks of the album (he obviously gets paid per whine), Hardcores I & II dredge the basest instincts and drives from my frustrated intellectual and hormonal adolescence and crams it back into my ear...easily some of their best work, before the Pinks, Grinks, Groinks and Glorps at the record companies made them more palatable to the pond-scum masses...

Some great experimental electronic music here. But don't expect anything like whip it, cause it's a different Devo from what your use to.

Amazing. If you like Trans Am or Ween, and want to see where this type of rock blended with electronics originated, Hardcore Devo is the cornerstone. Both volumes are outstanding. Fun, chunky, beepy, fuzzy music that sounds fresh 30 years later.

I have a hard time finding CD's that I really want to listen to. But this is one. Part of the reason I like it so much is that I like their rawer, earlier CD's much better than their smoother, later ones -- and this of course is their earliest available work. This may sound strange, but to me there's something incredibly good-natured, funny, and unpretentious about Devo. Most of their humor is directed at their own geeky selves. And there's something inexpressibly cool and catching about their quirky instrumentation. My 7-year-old boy and 3-year old girl love Devo (I have to be careful about which tracks they hear) -- it's sophisticated, visceral kid music for kids of all ages.

I got both this and and Vol. 2 when they were initially unleashed on an unsuspecting world by Rykodisc in the early 90's. Keep in mind that at that time Devo was considered washed up and left for dead by the public at large. Perhaps it was a last-ditch attempt at regaining some credibility that they dug deep into the vaults to assemble these 2 collections of pre-major label home recordings, but boy did it work! They truly did shove the poles in the hole this time.

In my opinion these are the ultimate Devo recordings... raw, bizarre, untampered-with, pure, and brutally honest. As the liner notes stated, this was the sound of a world falling apart. I couldn't agree more. Some of these recordings were actually originally released on the UK-only "Be Stiff" EP in 1977 (Jocko Homo, Mongoloid, Satisfaction). The rest are previously unreleased (though a few have appeared in bootleg form), and were recorded between 1974 and 1977, when the spudboys were honing their concept in the relative obscurity of mid-70's Akron.

By the time "Are We Not Men..." was released in early 1978, the sound and concept had been refined. Not that I have any problem with that amazing debut. It blew me away back then and still holds up well to this day. However, I find these early crude recordings much more endearing and enjoyable. This was the essence of what Devo was all about, and the lack of slick production and major label influence only adds to it's honesty. Admittedly, there are a few half-baked ideas, but this is a document of a band developing a very focused sound and purpose... and there were bound to be a few experiments gone awry.

My only gripe is that the 1975 version of "Secret Agent Man" (featured in the original short film) is not included on either disc. The fact that these two collections have been out of print for so long now boggles the mind. Especially with all the recent renewed interest in Devo. I still have my copies, but I would really like to see these made available again. There is a whole new generation of Devo-tees that need to experience the same catharsis I did when I first heard these discs.

--for the price of a copy of this now very rare compilation, especially against the 21 track Hardcore volume 2. Also, this CD contains 5 tracks that've been re-recorded and released, so as far as entirely new songs (which I was interested in) you get only 10, which again doesn't compete with Vol 2's 17 new songs. This compilation totals to a little over 40 minutes, and so purchasing a copy of this at around 30-50 dollars used you're paying a hefty price for just a little bit.

But aside from the disappointing length and content amount in this compilation, there are some really great tracks, like the video version of Jocko Homo, a couple songs co-written by the two Bobs, and overall just some very interesting songs that shed light on the early mentality of DEVO, it truly lives up to the Hardcore name. The quality of most tracks are also much better than some on Vol 2, if that's important to anyone who wishes to listen to cheaply recorded demos from the 70's...

The one track that really bugs me though is Satisfaction; it sounds so similar to the released version that I'm actually mad that they threw it on here, as it wasted valuable space that something else could've had, but I've never been much a fan of the song anyway.

If you love DEVO, get Volume 2 first to start off, as you can probably get it with nearly twice as much content for about the same price, and if you decide you like it enough go for this one.

I had a tape copy of what eventually became this CD. I have no idea from whence it came. It was an nth generation copy with all the hiss. Nice to see it on CD now so I can hear everything!
This is the original, pre-eno, pre WB Devo. Fresh out of art school,full of vitriol and unafraid of the consequences. Does anyone remember them on SNL? That scared the pants off of me when I was a kid!