So why is Devo’s New Traditionalists on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
For my money, New Traditionalists is the greatest Devo album of them all, and thus earns its place within the top 120 of the best 1,000 albums ever.
This will likely read as a “surprise” selection for casual Devo fans – it doesn’t include “Whip It,” for example – and perhaps for even some of y’all hardcore Devolutionists.
For me, I find the high highs on New Traditionalists to be pretty astonishing and overall, it’s a consistently satisfying voyage into the quirky waters of hyper smart and catchy snyth-y new wave/punk that Devo delivers.
In recent years, I have become absolutely obsessed with “Love Without Anger,” a Devo track that I’ll wager most music fans circa 2025 have never heard of.
I love how offbeat, bouncy, catchy and singalong-able it is all at once. And in its own very Devo-y way, it seems like it’s kind of a love song after all… which is that I think it’s saying that with real love comes the full gamut of intensity and emotions that often come with it.
Barbie and Ken in a great big fight
Seems Ken forgot to make it home one night
You know what you are seeing simply can’t be right
Looks like love’s bark is worse than its bite
The three best known songs on New Traditionalists are “Through Being Cool,” “Jerkin’ Back ‘N’ Forth,” and “Beautiful World.”
They’re all great, but my favorite of this group is “Jerkin’ Back ‘N’ Forth.” It’s just so propulsive and joyous and confident. I can listen to it endlessly.
I’ll lean on the best 1,000 albums ever piece on Rage Against the Machine’s Renegades (#342) in gushing about “Beautiful World.”
I’ll start with a deep cut – in fact it has the fewest plays of any song on Renegades via Spotify – that simply blows me away: Devo’s “Beautiful World.”
First of all, the fact that Rage Against the Machine dug into pop culture history and selected a Devo track is simply magnificent. While the sound of both bands is completely different, they share an intense focus on political and sociological impact with their songwriting and music.
And I imagine it’s the deeply subversive “twist” that slams us at the end of “Beautiful World” that Rage found appealing.
It’s a beautiful world we live in
A sweet romantic place
Beautiful people everywhere
The way they show they care
In Devo’s version, the sound is joyous, boisterous nerd rock. In Rage Against the Machine’s hands, they go way against their typical rap-metal sound and at the same time go far away from the vibe of the original. It’s the quietest song that Rage has ever produced, with acoustic guitar at that!
It also sounds haunting and foreboding. Zack de la Rocha sings (kind of? which is kind of amazing right there!) in a whispery tone. It’s the kind of song that makes you lean in and really pay attention to the lyrics.
For you
For you
For you
So when we get to the end with the repeated and almost desperate whispers of for you it’s downright chilling when the final line drops.
“Through Being Cool” could easily stand in as the song that most represents what Devo is from a musical and mission statement standpoint.
And “Going Under” is a simply bonkers deep cut that I have great admiration for.
Some stats & info about Devo – New Traditionalists
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Post-Punk, New Wave, Dance Rock, Rock Music, Nerd Rock, Art Rock, Synth Pop
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 3 out of 5 stars
- When was New Traditionalists released? 1981
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #119 out of 1,000
Devo’s New Traditionalists on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Devo’s New Traditionalists that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
We’re through being cool.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.