Devo/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
/wiki/Devocreator
  • Dude, Not Funny: The reaction to using lyrics written by would-be Ronald Reagan assassin John Hinckley in "I Desire."
  • Fan Community Nickname: Spuds.
  • First Installment Wins: Q: Are We Not Men? frequently tops the ratings and favourite lists of fans and reviewers; along with Freedom of Choice it is considered their most successful album.
  • Genius Bonus: "Whip It" is based on the songs in Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow.
  • Misattributed Song: A lot of "quirky" New Wave songs are attributed to the band.
  • Nightmare Fuel: The two Hardcore Devo compilations are demos from 1974 to 1977, and they are some seriously creepy sounding stuff ("U Got Me Bugged" in particular is little more than a loop of high-frequency noise).
    • The robotic voice on "Mechanical Man" is just a little bit terrifying. Then you add the discordant music.
      • Me feel swell. Me work well. Me want what you got.
  • Ruined FOREVER: The fans were not pleased with the whole Dev2.0 thing. And the Fandom Rejoiced when Dev2.0 bombed.
  • Seasonal Rot: The band's transition into quirky synth-pop that worked so well in the early 80s wound up becoming increasingly generic and straightforward as the decade wore on, culminating with 1984's Shout that was a critical and commercial failure. The failed comeback album, Total Devo only made things worse.
  • So Bad It's Good: The only reason Devo agreed to the Dev2.0 concept in the first place was because of how ridiculous it was.

Jerry Casale: You went beyond getting mad to just like going, 'This is proof of devolution. This is it.' We thought it was really funny."

    • The band has fallen back on the "proof of de-evolution" line of reasoning more than once, particularly in reference to the Seasonal Rot mentioned above. They ultimately mused that even Devo is not immune to the effects of de-evolution - decay was inevitable, according to their genetic imperative - and life marched on.
  • Special Effect Failure: The Chroma Key in their early videos. Especially noticeable in "The Day My Baby Gave Me A Surprize".
  • Tear Jerker: "No Place Like Home" (from Something for Everybody) is easily their most poignant song.