Shout (Devo album)

Shout was the first of two Devo albums to use the Fairlight CMI, the other being 1988's Total Devo. These approaches further pushed the sound of the guitar into the background of their music. Shout was the final album by the 1976–1985 line-up of Devo, with their third and most prominent drummer, Alan Myers, leaving the band shortly after the album's release. According to the book We Are Devo, Myers cited a lack of creative fulfillment as his reason for leaving the band, something that he had felt since Devo's move to Los Angeles in the late 1970s. Devo's increased use of drum machines and electronics through the years had greatly reduced Myers' role in the band, although Gerald Casale has said that he begged Myers not to leave.[2]

One of Shout's singles is "R U Experienced?", a Jimi Hendrix cover that carried on the Devo tradition of radically transforming notable songs which began with their 1977 cover of the Rolling Stones song "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." The chorus melody of another Hendrix song, "Third Stone from the Sun," is transformed into a backwards guitar solo partway through the track. Similarly, "The 4th Dimension" incorporates the guitar hook from the Beatles' song "Day Tripper", "Jurisdiction of Love" contains a few notes from "Love Machine" by the Miracles and "Here to Go" quotes a bit of the music to Wilson Pickett hit "Land of a Thousand Dances."

In a 2007 interview with Billboard magazine, Gerald Casale stated that Shout was the biggest regret of his career, "because the Fairlight [synthesizer] just kind of took over everything on that record. I mean, I loved the songwriting and the ideas, but the Fairlight kind of really determined the sound."[3] According to a 2005 interview with the band's guitarist Bob Mothersbaugh, "Mark and Jerry kept saying in interviews that the guitar was obsolete and wanted to prove it with the Shout album."[4]

The album cover photograph, taken by Karen Filter, is a head shot of Timothy Leary's son Zachary Leary (credited as Zachary Chase) on a composite background with his left hand raised by his open mouth in a "shout" gesture. The album's back cover depicts a head shot photo of guitarist Bob Mothersbaugh's daughter Alex with her eyes focused upwards and her left hand raised by her ear in a listening gesture. It's notably their first album since 1978's Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! not to feature any of the band's members on the outside cover.

A lavish music video for "R U Experienced?"[5] was produced by the band in conjunction with Ivan Stang of the Church of the SubGenius. The video featured Devo as floating blobs of wax in a lava lamp and Jimi Hendrix (played by Hendrix impersonator Randy Hansen) stepping out of his coffin to play a guitar solo, as well as the cover children Chase and Alex. Despite being one of Devo's most visually complex and expensive music videos, it wasn't included on the 2003 DVD music video collection The Complete Truth About De-Evolution (although it had been included on the LaserDisc of the same title issued in 1993). In an interview with Gerald Casale for Earcandymag.com,[6] he explained:

E.C.: Speaking of de-evolution, why didn't the Hendrix estate give you permission to put the "Are You Experienced?" video on the DVD?

Gerald Casale: Further de-evolution. You understand that the consortium of people that now represent the Hendrix estate are basically run by lawyers; the lawyer mentality. Lawyers always posit the worst-case scenarios. Though that video was loved for years by anybody who saw it including the man who commissioned it —Chuck Arroff, a luminary in the music business, who still claims to this day that it was one of his five most favorite videos ever—, they [the lawyers] didn't get it and assumed we were making fun of Jimi. That's like saying "Whip It" makes fun of cowboys. This is so stupid it's unbelievable.

As the band were dropped by their record label and went on hiatus following Shout's release, there was no tour to promote it. The group planned to tour in Autumn of 1985, and booked at least one show at The Colston Hall in Bristol, England, but were blocked by their new record label Enigma, who insisted that if the band were to tour, it would have to be in support of an album released by the label. Devo abandoned the tour in order to record Total Devo, hoping to have it released and toured by early 1986.[7] Their next album wouldn't be released until May 24, 1988, and they would not tour again until October 20.[8]

The only songs to be performed live from the album are the title track, as part of the "Somewhere With Devo" suite performed from 1988 to 1991, and a one-off performance of "Here to Go" in 1991.[9] Devo had apparently planned a tour show with a video projection backdrop, similar to the Oh, No! It's Devo tour of 1982.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[10]
Robert Christgau	C[11]

The album received very negative reviews upon its release. Writing for The Village Voice, music journalist Robert Christgau stated, "Marking time (actually, a computer marks it for them), they create the rock--no, new wave--equivalent of baseball's 'Play me or trade me.' I played it. Now I'm trading it."[11]

Mark Deming of AllMusic retrospectively called it a "forgettable, slick and glossy product with all human surfaces stripped away."[10]

All tracks are written by Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale, except where noted.

Notes

• "Growing Pains" was previously released as the b-side to the "Are You Experienced?" single.
• "Shout (E-Z Listening Muzak Version 1)" was previously released on the E-Z Listening Cassette, Volume 2.
• In 2004, Collectables Records re-released Shout with no bonus tracks. This version is currently in print, but the first printing misspelled Gerald Casale's last name as "Casle." This mistake was corrected in subsequent pressings.
• In 2008, the album was remastered again and released as part of the box set This Is the Devo Box in Japan.

Devo

• Gerald Casale – lead and background vocals; bass guitar; bass synthesizer; keyboards; Fairlight CMI programming
• Mark Mothersbaugh – lead and background vocals; keyboards; Fairlight CMI programming, Synclavier II
• Bob Casale – guitar; keyboards; Fairlight CMI programming; voice samples; backing vocals
• Bob Mothersbaugh – guitars; backing vocals
• Alan Myers – electric drums; percussion; drum machine; Fairlight CMI programming

Production

• Devo – producers; graphic concept
• Bob Casale – engineer
• Mike Shipley – mixing
• Steve Marcussen – mastering
• Jim Mothersbaugh – technical assistance
• Will Alexander – programming consultation
• Al Horvath – additional E-mu Emulator programs
• Bill Wolfer – additional E-mu Emulator programs
• Vigon Seireeni – art direction
• Karen Filter – photography
• Effective Graphics – computer graphics
• Zachary Chase (boy) – front cover kid
• Alex Mothersbaugh (girl) – back cover kid
• Clacton and Frinton – DEVO's Chinese-American Friendship Suits

• List of albums released in 1984
• Devo's discography

• Shout at Discogs (list of releases)