Devo - The Greatest Misses

Better Than Expected

This is where it gets cool. Devo's lesser known songs and a few rarities on the same disc. The serious collecter will already have the rarities on the original 45 issues. But having them on CD is convenient. Grab a copy of this CD if you want to fill out your Devo collection. As the title implies these songs are worth a second look.

The use of the Parental Advisory - Explicit Lyrics on the cover is a sarcasm on Devo's part. The songs contain no vulgar lyrics. It's their way of sticking their tounges out at us for not liking these songs the first time around.

I hope the era of the Greatest Misses compilations isn't over. They were some better collections over the usual suspects Greatest Hits comps. February 18, 2008

Good companion piece to "Hits"

There are many good songs on "Greatest Misses," making this a good purchase for the casual Devo listener. With Devo's irreverent sense of humor, most of these songs will put a smile on your face. In typical erudite fashion, they look down their noses at blockheads and mongoloids. "Hold the pickles / hold the lettuce / all that we ask is that / you let us serve it YOUR way" is their stab at our fast food nation on "Too Much Paranoias." I cannot help but find the misogyny of "Timing X/Space Junk" funny. Typical for Devo's idea of a love song, the girl is a person of reference rather than a person of address. Not so typically, however, the girl this time is killed, though not by murder. Rather, she is hit by "space junk," such as the Sputnik, which fell from the sky. ("Original" is a word that promptly comes to mind when conjuring words to describe Devo.) The "Explicit lyrics advisory" comes from one song, "Penetration in the Centerfold." (Hint: "penetration" does not refer to the staples that were used to bind magazines at that time.) Not quite misses, "Jocko Homo" and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" are nonetheless slightly different versions than those appearing on the "Greatest Hits" disc. Devo is a group whose music does not appeal to all tastes, though fans cannot get enough. This is a very good choice for purchase, though a better choice for celebrating geekdom would be to get all their original releases. February 5, 2007

Shrivel up, Devo!

It's interesting to see what tracks Devo picked for "Greatest Misses" as compared with "Greatest Hits" - I think this volume is significantly more interesting to listen to and in the long run is the better compilation. I'm not usually a fan of "best of" CDs - and I'd suggest getting Devo's first 3 CDs because they are about as good as you can get for late 70's/early 80's punk/new wave. But this has a couple of really great alternate versions (the Booji Boy mixes) that breathe new life into these great songs. I think for those songs alone it's worth the $10 I paid for it. I also enjoyed listening to "Speed Racer" - glad to have that one without having to buy "Oh No, It's Devo" (I think that's what it's from)- which isn't so hot. Mark Mothersbaugh & Jerry C - those guys are geniuses and will someday will be recognized as the pioneers that they are. Devolution is real and it's happening all around us - look (listen) and see! May 6, 2006

You're Missing (ha ha) the Point.

I interpreted this album in a different way than anyone else seems to have interpreted it. Mark is a very strange person; he seems to have a very dry, ironic brand of humor. I think this was simply a collection of songs he liked the least, to balance out the songs he liked the most (greatest hits). I think the album was intended to be a joke- but it's still really interesting to hear the alternate versions of these songs. If you like getting inside of Mark's head, you should listen to this; but as far as a fun album to listen to, you're really better off with either the greatest hits or one of the actual albums. October 15, 2005

The truth about this collection

If you are a die-hard fan (like myself), not buying this collection would be a mistake. A few previous reviews pointed out that much of this material is availible on the first 2 albums. They obviously lack good ears and good eyesight, because many of those songs are different versions. They even say so on the liner notes. There is enough rare stuff on this collection to make it worth having. Listen for the extra verse on Jocko Homo. Enough said! February 5, 2004

More reviews at Amazon.com ...