Rating: 
Summary: What crap!
Review: I was really shocked at how amatuer in concept and production the old Devo videos really are. I can understand this before the group gained commercial success but I can't understand it afterwards. Devo was a group made for visuals. Why Warner Bros. allowed such sub-par (even for 1981) videos to be produced as promotional materials is shocking. Obviously, nobody at the label gave an ounce of attention to Devo's videos. The best produced video Devo ever made was "Whip It". It is great as pure cheese. Unfortunately, the rest of Devo's videos are less cheese and more crap. I would only recommend this DVD for DIE-HARD Devo fans. Anyone else will want to use this DVD as a coaster or for re-sale. Seriously.
Rating: 
Summary: Another omission
Review: In addition to omitting "Are You Experienced?," it looks like this DVD won't have the "Theme From Doctor Detroit" either. Glad I still have the "We're All Devo" videotape, which contains "Doctor Detroit."It certainly will be a treat to have the entire "Truth About De-evolution" short film, though! Be stiff. You know it's a wiggly world!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing packaging of classic mutations
Review: It's great to see a Devo DVD finally released; too bad they just lazily slapped the Pioneer laserdisc release from 10 years ago onto DVD, complete with promos for Pioneer laserdiscs dropped in intermittently between the videos. There are a lot of moments that make it obvious this was a half-hearted effort, like the truncated split second of one of Devo's pre-concert bits (not the whole thing, mind you) left in at the beginning of "Through Being Cool". And while the Hendrix estate apparently wouldn't clear "Are You Experienced?", where is "Dr. Detroit"? But the material is strong enough to recommend the disc anyway, until a better alternative presents itself. Devo, one of the true godheads of music video, deserve the Criterion treatment, i.e., go to the original master tapes and do it right. And while Rhino's audio reissues are usually brilliantly done, their video sometimes leaves something to be desired (see other reviewers complaints about their Ed Sullivan and Gumby DVD's).
On the plus side, the price is definitely right, and I'm pretty sure "Mongoloid" wasn't on the Pioneer disc.
Rating:
Summary: Good to have, but disappointing DVD quality
Review: It's worth the money for the content unavailable elsewhere, but it's disappointing in terms of packaging and presentation. The cover illustration looks like a micro-budget indie horror video cover, or an exercise from a high-school design class. The segments taken from the two VHS DEVO releases from the 1980's (MEN WHO MAKE THE MUSIC and the other one with a title I forget) has many video problems, which are not on the VHS tapes, of which I own battered copies. There are obvious tape dropouts and stuff like that on the DVD. I'm guessing these were on the laserdisc from which this DVD was derived, too. There are at least two high-motion sequences on the DVD that suggest the MPEG2 compression was done carelessly. The picture momentarily freezes and breaks up. I've seen these kinds of glitches before, usually in the most inexpensive, cheezy DVD releases, a category into which this disc unfortunately falls. The extras are great to have, but the text screens with articles are a pain, because they're standard video that are not navigable with the DVD remote. The only way to speed them up is with fast-forward, which makes the pictures go by too quickly. Rhino really showed its lack of concern here. The picture galleries, which require a completely inappropriate use of the remote to "step" through standard video, are also poorly presented. These segments should have been completely remastered for DVD, not just annotated with kludged instruction screens. The Kent State and Crypt shows are just short excerpts. It's good to see the old stuff, anyway. Even with its careless preparation and packaging, this inexpensive DVD is of interest to hardcore fans for obvious reasons, and to the casually interested with a few bucks to spare. A DVD release of the two VHS tapes, intact and in order, would be welcome. There's a lot of stuff on those that isn't on DEVO:COMPLETE TRUTH, notably the whole Rod Rooter/Big Entertainment framing story. www.frankpanucci.com
Rating:
Summary: What is wrong with Rhino Home Video?
Review: Leave it to Rhino Home Video to get their hands on great material, and somehow manage to put out a lousy dvd. Annoying, cheap menu items pop up between each video. Some of the videos are cut short (WHY?) freeze framing or adding a cheap video effect a moment or two before they're supposed to end. They are not presented chonologically. The flow is further disrupted by inserted snips of DEVO's ad's for pioneer laser disc players. Intro's to some of the videos which originally appeared in "We're all Devo" are hacked off, and buried in a hard to navigate "extra features" section, while others are not (WHY?). The video transfers appear in many places to be from grainy VHS, complete with drop outs, and bad sound. Further, it is not "complete". Where are the skits from "Men Who Make the Music"? Where is "Dr. Detroit" and "Are You Experienced"? Huh? This is the third Rhino DVD I've bought each time I've been amazed how an otherwise quality company falls down so hard when it comes to video. On the plus side, unless you already most of the stuff here, and don't want to hunt around on ebay for "We're All Devo" and "The Men Who Make the Music", and you're a Devo fan, you'll want to buy this DVD. And even if you have those, there are several interesting bonus items that justify the meager price. But why Rhino does such a horrible job putting it all together is beyond me.
Rating: 
Summary: I'M STILL DEVO
Review: O.K., I'm biased. Sue me. I have loved these guys since I bought my vinyl copy of 'Are We Not Men' (Which I still have and no it's not for sale) in 1979, after hearing them on the Dr. Demento Show. I remember the Saturday Night Live performance too. Sheesh, that was a while ago! When MTV came out, these guys made it fun, and it seemed that for a few years, it was pretty easy to catch them there. Then 'Thriller' came out and screwed everything up. Thanks Michael.
Saw them live too, and Bob #1 even autographed my beat up Datsun down in New Orleans. I'll never forget that - he bought me and my girlfriend beers too. What a cool guy!
I don't know what the video problems others have had with their DVD's. Get a cheap player at WalMart next time. Mine works fine, and I didn't think that there was any DEVO footage that I hadn't seen yet, but I reckon that there is. Yeah, I woulda liked 'Are You Experienced' on this one, but legal is legal, and that's a drag. But still, it's worth getting, and although others may give this one a less than stellar rating, I liked it. There's something about the visual style elements there that are wonderfully distinctive, so vivid, entrancing, so disturbing, so DEVO. I wonder if Booji Boy ever grew up? BE HAPPY OR NOT!
Rating: 
Summary: Warning: Contains some really lousy videos
Review: OK, buy it if you love Devo. It's the only thing on DVD. But only if you LOOOVE Devo will you be happy. There are some good tunes form the 70s and early 80s, but we have to be subjected to the painfully bad Donut & Rod Stuff, some awful videos like Post-Post Modern Man and Disco Dancer, and the unbelieveable Through Being Cool, in which Devo arms really ugly kids with laser guns of some type, and sends them out to destroy people! Nice guys... Get it for the old stuff and the extras. Then dig out that old VHS of The Men Who Make The Music and REALLY have fun remembering the days before they were selling Swiffer mops and beer on TV ads. And Jerry hated the idea of a Devo Doll. Bah!
Rating:
Summary: An essential DVD for anyone interested in Devo
Review: Okay, it doesn't have a whole lot of extra features, but with all these great videos, I don't mind at all. Almost every single one of these videos is strange, smart, entertaining, and fun to watch. Even the ones that haven't aged particularly well are bizarre and inventive enough to be enjoyable. The only problems come near the end. The videos from the "Oh No! It's Devo!" album are almost interchangable, having been filmed in the exact same style, only with a few different elements added into each one. Plus, the last few videos are sad reminders of how lousy Devo became near the end. This collection is also lacking the video for "R U Experienced," which I've never seen. However, I never really liked their take on the song to begin with. So I don't really mind its absence. The negatives are actually really small complaints though. The good material far out-weighs the bad stuff. Now, if only the Talking Heads would release a DVD like this. Oh, wait. They did! I just have to buy a friggin' 3-CD box set of material I already own to get it!
Rating:
Summary: A MUST HAVE for music video lovers in general.
Review: Overall, this is a fantastic release and, if you're a devo fan, you've probably already purchased it. If not, what are you waiting for? I got the laserdisc version of this and taped it onto VHS a couple years ago. The dvd is much easier to enjoy, and now I finally got to watch with the audio commentary. If you're already pretty artistic and have some understanding of Devo, then the audio commentary won't be anything too breathtaking for you - but it's still extremely cool and offers a nice cohesive look at Devo's most impressive medium. I was a teeny tiny bit disappointed that they didn't add a few extras or update anything - kind of a cop out. But it already had a ton so who cares? Actually, they DID add a music video for the Booji Boy version of "Mongoloid," but it's not directed by Casale or Statler and it looks like something some fanatical college kid made. So this extra video does not make up for the lack of "Are U Experienced?" - one of the best music videos ever made. However, the band doesn't try to cover up the video's loss, and they apologize on the back cover which is a nice gesture. Overall, though, Devo's "Complete Truth" will blow away any fans of Devo or music video in general. Especially noteworthy is "Beautiful World," which is in fact the best music video ever made - not just my personal favorite, but actually the best - including anything made in the 90s or 00s for Tool or Radiohead. It is just so friggin' ahead of its time - actually, I'd say its ahead of OUR time, too. So just get this dvd (so maybe Rhino will hurry up and release the other 3 Devo dvds they've promised).
Rating:
Summary: This WAS DEVO...
Review: Say what you want about video quality, etc... This is DEVO, an avante garde band that has it's roots circa 1972, when I was all of five freakin' years old.
1972! These guys were putting on monkey suits and performing before college hippy audiences that were used to listening to "riders on the storm" by the doors...
These guys are the epitome of provacateur... they were new wave before it existed. Look. This DVD may not be the end all and be all of DE-EVOLUTION, but when you listen to the tracks with the commentary by Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale you get a bit of insight into what it was all about. To some extent this is a sad mishmash of older material, but what do you expect? This is DEVO.
If you're a DEVO fan, you need to see it once. Just to remind yourself.
We're all DEVO.
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