Devo - The Complete Truth About De-Evolution

Punk/New Wave mad scientists Devo were among the few bands to understand the music video's potential as art form during its infancy in the eighties. Their brilliant and bizarre videos were compiled on VHS and then on laser disc; that long out-of-print disc, The Complete Truth About De-Evolution, has finally arrived on DVD, which should please longtime fans of this eclectic outfit. Rhino's DVD is essentially the same as the Pioneer disc, which featured 17 videos (including their radio hit, "Whip It") as well as the amusing and award-winning corporate film parody "The Truth About De-Evolution," and commentary by band members Gerald Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh. Live clips from the VHS releases are also included; the video for "Are You Experienced" unfortunately was nixed by the Jimi Hendrix estate, but its replacement--a rarely seen video for "Mongoloid" by experimental filmmaker Bruce Connor--makes up for its exclusion. Fans may wish that Rhino had remastered the live clips, but the fact that these fascinating videos are available at all (and at a low retail price) should convince fence-sitters of its must-have status. --Paul Gaita