Freedom of Choice (stylized as F R E E D O M O F C H O I C E) is the third studio album by the American new wave band Devo, released in May 1980 on Warner Bros. Records.

[9] The band rented a space on Wilcox Avenue in Hollywood that had been converted from old abandoned storefronts in which they would compose and rehearse new material.

Freedom of Choice was informed by bassist Gerald Casale's and guitarist Bob Mothersbaugh's mutual love of R&B music.

"[11] The band members all fully committed to the new artistic direction and were later in agreement that it was their best album, strongest set of songs and most enjoyable experience in the studio, due to their positive working relationship.

[6] The lyrics of "Whip It" were originally written by Casale in one night "as an imitation of Thomas Pynchon's parodies in his book Gravity's Rainbow".

[7] The lyrics of the title track were written by Casale about the United States' conservative political shift preceding the election of Ronald Reagan.

(1978), and began as an instrumental demo recorded by Mark Mothersbaugh with Debbie Smith and Sue Schmidt of the band Chi-Pig.

"Cold War" was a rare collaboration between Casale and Bob Mothersbaugh, developed after hours in the studio circa November 1979.

features lyrics taken from the poem "Pep" by Grace G. Bostwick, which was published in The American Magazine in 1919, prior to U.S. copyright law.

[6] Mark Mothersbaugh later stated that, while the band admired Bootsy Collins, Prince and Motown, they had difficulty figuring out how to reflect those influences in their own music.

[6] Pangburn observed that, "with Margouleff at the mixing desk, Devo produced a catchy synth pop album that proved to be their mainstream breakthrough.

[15] In 2009, another demo titled "Red Shark" surfaced, an early version of "It's Not Right" with alternate lyrics that was offered as a download-only track for fans who purchased tickets to the Freedom of Choice album concerts.

[7] He had been looking for an interesting project to pursue, now that his work with Wonder had concluded, and knew the band aligned with his experiences in electronic music.

[6] Margouleff recalled that Devo rehearsed the material for several weeks and continued to write in the studio even after the proper album sessions began.

[10] He experimented with different mic placements and recording methods for every track and left the tapes constantly rolling in the hopes of capturing something spontaneous.

If you play the record, you'll hear that the bass, the kick and the rest of the drums are very, very prominent and dry in the mixes, so you feel like you're standing next to the kit.

[18] Music historian Andy Zax noted that, on Freedom of Choice, "synthesizers had now been upgraded to a starring role, while an increasingly sophisticated pop sensibility infiltrated the group's new songs.

"[18] To take the idea of wearing the suits with hands in protective position over the crotch, all looking robotic and not free at all with the slogan "Freedom of Choice," was an obvious joke to us.

[20] The band's red "energy dome" hats were inspired by Art Deco light fixtures Casale remembered from the grade school he had attended, which was built in the 1920s.

[20] The hats were designed by Brent Scrivner and fashioned from vacuform ABS white plastic, spray-painted with Chinese red lacquer.

[1] "Girl U Want" was the initial single chosen by Warner Bros., and Nagy theorized that its similar feel to the Knack's "My Sharona" made the label think it had commercial potential.

[5] The single failed to chart, and after the band began their concert tour, Florida record promoter Kal Rudman urged southeastern DJs to play "Whip It", whose popularity then spread to New York and the rest of the U.S., including gay dance clubs.

[8] Promo videos were then shot for both "Freedom of Choice" and "Girl U Want", both of which featured skateboarders from Santa Monica and their friends.

[7][23] Instead, Warner Bros. chose to continue promoting "Whip It" and have the band focus on completing their next album, New Traditionalists, which they had already begun recording by January 1981.

"[31] Writing in Trouser Press, critics Scott Isler and Ira Robbins described the album as "the band's most evocative pairing of words and music".

[34] In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Steve Huey praised the album, calling it "their most cohesive, consistent material to date".

[4] Record World described a live version of "Gates of Steel" saying that "its wall-of-sound guitar grind and Mark Mothersbaugh's vocal frenzy should satisfy AOR listeners.

[7] Gerald Casale later recalled, "We were in the middle of a small club tour – maximum 900 seats – and within two weeks we had to rebook everything for 3,000-5000-seat places because 'Whip It' became so big, so fast.

"[18] In 2015, David Chiu of PopMatters commented on "Whip It"'s "surrealist and now-iconic video that was a staple of MTV during the then-fledging channel's early years".

[5] He added, "The fact that The Simpsons even paid homage to both the song and the video in an episode demonstrates how much 'Whip It' has transcended pop culture.