Something for Everybody
by Devo
Metascore
64

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 21
  3. Negative: 2 out of 21
  1. Billboard.com
    88
    There's also a contemporary fullness and distortion in the album's production that updates Devo's sound without sacrificing its unmistakable essence.
  2. BBC Music
    80
    Something for Everyone isn't a return to the halcyon days, but neither is it a deluded grasp for relevance, their sonic instincts still intact, the wheezy synths and buzzing guitars sharp and modern.
  3. musicOMH.com
    80
    It's the closest thing to a party album that Devo have ever released: every track is fast, insistent, loud, danceable, and wouldn't have been out of place in the Top 40 at any time over the last 30 years.
  5. The Guardian
    80
    Their ability to produce electronic rhythms and melodies that twitch the human body is as undimmed as their capacity for playful, subversive thought.
  6. Village Voice
    80
    Something for Everybody is pure Devo, triumphantly Devo, sincerely Devo, Devo without scare-quotes.
  7. Austin Chronicle
    78
    With most of the original brain trust intact – brothers Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh and Gerald and Bob Casale, plus ex-Nine Inch Nails/Guns n' Roses drummer Josh Freese – Something for Everybody sounds effortlessly fresh.
  8. Entertainment Weekly
    75
    You'll likely find yourself surrendering to the band's herky-jerky hooks and machine-like swing on Something for Everybody.
  9. The New York Times
    70
    It's hooks are wilted, and its lyrics run over with cliches and canned memes from news and television.
  10. Spin
    70
    On their first album in 20 years, the spud boys return to show dancey electro-pop pretenders how it's done--syn-drums and all.
  11. Rolling Stone
    70
    Combining the punk-funk fury of Devo's earliest recordings with synth pop, this ninth disc is frantic and wall-to-wall catchy (particularly Human Rocket).
  12. AllMusic
    70
    While some will complain that the satirical social commentary just isn't as razor-sharp, and that the wild, primal nerdiness of their first two efforts is long gone, the purposeful Something for Everybody is proudly not a nostalgia trip and is, instead, filled with age-appropriate subversion, right up to its ironic title.
  13. Drowned In Sound
    70
    Certainly tracks one through six are up there with the most out-and-out enjoyable stuff Devo have ever produced, without compromise on the wit or cynicism. It may be too late in life for Devo to truly regain the heights of what made them one of the best bands of the new wave era, but it doesn't matter.
  14. Trouser Press
    70
    The tunes are solid, and the quintet plays them with all the enthusiasm, vigor and focus that were missing from most of its post-Freedom of Choice recordings. The songwriting sags a bit in the second half.
  15. Pitchfork
    66
    The melodies get sharper and more skewed, the beats and synths more diverse and rangy-- evoking everyone from LCD Soundsystem to Mouse on Mars. And most of it is good enough to remind you how most of that everyone owes something to Devo.
  16. The Wire
    60
    For all the enjoyment that this slightly souped-up take on the old sound brings, this kind of comeback can't help but provoke feelings of disappointment and betrayal. [Jul 2010, p.54]
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  17. The A.V. Club
    58
    Obsolescence isn't the real problem with Something For Everybody, Devo's first album since 1990-instead, the disc suffers from simply sounding like a weak iteration of itself.
  18. New Musical Express (NME)
    50
    While continuing to crusade against de-evolution, these new wave pioneers are stuck in stasis.
  19. Under The Radar
    40
    Sure, it's better than their last album--there are hooks, clever jokes and tiny sparks throughout-- but the trouble is that those sparks only illuminate the fact that 20 years is a ridiculous amount of time to make anyone wait for what is little more than an overwrought hunk of shiny plastic. [Summer 2010, p.83]
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  20. PopMatters
    40
    The twelve tracks of Something for Everybody are tonally monotonous (except for No Place Like Home, the requisite piano ballad near the end), and seem focused on placating long-time fans looking for a nostalgia trip.
  21. The Boston Phoenix
    37
    Given the theory of de-evolution these Ohio brainiacs began expounding more than 30 years ago, it makes a sad kind of sense that Devo's first album since 1990's Smooth Noodle Maps offers such a charmless, base-level version of the band's synth-addled new wave.
  22. Uncut
    20
    None of this would matter if the music had genuine quirk, but Something... is stuck in an eternally wacky MTV 1982 of the soul. [Sep 2010, p.91]
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Awards & Rankings

60
#60 Most Discussed Album of 2010

User Reviews

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User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 33 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 33
  3. Negative: 1 out of 33
  1. Xanadu_Me
    Mar 13, 2012
    9
    Not the spud boy's best work, but pretty darn good stuff after a 20 year absence. This is a gift to the fans I feel, so if your a spud girl orNot the spud boy's best work, but pretty darn good stuff after a 20 year absence. This is a gift to the fans I feel, so if your a spud girl or guy you'll be in heaven with this album. If not, it's not likely to win you over.… Full Review »
  2. monster_meal
    Jun 2, 2011
    10
    What a great comeback. I find myself addicted to many of these tracks. Incredibly infectious, and I feel it compliments and updates theirWhat a great comeback. I find myself addicted to many of these tracks. Incredibly infectious, and I feel it compliments and updates their sound very well.… Full Review »
  3. KhalilJAli
    Dec 27, 2010
    6
    Iâ
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