"duty now for the future" was on the "billboard" charts for 10 weeks, peaking at no. 73. it was received less enthusiastically than their first release, "are we not men? we are devo!". dave marsh, writing in "rolling stone", condemns it completely, feeling that "inspired amateurism works only when the players aspire to something better." in their review of the album, "smash hits" described it as "unimpressive", but noted that the "change of style definitely grows on you". they went on to say that, although the album was more accessible, it was "lacking the zany magic of old".