Devo had amassed a sizeable following after the release of their first two studio albums with Warner Bros. However, after the band's second album Duty Now for the Future (1979) was not as well received, the label presented the band with a "make or break" ultimatum for their forthcoming third album. Warner Bros. told the band that if sales did not increase with the new album's release, the label would terminate their contract. Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh later contended that Warner Bros. threatened the band's manager Elliot Roberts with litigation if Devo did not achieve chart success with the album.
While the material on Devo's first two albums mostly consisted of old songs written between 1974 and 1977, the band decided to compose all new material for the upcoming crucial third album. The songs were written after the band had completed their second world tour. The creation of Freedom of Choice saw the band now living in Los Angeles and choosing to start from scratch. 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. The band decided that heading in a more funk-oriented direction with their new songs would satisfy both themselves and Warner Bros. DJ Pangburn of Sound on Sound later observed that the album "is far from R&B, although it's funky and moves in a way that its two predecessors do not." 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. However, Casale has said that the band's fanbase were very critical of this stylistic departure.
The songs on Freedom of Choice were more mainstream and accessible than its two predecessors. Casale recalled that "This was a self-imposed challenge. Can we write songs? Because we always thought that was a little bit beneath [who] Devo was, but in the end, not really. You have to be able to deliver." Casale added that "We were mutating ourselves on purpose, with that purpose being to make something bolder and funkier, still with guitars and energy, and still maintain the energy of our stage show".
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". Mark Mothersbaugh also viewed it as a Dale Carnegie-esque inspirational song for then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter. The music originated as four different demo pieces, largely written by Mark Mothersbaugh and later assembled and arranged by Casale. The riff was based on Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman". The lyrics of the title track were written by Casale about the United States' conservative political shift preceding the election of Ronald Reagan. He was empowering the evangelicals. Pat Robertson and all those guys were being taken seriously and pressuring congressmen and senators. So “Freedom of Choice” was about if you don’t take it seriously, there are despots and tyrants that will take [it] away from you.
"Gates of Steel" was written after sessions concluded for the band's debut album, Q. Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978), and began as an instrumental demo recorded by Mark Mothersbaugh with Debbie Smith and Sue Schmidt of the band Chi-Pig. Casale liked the progression and, during rehearsals for Freedom of Choice, melded it with some standalone lyrics he had written. "Cold War" was a rare collaboration between Casale and Bob Mothersbaugh, developed after hours in the studio circa November 1979. "That's Pep!" 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. The music was written by Mark Mothersbaugh and, according to Nagy, is "outside any of the structure [or] lexicon of sounds and beats of rock & roll", despite its incorporation of a Bo Diddley beat. Nagy compares "Ton o' Luv" to "Whip It" in that it is a "parody of cloying American optimism that is blind to the industrial realities around it."
Devo had not enjoyed the experience of working with their previous producer, Ken Scott, and after the band's sales decreased with the resulting album, Duty Now for the Future, they decided to find a new producer. The album was demoed at Modern Music Recording Studio in 1980, and these tracks were later released on the compilation album Recombo DNA in 2000. This demo version lacks "It's Not Right", "Ton o' Luv", "Don't You Know" and "Freedom of Choice", but it includes demos of the "Whip It" B-side "Turn Around" and three unreleased tracks ("Luv & Such", "Time Bomb" and "Make Me Move").
The lyrics of "Luv & Such" were later rewritten and the song became "Mr. B's Ballroom". 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.
Freedom of Choice was recorded and mixed in six weeks at the Record Plant in Los Angeles using a 24-track machine, with Margouleff co-producing the sessions with the band and co-engineering with Howard Seigel. Bass, drums and guitars were all recorded live together, while synths and vocals were overdubbed later. Bob Mothersbaugh recalled that Margouleff "created a good atmosphere to play live". Margouleff also encouraged the band to pursue a more raw production sound, stripping away effects and layers. 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.
"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. 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. "Whip It" was formally released as a single on August 13, 1980, and became a genuine hit, peaking at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of November 15, 1980. Warner Bros. then gave the band an infusion of cash to make a promo video for the song. Despite its success, Casale later expressed that the band had not viewed the song any differently than any other song on the record.
The video for "Whip It" was based on a 1962 issue of Dude magazine that Mark Mothersbaugh had found in an antique store, which contained a story about a dude ranch where the owner would whip his wife's clothes off. The video also played on radio programmers' popular misconception that the song was about masturbation and sadomasochism. It was shot in Devo's rehearsal studio for $15,000.
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. The former featured professional skateboarders Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta. Some of the men who appeared in the latter video were dressed in drag.
Freedom of Choice became Devo's commercial breakthrough, although its success would not be replicated on subsequent records. The album was the band's biggest seller and is their most successful album to date. It peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard 200 chart, while "Whip It" peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 8 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. Both the album and "Whip It" single sold over a million copies. The album was awarded platinum status by the Recording Industry Association of America on May 13, 1986. Critics described the album as "the band's most evocative pairing of words and music", praising also the album and calling it "their most cohesive, consistent material to date".
