While bearing the same title as his independently-released album of 1998, this Truth has received a massive facelift and four additional songs. "Distracted" kicks off the record with a really strong, confident cut. Michael has the whole echoed-out flanged guitar going, which reminds me a lot of Collective Soul's sonic of choice. He swirls a lot of sounds in there. The subtle lead guitars in the background conjure images of Ty Tabor of King's X wailing away.
Even with all these additives, the music on Truth is still centered on melodic hard rock and Michael's vocals. The listener must understand this coming in, but judging from this point onward, we've some strong material here. Some of which really stretches Michael, like "Blue Bleeds Through," where he really sings some high, high notes. (Not the "liiii-yiiiii" wailing that Stryper song had). "I Am Adam," from the previous release of Truth. It's a very eclectic song with lots of dynamics. It starts off pretty mellow and ends up with some adamant verses. "Wool And Chiffon" is a very deceptive tune, in that it's got a lot of melodic pop sweetness, but it's got some very heavy elements to it. As the title implies, the lyrics are very poetic.
Once you get past the fact that this is not a punk, grunge, or electronica release from Stryper's former frontman, you realize that he's built upon the high points of Real and relied upon his strengths as a vocalist. If you're curious to hear if he can still sing over some strong riffs, check out "Save Me." I could hear portions of this in a movie like Mission Impossible 2.
One of the songs that I don't want to like is the slick produced "Lift My Head," but heck if I couldn't hear this all over the radio and hum along. This rocker, however, lunges for the fast forward button for the ballads "Tomorrow" and "Stone." Overall, it's mostly good. Not breakthrough or spectacular, but strong.
Other coverage for this album
Art for the Ears 2001Reviewed by Marco PovervestFinally Michael's new solo album is out officially. Truth was released as a demo CD two years ago. The official release contains nine songs from that demo but most of them were totally or partly re-recorded and rearranged. In most cases those songs were enhanced greatly. There are also four entirely new songs. Keyword for this album is Variety. It has heavy tunes and poppier rock stuff. And the…HM Magazine #73Reviewed by Doug Van PeltDoubters beware: Michael Sweet is making relevant music in the 90's (reference: the title track and "Wool & Chiffon"). This, his third solo album and first independently-released effort, is a collection of ten songs that he wrote and decided to include himself, without the constraints and direction of a Nashvillian influence. There are new musical sides here that we've never heard, and there are…Similar sounding releases
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