Customer Reviews

Truth

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hands down, "Album of the Year". A more diversified sound of tunes put together by one artist than I have ever heard. After a five year absence, Michael returns with a rested, more powerful voice and fresh new songs (some re-recorded from previous "Truth" album). A must have for all Stryper, Michael Sweet fans! If you have never heard of this man before, do yourself a favor and listen to this album.

Michael Sweet is back and ready to take his message to newer heights with the release of Truth. This is by far one of Michael's best works, Stryper wise or solo. "This is a must buy for everyone"! For those of you that have waited for that Stryper sound to return with a solo album from Michael this one is a must have. Michael has a allstar band with Kenny Arnoff on drums (John Cougar Mellencamp) and old Stryper bandmate Oz Fox lending hand on guitar. Michael brings with this album a Metal/Hard Rock heavy guitar sound on the songs of 'Save Me' and 'The Ever After' along with a Beatleish sound on the song 'All I'm thinking of (is you)'. Michael's lyrics come alive as he shows us the effects of God's love through the good and bad times. If Michael's new record company Restless Record's promote this right, he's going to be in for a great year.

When someone goes "Solo" from a group, many people assume that the music or the artist just can not be as good as the original group. Truth, from Michael Sweet, is the best material that I have heard from Michael bar none, solo or Stryper! If Restless Records can sit up and take notice with this record/artist I believe Truth can be HUGE! Hopefully they won't drop the ball like alot of other labels and waste a great thing. If you remember Stryper then remember Michael. You won't believe what you hear! A must have!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This album has some songs from the other truth release but has some songs not on that release either. This was self re;eased before picked up by a major label years later to be mass produced. Obviously making this more rare and harder to obtain. Though you need to own both "truth" cds for a full collection. Hope this helps

Song List:
Truth
I am adam
blue bleeds through
wool and chiffon
lift my head
one
achilles heel
rain
distracted
stone

Michael Sweet is one talented guy. Not only does he have an incredible singing voice, possess guitar chops, play piano, raise a family, and have several platinum albums to his name, he is also an incredible open, honest, and humble guy. I've met him and seen him in concert with his former band Stryper.

Before you start to cringe you should realize that this is not material that sounds like it should have been released in 1988. Michael has continued to update himself after taking some time off from the music biz in the early 90's. "Truth" shows that he can still kick it into high gear when needed.

You should know that there are two versions of this disc. The first one (with the blue and yellow swirl cover) was released independently-I believe-in 1999 or 2000. This current disc contains many of those same songs. Apparently, when Michael signed with SONY they insisted that the album be re-recorded completely with the exception of "Stone". This is a good disc, but for my money the original was better. I like the mix on the earlier disc MUCH better. The guitars have more balls. Plus, for some reason a few of the songs were arranged differently for this new recording, and I like the way they were played on the earlier version better. Thus my 3 star review. This is good stuff, but it has been done even better!

That aside, standouts here are "Distracted" (with HEAVY guitar), "I Am Adam" (a very unique song), "Lift My Head", and "Stone" with its beautiful piano. If you can't find the earlier version this will suffice, but you will be missing out...

First let me say, YES, I was a Stryper fan in the 80's. I was in High School and a blossoming musician. So Stryper had a huge influence on me musically - great songs, great harmonies, excellent hooks. When Stryper went 'secular' in the early 90's, it didn't bother me that much because I wasn't really concerned with the Christian message. What did bother me was their whole change of style. They lost the hooks, lost the harmonies, and basically became a different band - for the worst.

Now, when Michael left Stryper and started working on solo material I thought "Great! Michael will return to good melodic hard rock". Much to my dismay, his first solo album was terrible. His voice sounded completely run-down. He used a drum machine (which is a no-no to any respectable musician) and his songs were just plain bad. Then came his second solo album, REAL. This album was a little better. Michael sounded a bit better, the music was better written, and some of those good hooks were back. But it fell short for me because it was all acoustic guitar based. I understand that's what he was going for, but I still felt the songs and album would have been MUCH better had he 'kicked it' more.

Now comes TRUTH. And Michael has returned home. This is THE album that I, and many other fans I'm sure, have been waiting for from Michael and/or Stryper for over 10 years. This album has it ALL. A WIDE range of styles, great vocals (He hasn't sounded this rested and powerful in well over 10 years), GREAT songs, excellent production, harmonies, and over all beautiful and very catchy hooks. I personally want to thank Michael Sweet for restoring my faith in the fact that there ARE still some great musicians out there writing great music. TRUTH is proof. I only hope that he doesn't wait another 5 years to do another record...But this one was WELL worth the wait! Thank you.

Like most of the other reviews posted here, I have to say this is the best music of Michael's solo career. He blends hard hitting rock with some mellower sounds to create a CD that has the potential to be HUGE!! The guitar sound on Save Me and I Am Adam is incredible, and the lyrics on Achilles Heel and Stone hit the mark without being "preachy." This CD runs the risk of being burned out in my CD player. Buy it, listen to it, and you'll enjoy it!

There was a quote from U2's Bono saying the singer hopes rock to overcome pop music. If Michael Sweet's latest album "Truth" is any indication, this could very well happen.

This is the best rock album I've heard since Creed's "Human Clay." Forget about distinctions between religious and mainstream music, they don't apply here. Michael's message on this album is universal. He deals honestly with the loneliness and pain all of us experience at one point or another, but doesn't wallow in it, leaving the listener stuck in tragedy and heartache. He presents the problem and presents the solution in no uncertain terms, while avoiding some of the cheesier cliches and T-shirt slogans of earlier Stryper recordings.

The music itself displays Michael's talent in ways no previous album of his own or Stryper ever did. Michael has parted ways with Stryper's glam rock, left behind the Bryan Adams texture of the first solo album, and turned up the volume from the Real album. This IS Michael Sweet!

-- Andrew

This is most definately Michael Sweet's BEST work to date. The diversity of this record allows all listeners of all ages to enjoy the music. This one's a HIT!!!!!

Stryper will always have a place in the growth and importance of "harder edged" Christian music. But Sweet's recording of "Truth" is a gem among gems. If this really is the album Michael Sweet had always wanted to make, it was worth the wait. It is a tribute to him that he could produce such a brilliant work. Musically, some sounds on the harder rockin songs conjure images of Alice in Chains (such as in "Save Me"), and even a Queensryche style sound on "Trust." What Sweet ends up with is a hard hitting album full of solid tunes to appease all kinds of music enthusiasts. The fact that the hard edge songs can be compared to mainstream groups, while keeping a strong positive and Christian message... is a credit to the talents of Michael Sweet. A must have for for any rock enthusiast.