'Truth'

Yesterday, I wrote about Eric Clapton's album 461 Ocean Boulevard. I didn't think it was very good: Just overly polished, safe blues record done by one of the safest rock stars of all time.

He probably wanted to make something like Jeff Beck's Truth. Beck, a former Yardbird himself, released this as his first solo record and he had the honesty to know that between him and Rod Stewart, he wasn't going to provide the best in vocal performances. If you think you can't have enough of The Faces featuring Stewart, get this album. It's Stewart at his absolute peak (which was pretty high). It also has some awesome players like Jimmy Page, Nicky Hopkins, Ron Wood, Keith Moon, Micky Waller and John Paul Jones.

It's not totally unlike Clapton's album, just better. It's full of blues standards and even a rendition of the class "Greensleeves." It even includes a cover of "You Shook Me" months before Led Zeppelin would release their own -- and more famous -- version. Great album.