''Truth and Soul'' is the second studio album by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Fishbone Fishbone is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1979, that plays a fusion of ska, punk, funk, metal, reggae, and soul. AllMusic has described the group as "one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late ' ...

. It was released on September 13, 1988. As is typical of the band's history of music the album features a wide array of genres including

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

, and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

. Additionally, ''Truth and Soul'' includes the band's earliest foray into

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

and heavy metal. The album begins with a cover version of

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

's "

Freddie's Dead "Freddie's Dead" is a song by Curtis Mayfield. It was the first single from his 1972 soundtrack album for the film '' Super Fly''. The single was released before the ''Super Fly'' album, and before the film was in theaters. The song peaked at # ...

", originally from the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

to the film '' Super Fly''.

Recording

Following the release of the ''Fishbone'' EP and '' In Your Face'', the band had completed their original record contract with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

and renegotiated a new deal that would allow them another full-length album. It was later acknowledged as a sign of how much faith Columbia had in Fishbone at the time to continue to support their records.Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone. Dir. Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler. Perf. Fishbone. Grindstone Media, 2010. DVD. Guitarist Kendall Jones was becoming concerned that the band's image was "cartoonish," and reviews of their previous album had, in fact, criticized the attempt at socially conscious subject matter alongside other absurd frat-rock songs. Meanwhile, Jones was beginning to experiment with heavy rock guitar work, which was influencing Fishbone's new material. These elements together influenced the band to make a more serious album with a consistently socially conscious theme.

Promotion

Domestically, two tracks were released as singles in promotion of the album. The first, "

", had a music video directed by Douglas Gayeton, and the second, "

Ma and Pa "Ma and Pa" is a song by American ska and funk metal band Fishbone. It was the second single released from the album '' Truth and Soul''. The song only managed to chart in the UK, but remains a fan favorite and a staple of the band's live shows to ...

", had a video directed by Mike Lipscombe. Additional singles were released in Europe for the songs "Change" and "One Day." Additionally, a promotional EP titled ''Interchords'' was released with live versions of six songs from the record followed by excerpts from an interview at KUSF explaining each song's meaning.

Reception

Contemporary reviews of ''Truth and Soul'' were generally mixed to positive. David Silverman for the ''Chicago Tribune'' gave the album a mixed review saying that the blend of musical styles hurts the album "despite the band's talent." In a separate review for the same newspaper, Chris Heim positively reviewed the record, especially in light of it being only the band's sophomore effort, calling the record "fresh, assured and bursting with ideas and energy

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

seem like it should come from more experienced musicians." Netherlands music magazine ''

OOR ''OOR'' is the oldest currently published music magazine in the Netherlands. ''Oor'' is the Dutch word for ear. Until 1984 it was published as ''Muziekkrant Oor''. History The magazine was first published on 1 April 1971, being founded by Ba ...

'' awarded the album as the twenty-second best rock album of the year out of 154 entries. Retrospective reviews were generally positive. Reviewing the album for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Greg Prato awarded the album four-and-a-half stars out of five and noted that, as Fishbone's first significant use of hard rock, guitarist Kendall Jones' guitar-playing yielded "often-spectacular results." Robert Christgau gave the album a B rating and said that he didn't think the album flowed well when taken as a whole, but that each song on its own could "change any radio station's pace quite satisfactorily." Additionally, the album was awarded four-out-of-five stars in 2004's ''The New Rolling Stone Album Guide''. Music critic Tom Moon called the album one of his "1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die" and Robert Dimery listed it as one of his ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

''.Dimery, Robert – ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''; page 856

Track listing

Outside of Europe, the album contained only twelve tracks, with "I Like to Hide Behind My Glasses" and "In the Name of Swing" not included. These two tracks from the European CD version would later be released in the US on the EP '' Set the Booty Up Right''.

Personnel

;Fishbone *Chris Dowd – vocals, keyboards, trombone *John Norwood Fisher – vocals, bass *Philip "Fish" Fisher – drums, percussion, vocals *Kendall Jones – vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar *Walter A. Kibby II – vocals, trumpet *

Angelo Moore Angelo Carmen Christopher Moore (born November 5, 1965) is an American musician, best known for his work as lead singer and saxophonist for the Los Angeles ska and funk metal band Fishbone. Moore also performs and records under the stage name Dr ...

– vocals, saxophone ;Production *John Bavin – engineering *

David Kahne David Kahne is an American record producer, musician, composer, and former record company executive. Professional career Kahne started his musical career as a working musician and soon became Director of A&R for America's first punk and new ...

– production, engineering *Larry Ferguson – additional engineering

Charts

References

External links

''Truth and Soul''
(

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) at

Radio3Net Radio 3 net is the former ''Radio România Tineret'' (or Radio 3). More than 20,000 albums are stored on Radio 3 net. A few of the prominent features available on the website are "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" and "Search & Play". ...

(streamed copy where licensed) {{Authority control Fishbone albums 1988 albums Albums produced by David Kahne Columbia Records albums