Face to Face With the Truth peaked at #114 on the charts, 71 slots lower than their self-titled debut, yet overall it's artistically more satisfying. Side One is straight head music, all remakes, but arranged totally different from their predecessors. "You Make Your Own Heaven and Hell Right Here on Earth" had all the biting commentary of "Smiling Faces Sometimes," and then some. Originally done at a faster tempo by the Temptations,
Norman Whitfield slowed the pace for the
Truth. Joe Harris sang with perfect diction, making the stark lyrics even more riveting, while Brenda Joyce and Billie Calvin chirped like songbirds. Likewise for "Ungena Za Ulimengu (Unite the World)," another Temptation cut that
Whitfield slowed and transformed into a psychedelic mind bender. You won't recognize the arrangement of "Friendship Train," a hit for
Gladys Knight & the Pips; and
Marvin Gaye's classic "What's Going On" may come off a bit too esoteric for most.
Norman Whitfield never produced a song the same way twice, and that's the undisputed truth. ~ Andrew Hamilton