Artist: Jeff Beck
Album: Truth
Year: 1968
Well, I feel like a complete idiot after somehow just learning that Rod Stewart was the singer for The Jeff Beck Group, whose debut album is generally regarded as one of the first forays into heavy metal.
Not sure what makes this one "heavy metal," really. It just sounds like another blues-rock album to me, in the vein of The Yardbirds, Cream, et al. But it's a pretty good one for two reasons: one, Beck is a fantastically talented guitarist (even if he lacks the crazy innovation that Hendrix was churning out around the same time); and two, Rod Stewart's sandpapery voice suits the material here really well. Hard to believe that Stewart was actually cool at one point and not some adult-contemporary shell of a former star.
But anyway, some highlights here: "Ol' Man River" and "Greensleeves" offer nice interpretations of classics, "Rock My Plimsoul" gets into a good B.B. King-ish groove, and the instrumental "Beck's Bolero" provides a metal prototype with some interesting atmospherics.
Overall, I was alright with this one. Nothing too transcendent for me, not much I'd want to hear again, but quite good for the style. Rock on.
Rating: Worth a listen
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