The Undisputed Truth - Cosmic Truth

The Norman Whitfield era of the Temptations is generally regarded of as the dawn of psychedelic soul music, fueled equally by LSD, Cold War paranoia, the Civil Rights movement, and the young psych rock scene. The Temptations, however, were still under pressure to be hit-makers, and Whitfield could only push the envelope so far while satisfying Motown's commercial standard. Not so with his other project, The Undisputed Truth. Hand-selected by Whitfield from the label's vast legions of semi-anonymous background singers and utilizing the same back-up musicians on the more famous Temps albums, and freed from pressure to make hits, the collaboration reached out farther into space than any had journeyed before. This third album was the first to really embrace the wild energy of the burgeoning psych scene and run with it. The first song, the aptly named "Earthquake Shake," is a monster bass riff, and thunderous drum line, and a chorus of bellowing, whooping aliens. The second is a funktified cover of Neil Young's "Down By the River," all eleven minutes of it. The third song is about UFOs. This album, too, was the debut of what became the group's signature look: Huge silver afro wigs and silver face paint.
Face the Truth