In that context, sans repeats and filler, it's a magnificent album. With them in it's still, for Hughesy's money, an outstanding one.
And, with every repeat listen there's a reminder of what a great vocalist Rod Stewart used to be. Admittedly he went on to mega-stardom, but there's a chemistry on Truth that I'd argue is missing from much of his later work.
It's fairly obvious that most of that chemistry comes from Beck and Stewart sparking off each other, which is even more remarkable in the light of Stewart’s suggestion (in Rock Family Trees) that he spent two and a half years in the Jeff Beck Group without once looking Beck in the eye.
Regardless of the question of eye contact, and while the results were quite remarkable it’s not the sort of thing you'd expect to last too long.
There are many of the same elements on the follow-up, Beck-ola, though there's one significant difference. Where Truth was, largely, composed of covers Beck-ola, barring Jailhouse Rock and All Shook Up is mostly group-composed heavy metal with piano rave-ups. There’s a slight bit of relief on Girl From Mill Valley, but otherwise it’s high octane supercharged rifferama. Most tracks are OK in their own right but the album as a whole didn't have the same earth-shattering affect as my first taste of Truth.
Bearing the presence of Peter Grant behind the scenes it's no surprise to find many of the same elements that run through Truth present in spades throughout Led Zeppelin. The Jeff Beck Group had toured extensively in the States, which was where Grant and Jimmy Page had squarely aimed the New Yardbirds, Having sent a prototype out, with the benefit of experience they were able to tweak the formula and the result was the heavy metal behemoth we know as led Zeppelin.
For some reason, probably the many similarities between Truth and Led Zeppelin, but quite possibly a sense that there's something in there that ain't quite right, I never really got into Led Zeppelin, and the basis of that attitude was formed before Led Zeppelin II, Whole Lotta Love and Stairway To Heaven shot Plant, Page & Co. into the stratosphere.
Beck went on through the years, changing lineups as he went and while there's some very tasty stuff along the way Truth is, as far as Hughesy's concerned, close to where it's at when it comes to Jeff Beck (or, for that matter, Rod Stewart) releases...