The Undisputed Truth - Face To Face With The Truth (1972)

 

You have to have this.

Norman Whitfield at his very best - giving this his second string his full attention and reinventing some Motown classics in his own way as a result.  This is Motown as soul not pop but the benefit is obvious.  The man reinvented the label after Holland Dozier Holland defected in my view - not that he wasn't succesful beforehand.

 

The stand out here is the slow burn of "What's Going On" (worth it for the really crying guitar track alone)  - how can anyone do this within a year of MPG and still deliver a definitive version.  Brave or just darn mad? but so good.  Other songs are familiar in name but differ in arrangement "Take Me In Your Arms" beautiful; "Heaven and Hell Right Here On Earth" poignant; "What It Is" a funky workout; "Superstar" surpasses Norman's take with the Temps (and for me that's saying something special).

 

You've got to have this record