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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Face The Truth
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 33 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Matador
Release Date: 24 May 2005
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
Malkmus' third post-Pavement recording is his most "solo" effort to date (not to mention his weirdest), with only some of the songs featuring the full complement of Jicks backing him up.
Also By This Artist: Pig Lib Real Emotional Trash Stephen Malkmus
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site SM @ Matador
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Lost At Sea
It’s weird, (but not annoyingly so), it’s catchy (but not annoyingly so), and it’s fresh (but not annoyingly so). Face the Truth is the work of a songwriter at his finest hour.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
Malkmus has the same fractured pop sensibility, but his music is more expansive than it’s been before.
Read Full Review >Delusions of Adequacy
An excellent album graced by the kind of clever hooks, lines, and sinkers that color Malkmus’ best work, be it with Pavement or the Jicks.
Read Full Review >No Ripcord
Face the Truth is probably the most eclectic of all Malkmus’s work. There are elements of every Pavement album in amongst the tracks, with familiar noodly guitar intros, shouty, jaunty refrains and languid deadpan-rap segments.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Behind this happy clash of stylistic preferences is a subtly but surely revivified Malkmus, confident to experiment more deliberately than ever.
Read Full Review >Filter
Of the three Stephen Malkmus solo albums, this is the one that sounds the most like Pavement. [#15, p.91]
Stylus Magazine
With the Fiery Furnaces bringing indie-prog rigmarole back in fashion, Face The Truth might get a little more love than Pig Lib did, despite being the same album with a few more fart sounds.
Read Full Review >Village Voice (Consumer Guide)
Consistently enjoyable, predictably inconsequential.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
It's weird, yes, but in a good way. [3 Jun 2005, p.82]
Prefix Magazine
Gone are the spotty moments that marred his previous solo work. Most important, Malkmus seems to be having fun again.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine
The songs, which have the choppy angles and elegant dissonance of Pavement’s, are painstakingly layered with keyboards and all manner of funky blurps and beeps. It all sounds very labor-intensive—and pretty smart, too.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
Malkmus seems to be firing on all cylinders for the first time as a solo artist.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
Malkmus has long made a game of languishing, but he now sounds refreshingly eager to turn off the scoreboard and let his songs coach themselves.
Read Full Review >Uncut
The confidence and unforced vigour of Face The Truth suggest Malkmus is happier on the margins of alt.rock than in its spotlight. [Jun 2005, p.112]
cokemachineglow
He’s back in the groove here: relaxed, confident, weird in his own special way, smart, and ready to make great albums again.
Read Full Review >Blender
Blend[s] limpid Velvet Underground textures, strolling country-rock and wry, cryptically plaintive Malkmus poetry well enough to sound like neo-classics destined for a Wes Anderson film. [Jun 2005, p.111]
Tiny Mix Tapes
Face the Truth won me over by showing all the sides of Steve that drew me to him in the first place, along with a few new surprises.
Read Full Review >musicOMH.com
Pig Lib Part Two? Maybe so, but there are enough subtle evolutions here to keep any SM follower listening intently until the cows come home.
Read Full Review >Spin
For good and ill, this jumble couldn't come from anyone but Malkmus. [Jun 2005, p.104]
ShakingThrough.net
Face the Truth is paradoxically the most intriguing Malkmus album and the weakest of his post-Pavement career.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
Stuffed with little revelations. [Jun 2005, p.113]
Mojo
Typically, there are also infuriating moments... but overall, this marks a welcome return to form. [Jun 2005, p.106]
Junkmedia
Is Malkmus treading water? Well, maybe. But despite the complaints of those fans who can’t let Pavement go, he’s still making valid, adventurous and - most of all - fun music.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
The album lacks a unifying thread, either sonically or thematicallly. [#10, p.112]
Magnet
Too stylistically diverse, willfully weird and lyrically cryptic to be anything more than an acquired taste. [#68, p.101]
Alternative Press
May be the weirdest record Malkmus has made since Pavement's Wowee Zowee. [Jul 2005, p.174]
Splendid
While Face The Truth rarely presents a side of its creator that has not already been seen, loved, and cried over, it's a passable, even better-than-average album.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
It's easy to boggle at but less easy to love, since there's nowhere to hang your critical hat for longer than about three bars at a time.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
Does a new generation of music lovers really need a third solo album from [Malkmus] which includes songs that house guitar wig-outs and last up to eight minutes? Not really. [28 May 2005, p.64]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 33 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Peter K. gave it a7:
The hooks could be larger, but they're still large and I enjoy his aesthetic (distorted guitars, screwed up lyrics, and blips and bleeps a plenty.)
Andrew E gave it a10:
In a weird way, I like this more than slanted and enchanted. I can't go crazy critical right now, but, certainly, the critics are reaching too far. This is the best solo album for sure.
Ryan L gave it a9:
Hooks out the wazoo -- worth it if only for the fact that it'll be stuck in your head for weeks.
najeeb a gave it a10:
Those fans that claim to be true followers, but do not appreciate this album, obviously aren't his true followers. This is Malkmus at his best, it's most reminiscent of Pavement, but only in that it's ambitious, carefree, pretentious, and weirdly experimental. it's poppy and perfect, exactly what us true fans have been waiting for him to put out as a solo artist.
Steven L gave it a9:
I really didn't like this album too much at first, but it really grew on me. One of my favorite releases this year, for sure. Pity it's getting such low ratings, it is a fantastic album.
Jason C gave it a9:
Loved the previous solo efforts. This one may be the best, but who cares if it is, it is just good music. SM brings it everytime. No clunkers.
christopher h gave it a9:
malkmus soloing hist heart out, i can only hope for more.
