Nothing but the Truth (Rubén Blades album)

Nothing but the Truth
Studio album by
Rubén Blades
Released1988
GenreLatin rock
LabelElektra
ProducerTommy LiPuma, Carlos Rios, Rubén Blades, Lou Reed
Rubén Blades chronology
Doble Filo
(1987) 		Nothing but the Truth
(1988) 		Antecedente
(1988)

Nothing but the Truth is an album by the Panamanian musician Rubén Blades, released in 1988.[1][2] It was marketed as Blades's first album of entirely English-language songs.[3] It peaked at No. 156 on the Billboard 200.[4]

Production

Blades signed a contract in 1983 to produce an English-language album.[5] He contributed explanatory liner notes to each song and had the lyrics printed in Spanish and English.[6] "Hopes on Hold", "Letters to the Vatican", and "The Calm Before the Storm" were cowritten by Blades and Lou Reed; they met on the video set for the song "Sun City".[7][8] Blades invited Elvis Costello to his home in California to work on the two songs that they cowrote, "Shamed into Love" and "The Miranda Syndrome".[8][6] "I Can't Say" was written by Sting.[9] "The Letter" is directed to a friend who is suffering from AIDS.[10] "Ollie's Doo Wop" criticizes the Iran–Contra affair in the form of a doo-wop song.[11] "In Salvador" is about death squads in El Salvador.[12] "Letters to the Vatican" is a story about an alcoholic woman who sends letters to Pope John Paul II.[13] "The Hit" describes gang warfare in East Los Angeles, California.[14] Paulinho da Costa played various percussive instruments on the album.[15]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[16]
Robert ChristgauB[17]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[18]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[19]
Omaha World-Herald[20]
Orlando Sentinel[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[21]

The New York Times said, "The songs' range of subject matter is matched by a musical diversity that runs from a capella rock-and-roll harmonizing to turbulent Latin-flavored rock. 'The Hit' ... has the sprawling grandeur of one of Bruce Springsteen's mid-70's mini-epics"; Stephen Holden later listed the album as the fifth best of 1988.[10][22] The Chicago Sun-Times opined that "the strong musical identity of each of [Blades's] collaborators is both a strength of the album—giving it a distinctiveness that transcends the bland calculation of most crossover attempts—and its major weakness."[23] The Toronto Star called the album "a genuinely eloquent cross-cultural phenomenon, blending salsa, reggae, rhythm 'n' blues, doo- wop, hard rock, Celtic folk elements and contemporary jazz".[24] The Chicago Tribune lamented that Blades's "trademark sound ... is replaced by often strained lyrics backed by the thumping of electric bass and drums."[15] Robert Christgau, noting the generic political songs, wrote dismissively, "just what WEA needed, another Jackson Browne album."[17]

AllMusic said that "overall, [the music] would best be tagged as late-'80s MOR with a Latin lilt."[16] Trouser Press opined that the Costello songs were the album's best tracks.[25]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."The Hit" 
2."I Can't Say" 
3."Hopes on Hold" 
4."The Miranda Syndrome" 
5."Letters to the Vatican" 
6."The Calm Before the Storm" 
7."In Salvador" 
8."The Letter" 
9."Chameleons" 
10."Ollie's Doo Wop" 
11."Shamed into Love" 

References

  1. ^ Appiah, Anthony; Gates Jr., Henry Louis, eds. (2005). Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 541.
  2. ^ Bruns, Roger (2008). Icons of Latino America: Latino Contributions to American Culture. ABC-CLIO. p. 45.
  3. ^ Marsh, Dave (June 1988). "Music". Playboy. Vol. 35, no. 6. p. 20.
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1996). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums, 1955-1996. Record Research Inc. p. 85.
  5. ^ Cohen, Robert (June 1988). "Ruben Blades". Spin. Vol. 4, no. 3. p. 61.
  6. ^ a b Lepage, Mark (14 April 1988). "Blades's Latin rhythm makes 'switch' a hit". The Gazette. Montreal. p. E3.
  7. ^ a b Duffy, Thom (24 April 1988). "Ruben Blades". Calendar. Orlando Sentinel. p. 5.
  8. ^ a b Milward, John (1 April 1988). "A Musician-Actor Dreams of Playing a Political Role". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D3.
  9. ^ Dafoe, Chris (14 April 1988). "Nothing but the Truth Ruben Blades". The Globe and Mail. p. C4.
  10. ^ a b Holden, Stephen (23 March 1988). "The Pop Life". The New York Times. p. C16.
  11. ^ DeCurtis, Anthony (13 March 1988). "The Passions of Ruben Blades". Part II. Newsday. p. 4.
  12. ^ Hall, Maggie (10 July 1988). "Ruben Blades: Nothing but the Truth". St. Petersburg Times. p. 2F.
  13. ^ Perry, Claudia (17 July 1988). "Blades' Songs Cut to the Heart". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. J2.
  14. ^ Heaton, Michael (15 April 1988). "Blades' plain truth shines". Friday!. The Plain Dealer. p. 32.
  15. ^ a b Casuso, Jorge (17 April 1988). "Recordings". Arts. Chicago Tribune. p. 38.
  16. ^ a b "Nothing But the Truth Review by Jason Birchmeier". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  17. ^ a b "Rubén Blades". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  18. ^ Larkin, Colin (1988). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. Macmillan. p. 577.
  19. ^ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (2nd ed.). Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 118.
  20. ^ Healy, James (1 May 1988). "New Sounds". Entertainment. Omaha World-Herald. p. 17.
  21. ^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 64.
  22. ^ Holden, Stephen (28 December 1988). "The Pop Life". The New York Times. p. C20.
  23. ^ McLeese, Don (4 April 1988). "Blades's album is good, but... Salsa star tries to do too much". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 2.27.
  24. ^ Quill, Greg (15 April 1988). "Blades' debut in English a jewel". Toronto Star. p. E8.
  25. ^ "Rubén Blades". Trouser Press. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
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