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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Cold Fact

Rodríguez

1970

Cold Fact

Album Summary

Cold Fact is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Rodriguez, released in the United States by Sussex Records in March 1970. The album sold poorly in the United States, but performed better in South Africa and Australia, with Rodriguez touring Australia in 1979. In 1971 the album was released in South Africa by A&M Records. In 1976, several thousand copies of Cold Fact were found in a New York warehouse and sold out in Australia in a few weeks. It went to No. 23 on the Australian album charts in 1978, staying on the charts for fifty-five weeks. In 1998 Cold Fact was awarded a platinum disc in South Africa, and was five-times platinum in Australia. Rodriguez has since toured South Africa and Australia with much success, but remained relatively unknown in his native country of the US. This began to change after the reissues of his albums in the US by Light in the Attic Records in 2008 and 2009, and even further in 2012 with the Academy Award winning documentary film Searching for Sugar Man, which soon led to appearances on major American television shows like 60 Minutes and The Late Show with David Letterman. Cold Fact has sold 201,000 since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking in 1991, 173,000 of those after the film opened, 98,000 in the wake of the Oscar win. Coming from Reality has moved 105,000 albums, 99,000 since the movie hit, 60,000 post-Academy Awards. The film's soundtrack album (which was picked up by Sony's Legacy catalog division) boasts 152,000 in sales.

Wikipedia

Rating

3.72

Votes

46

Genres

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Reviews

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Sep 20 2025
4

Interesting. I liked it and it seems like something g I should have encountered before now.

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Sep 21 2025
4

A legendary album from a mythic artist. Fascinating story and a great psych folk record. The comparisons to Bob Dylan mentioned in Searching For Sugar Man are a bit generous, and although Rodriguez didn’t bring anything visionary to the genre, he showed a great understanding of how to write a catchy, thoughtful song.

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Oct 03 2025
5

Excellent album.

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Oct 04 2025
5

What a surprise, loved it, seemed familiar but edgy

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Oct 06 2025
5

Love this album, first came across it after watching the sugar man documentary, masterpiece of a singer songwriter album, and very under rated within the uk anyway.

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Oct 09 2025
5

Folk rock, psychedelic folk. Hay que ver el documental. Vinilo.

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Sep 20 2025
4

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Sugar man, Only God for conversation, Crucify your mind, I wonder

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Sep 21 2025
4

Great reminder to watch Searching for Sugar Man again very soon. Cold Fact is a great album that deserves its spot in the limelight.

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Sep 22 2025
4

What a stunning LP, completely distinct and original compared to the rest of the 1001. Rodríguez shows what a singer-songwriter album can be – not just a threadbare collection of acoustic guitar and ho-hum lyricism, but a striking diatribe wrapped in warm, crisp instrumentation. The lo-fi 70s' recording definitely adds to the air of grounded mysticism that permeates the LP, each track rich in varied instrumentation that uplifts and intertwines with Rodríguez's firm but emotional delivery. Every song tackles a distinct (still relevant) social ill, yet even the sparser tracks still feel hopeful and upbeat as Rodríguez spins the hard facts of the matter into lines you can bop your head along to. The best part of this LP is how genuine and human it feels – seems like the guy walked into the studio, picked up a guitar, and laid his woes straight to tape. It's a living artistic statement, and a musical triumph that many albums on this list could only hope to be.

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Oct 02 2025
4

I thought I had never listened to the whole thing before, because it's always someone else that plays this. But no, its brief 30 minutes are already quite familiar to me! It reminds me of my aunt who passed this year, who advocated for Rodriguez and lamented that he wasn't as acclaimed as that Bob Dylan hack. :p I wasn't particularly interested in Dylan or Rodriguez as a teen, but I found these songs grim and preachy at the time. And there's an effect on the otherwise really good "Sugar Man", that whining string/synth part, that used to bother me. So let's say I've come around to Cold Fact. The mix of cynical blues and pastoral psych-pop is both very 1970 and also kind of unique to this album. The horn part in "Crucify Your Mind", maybe my favourite song on the album, sounds like something Air or the Go Team would use. Also it juxtaposes with the proto-metal of "Conversation" in a cool way. HL: "Sugar Man" (even with that annoying whistle thing), "Crucify Your Mind", "Hate Street Dialogue", "Inner City Blues", "Jane S. Piddy" October 5, 2025

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Oct 07 2025
4

As a native of the Detroit area, I'll always champion the late, great Sugar Man. Good movie, good album, good artist! The story is probably more interesting than the actual music in a vacuum, but I can see why this user wanted to put Sixto on the list.

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Sep 25 2025
3

His life history and the documentary are much more interesting than this album, but it's enjoyable to listen to, and I believe it deserves a spot on the extended list.

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Sep 29 2025
3

Standard singer songwriter Okayish

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Oct 01 2025
3

Cold hard facts

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Oct 02 2025
3

Hmmm... there's a riff in Crucify your mind with the piano that makes me feel like my mobile phone is ringing. Back in the 70s! This album is pretty interesting, and certainly better than the 3 stars the next album is going to get.

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Oct 07 2025
3

Forgot about the Rodríguez story. Tunes are interesting although the story probably more so. Thank you for inventing the Black Keys, Rodríguez

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Oct 12 2025
3

An eclectic little mix of songs. Quite enjoyed.

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