Cold Fact

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

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.

The story of Rodriguez as portrayed in the documentary “Searching for Sugar Man” is of course amazing. Too bad this album is not. “Sugar Man” is a great song, “Crucify Your Mind” is good and the rest is mediocre.

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.

Excellent album.

What a surprise, loved it, seemed familiar but edgy

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.

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

Such a great album and a wild story. A shame that he disappeared after two amazing albums, he could have had an amazing career. 5 stars.

I first heard about him through a co-worker who was from South Africa. I had no idea who this guy was talking about. A few years later the Searching for Sugarman movie came out and I was able to piece it together. Since I bought that soundtrack I have really enjoyed his music. I love what he writes about, how he writes it and how he performs it. Just great.

Essential 5

This is from 1970? Wow. The music is a brilliant mix of psych, rock and a little bit of prog. A lot put me stylistically in mind of The Who. The lyrics. Wow, are you sure this is 1970? Great choice, had never heard his music before. I had vaguely heard of the film, but not seen it. I liked this album though.

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

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

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.

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

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.

Wow, I live near Detroit and I'd never heard of this guy. I've driven past murals of him literally hundreds of times without realizing. I enjoyed this a lot and I'm surprised it wasn't popular at the time in the USA. This seems like it would have been a good inclusion in the official list. Nicely chosen.

Great back story, great add One hears as much Donovan as Dylan. Smartly varied sonically — understated brass and strings and synth (theremin maybe?) on opener; great bass rumblings and gentle organ interplay on “I Wonder;” vibes or marimba on a few different cuts; heavy dose of psychedelic grooviness and Deep Purply guitars on “Only Good for Conversation;” strings on “Janis.” Well worth this discovery — thanks recommender (and documentarist of those several years ago). Could replace any number of its peers on list proper, either John Martyn record or the Dennis Wilson record (decent as all those are; this is better); any and all Scott Walker but perhaps most fittingly any of several of the vintage paisley generation (Moby Grape, say, or the Electric Prunes) .

Like the rest of the World outside of South Africa and Australia I only heard of Rodriguez because of the Searching for Sugar Man documentary. I loved the movie and the music was so easy to enjoy! Glad to see this one on here. :)

I remember hearing about the documentary when it came out, but never got around to it. A lot going on in my life at the time, I missed a bunch of stuff. I should look up where it's streaming. I liked this pretty well - I don't think I'd rate it above a three without the story though - it is pretty dated, more in the sound than in the singing and lyrics which hold up better. Have to bump it an extra point for a pretty extraordinary life. It does make you think how much gets lost out there - the ones who never get rediscovered, or never get recorded in the first place. Tears in rain, man.

Standard singer songwriter Okayish

Cold hard facts

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.

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

An eclectic little mix of songs. Quite enjoyed.

A very cool and underrated album from the 70s. Sugar man is a fantastic song and the rest of the album kind of waxes and wanes between the sound of Bob Dylan and Jim Croce. Rodríguez lyricism is definitely solid bit not as good as Dylan’s and his ability to create melodic psych rock is great. This has replay value. 7.7/10

Interesting story that I wasn't familiar with, love to see it. Very frontloaded, but damn do those first three songs slap. South Africa was right to not let this guy fade to obscurity. Strong 3/5.

Storytelling was on point and just enough instrumental back.