Trust Reviews

All-Music Guide (Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

Following the frenzied pop-soul of Get Happy!!, Elvis Costello & The Attractions quickly returned to the studio and recorded Trust, their most ambitious and eclectic album to date. As if he was proving his stylistic diversity and his sophistication after the concentrated genre experiment of Get Happy!!, Costello assembled Trust as a stylistic tour-de-force, packing the record with a wild array of material. Clubland has jazzy flourishes, Lovers' Walk rolls to a Bo Diddley beat, Luxembourg is rockabilly-redux, Watch Your Step is soul-pop, From a Whisper To A Scream rocks as hard as anything since This Year's Model, Shot With His Own Gun is Tin Pan Alley pop, Different Finger is the first country song he put on an official album. And that's not even counting highlights like New Lace Sleeves and White Knuckles, which essentially stick to Costello's signature pop but offer more complex arrangements and musicianship than before. In fact, both "complexity" and "sophistication" are keywords to the success of Trust -- without delving into the minutely textured arrangements that would dominate his next pop album, Imperial Bedroom -- Costello & The Attractions demonstrate their musical skill and savvy by essentially sticking to their direct sound of their four-piece band. In the process, they recorded arguably their most impressive album, one that demonstrates all sides of Costello's songwriting and performing personality without succumbing to pretentiousness.