Rolling Stone on Trust

[wardo68]

Rob Sheffield, who's not as clever as he thinks he is, devoted a blog post to "Trust":

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/blo ... 0-20110124

[jardine]

must say, didn't read much of it, but i loved that 1981 video of watchyourstep. made me hear something that song (which i've never loved much) i'd never heard before

d

[watercamp]

A very private album...yeah that's how I feel too.

Always loved: Clubland, Watch Your Step, New Lace Sleeves
Then on the Rhino reissue, Black Sails In The Sunset and the great cover of Slow Down

The promo poster is overpowering.
a 5 x 3 feet blow up of his face from the cover, the glasses have different color lenses like 3D glasses. At the top "TRUST" and at the bottom "ELVIS", words to the wise.

[wordnat]

Jesus, stunning version of WYS...! Never heard before -- thanks...

[docinwestchester]

Jesus, stunning version of WYS...! Never heard before -- thanks...

EC & A On the Tomorrow Show With Tom Snyder February 3, 1981 (complete):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YamL3S1eaWI - part 1 - opens with New Lace Sleeves (in color)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY20LHUHBsQ - part 2 - closes with Watch Your Step (in B&W)

Really interesting stuff. This was as weird a talk show as we had here in the late 70's/early 80's. Often ridiculed, never duplicated (except by Dan Aykroyd on SNL), Snyder got great guests, and the live performances were always worthwhile. He had a real curiosity about the current music scene and it led to some good TV.

[Jack of All Parades]

It is nice to read that many years past the album, EC has a healthy respect for this album amongst his many efforts. Good self-critic. It is most definitely for me one of his all-time greats and as I have noted elsewhere marked a maturity in his song writing for me. Sheffield is correct to note the maturity that showed itself in the lyrics when it came to human relations between the sexes. I have always appreciated the fact that EC turned the pen on himself and acknowledged that as a man, he might be wanting when it came to relationships turning the tables on his earlier 'emotional fascism' approach. Big step forward in his writing and sound with this album. It has worn well for me after 30 years.

Remember with great fondness that interview with Tom Snyder. It was the first time I had witnessed EC getting some quality air time. Tom legitimately talked with his guests and always seemed interested and engaged in his conversations with them. One felt that he gave them proper attention and air time. I also got to hear some good music when he had a musician like EC as a guest, as well.

[sabreman]

I also remember this interview and performance. All I can say is Fantastic!

[cwr]

TRUST is amazing, a true landmark Costello album that doesn't get nearly as much respect as it deserves.

Some have pointed out that it contains a handful of weaker tracks, and I'd concede that this is true. But I'd also argue that this is the first record where Costello took real RISKS and that, in a weird way, the album is greater than the sum of its parts. Some of the slighter tracks might seem lesser on their own, or even "skippable" in the age of mp3 and shuffle mode, but they help give TRUST a bold and unpredictable shape from start to finish, and they set the template for so many of Costello's later albums.

A fucking GREAT album. I'm gonna go listen to it now.

[sulky lad]

cwr writes

Some have pointed out that it contains a handful of weaker tracks, and I'd concede that this is true. But I'd also argue that this is the first record where Costello took real RISKS and that, in a weird way, the album is greater than the sum of its parts. Some of the slighter tracks might seem lesser on their own, or even "skippable" in the age of mp3 and shuffle mode, but they help give TRUST a bold and unpredictable shape from start to finish, and they set the template for so many of Costello's later albums.

Damn right- an album that is greater than the sum of the individual parts. I loved Get Happy so much when I bought that and then Trust made me realise how mature Elvis had become as a writer without getting into the lyrical side of his work but rather how he'd suddenly started writing in styles other than C&W or R'n'B or "punk" and that it was maybe like "Revolver" ,which of course was a prelude to "Sgt. Pepper " (vis IB) without Almost Blue (to drag the Beatles simile to a withering end where AB would be replaced by an out of synch "Beaucoups Of Blues"). Of course the review of Trust in the NME was a piece of art in itself - Paradigm one etc but Allan Jones went for a boxing simile in his Melody Maker review.
Also wonderful to listen to on headphones where the intimacy of New Lace Sleeves give me goosebumps as though Elvis is exhaling over my shoulder !

[Poor Deportee]

I respect Christopher's position that the songwriting craft is not as choke-chain tight on 'Trust' as it was on an album like 'Get Happy!,' but I'm also among those who feels that this is a very very strong pop record - in some ways, perhaps the archetypical EC album if there is one, being fundamentally a pop/rock collection that is at once sophisticated, varied and muscular. I like the way the record has no overarching sonic or lyrical concept, just being a bunch of pop songs - which is part of what makes it, to my mind, the 'prototypical' or 'default' Elvis album. I think 'Trust' captures more than any other the essence of what EC and the Attractions sound(ed) like. An indispensable entry in the canon IMHO.

[History History]

For me, Trust is a THRILLING record.It was the album that made me love EC & the Attractions, made me love elvis's lyrics and singing style, made me love Elvis on stage....great album cover too.

All thanks to my friend who said to me one day: "Have you heard this?" and played me "Shot With His Own Gun"

[Jack of All Parades]

PD-I could put "Get Happy", "Trust" and "Imperial Bedroom" on a continuous tape loop within my head and would be a most contented listener, never skipping a song. They are the 'alpha and omega' for me as a listener in his catalog. I do not think he has consistently done better than those three in total. They are the only three that I would not want to see changed in anyway. Most telling for my ears is that none of the three requires the aid of a secondary disc to enhance my aural pleasure. A writer, singer and band at their respective peaks and all very much, as you say, 'archetypes' of excellence.

[pophead2k]

In a pinch, I'd have to take Trust as my favorite. I like that EC seemed to have found a more mature way of singing on this album. I don't think he would have had the discipline to pull of the vocal on New Lace Sleeves before this. Just fantastic from start to finish.

[Poor Deportee]

PD-I could put "Get Happy", "Trust" and "Imperial Bedroom" on a continuous tape loop within my head and would be a most contented listener, never skipping a song. They are the 'alpha and omega' for me as a listener in his catalog. I do not think he has consistently done better than those three in total. They are the only three that I would not want to see changed in anyway. Most telling for my ears is that none of the three requires the aid of a secondary disc to enhance my aural pleasure. A writer, singer and band at their respective peaks and all very much, as you say, 'archetypes' of excellence.

Here I had the idea that you were somewhat critical of "Trust." Just goes to show how reliable my memory is! (Thinking back on it, I believe your point in an earlier thread was that some flaws in the craft were creeping in with "Trust," but obviously that's different than not loving the record).

If so many Costello-heads rate that album so highly, the question remains why it's been relatively neglected over the years. I'd speculate that the reason "Trust" has always been overlooked is mainly a matter of timing. His career had been near-fatally damaged by the "Columbus Incident." The knowledge of and affection for soul music displayed on GH!! quieted things down, but clearly he was damaged goods commercially thereafter. Plus it was his fifth record - just about the moment in a hot young career where, rightly or wrongly, the buzz is generally wearing off and you slide into becoming an "established" performer, so the excitement and hype are tending elsewhere. The critics are used to you and no longer anxious to cry your name from the rooftops. That the album had no spectacular hit single a la "Pump It Up" likely sealed the deal. Now when he came out with IB, it was a return after the bizarre detour of "Almost Blue" and also a very identifiable sonic breakthrough - so the critics at least go hot and bothered again. Thus "Trust" falls through the cracks.

[Jack of All Parades]

PD-do not think your supposition regarding the indifference to this album is far off from the reality. It makes perfect sense looking back now: near successful self-sabotage of career +near successful reclamation project+ no longer being the flavor of the month+ no discernible 'hit' for the near fan base to hang onto+ the beginning of the long slide into marginality= listening amnesia for the fan base over the years. I have always contrasted it to Neil Young's conscious effort following the success of "Harvest" to drive his career onto the 'side of the road' because he thought the view was more interesting there. The difference being that EC would have preferred to keep roaring down the highway. Agree with you, as well, that it is this album and time period that capture the real essence of the band's sound. Have for many years thought that the shows I caught between 1980 and 1984 were a performing peak for him, particularly with this working band. They bounded on stage and performed with such exuberance whenever I saw them aided by some of the best songs he ever wrote. Perhaps some of my feeling this way has to do with my life at the time- being young, living in the city, working and playing and courting my wife; it was a perfect convergence for me between an artist and a listener and I will always thank EC for providing a musical backdrop at that time for me. It is nice to have such a memory for my 1,000th post and to have it revolve around the performer who binds us on this site.

[jardine]

At the time, i recall thinking that something had sort of "broken apart" with Trust. it's been mentioned already, that that seeming straight line that had been draw from album to album suddenly had these weird parallel lines and variants--new lace sleeves, clubland...shot with his own gun, big sister's clothes....something had become multiple. even earlier things near the same time like dr. luther's assistant hoover factory ghost train...something was becoming multiple

hard to express...really enjoying reading these posts...at the time, it felt a bit like something was "lost" but in retrospect, this album laid the groundwork for a career instead of that single trajectory he'd had til then...or something like that, blah blah blah

[Poor Deportee]

At the time, i recall thinking that something had sort of "broken apart" with Trust. it's been mentioned already, that that seeming straight line that had been draw from album to album suddenly had these weird parallel lines and variants--new lace sleeves, clubland...shot with his own gun, big sister's clothes....something had become multiple. even earlier things near the same time like dr. luther's assistant hoover factory ghost train...something was becoming multiple

hard to express...really enjoying reading these posts...at the time, it felt a bit like something was "lost" but in retrospect, this album laid the groundwork for a career instead of that single trajectory he'd had til then...or something like that, blah blah blah

No, I think you're probably right. "Trust" was the first EC album that was not particularly focused in musical terms. Every album he had made to that point had a single, definable and distinctive sound that ran through the entire album. With this one, he starts to branch out in different directions, even if it remains primarily grounded in that wonderful Attractions sound. In that sense "Trust" was indeed a signpost of things to come - without splintering into the extreme eclecticism that marked his later career. Whether that's a "loss" or gain is another question. Personally, I love "Trust" in particular because it seems to me to represent the best expression of EC's legacy (in my mind) as the real successor the The Bealtes in terms of eclectic-yet-focused pop - a legacy he hasn't always met, but pays in full on "Trust." But that's just me.

[wardo68]

My review, now updated and expanded:

https://everybodysdummy.blogspot.com/20 ... trust.html