Trust is an album by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. It is Costello's fifth album, and fourth with the Attractions. It was also his fifth consecutive album produced by Nick Lowe, who handled production on all songs except "Big Sister's Clothes".
Background
Costello's original intent with Trust was to cross the melody of Armed Forces with the rhythm of Get Happy!! The songs on the album dealt with a general sense of disenchantment he felt during the time, with the recent election of the Conservative government as well as tensions within his first marriage, which gave them an overall cynical tone. As a result, the general lyrical content of the songs describe a world that is essentially the opposite of what the album title implies. Earlier working titles were "Cats and Dogs" and "More Songs About Fucking and Fighting". The initial recording sessions were held at DJM Studios in London, but they were displeased with the results. It did not help that the bandmates were almost constantly under the influence of mood-altering drugs. As Costello wrote in the liner notes of the Rhino reissue: Recording resumed at Eden Studios, where previous albums had been done. Although the band was no more sober, the resulting tracks were more to Costello's liking. Despite having previously expressed a desire to distance himself from the pop music mainstream, Costello revealed that a number of songs on the album were influenced by other contemporary artists. Specifically, "Clubland" incorporated the guitar style of the Police, "You'll Never Be A Man" borrowed from the Pretenders, "White Knuckles" was modelled on XTC records, and "Fish 'n' Chip Paper" was an homage to Squeeze. Lastly, "Big Sister's Clothes" had a bass line based on work by the Clash. According to AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Trust was conceived as "a stylistic tour de force", with examples of diverse styles on the record being the Bo Diddley beat on "Lovers' Walk", the jazz elements to "Clubland", the soul pop of "Watch Your Step", the "rockabilly redux" of "Luxembourg", the Tin Pan Alley-style pop of "Shot with His Own Gun", the country-styled "Different Finger" and the "more complex arrangements and musicianship" that accompany "White Knuckles" and "New Lace Sleeves". Commercially, none of the singles on Trust entered the British top 40, the first time this had happened since My Aim Is True, his debut album. "Clubland" was a minor chart hit, reaching 60 in the UK.
Critical reception
Contemporary reviews for Trust were positive. In a 4/5 star review for Rolling Stone, Ken Tucker wrote "from the Elvis Presley-style echoes of "Luxembourg" to the duet that Costello sings with Squeeze's Glenn Tilbrook. In "From a Whisper to a Scream," Costello's sour croon and Tilbrook's sweet moan swoop and dive around each other in joyous comradeship". Rolling Stone later revised the album, giving it a 5 star rating. It was ranked at #7 among the top ten "Albums of the Year" for 1981 by NME. Robert Christgau of the Village Voice gave it an A, and wrote "this is rock and roll as eloquent, hard-hitting pop, and Elvis has turned into such a soul man that I no longer wish he'd change his name to George and go country". In 2000 it was voted number 708 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. Retrospectively, Trust has received acclaim from music critics, and has been often cited as one of Costello's best, as well as most underrated works. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, writing for AllMusic, rated it 5/5 stars and called it "arguably, their most impressive album, one that demonstrates all sides of Costello's songwriting and performing personality without succumbing to pretentiousness". On the 30th anniversary of the album's release, Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone named it Costello's best album, writing "it's never been one of his most famous albums, but it's his funniest, his wisest, and his most rocking." Speaking of the album, Costello said "That's a record that falls between the cracks a little bit" and I think it has one of the greatest Attractions performances, 'New Lace Sleeves.'"
"Black Sails in the Sunset" is presented here in a previously unreleased alternate mix that runs 13 seconds shorter and fades out earlier than the original b-side version.
