Customer Reviews

Trust No One

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I wasn't expecting THAT much when i purchased this cd .. I mean, generally my experience with solo efforts have been pretty lackluster. SO of course i was like "hey, it's dave navarro, he's pretty cool, might as well pick it up and give him a chance." Well, to put it quite honestly, I was blown away by this cd. Not only is it a marvel sonically, but Dave is actually a really good singer! Wouldn't have thunk it -- but it's true. Anyway - every song on this album is REALLY well done (and it sounds like the production was good too), so give it a chance. CAUTION: Those of you who are big Janes' fans and think this is like them - sorry, it sounds NOTHING like Janes.. but it's still awesome none-the-less.

I am a huge fan of Dave Navarro's work, and I think he's an absolutely brilliant guitarist. He really gave Jane's Addiction their unique and highly influential sound. In his 1994 project **Deconstruction** with Jane's bassist Eric Avery, Navarro delivered some of the most mind-bending and technically impressive guitar work to be heard in years (this is a criminally overlooked album, by the way). As a member of Red Hot Chili Peppers, although he didn't quite jive with them stylistically, on **One Hot Minute** he gave that band a muscular virtuosity, the lack of which had always been their biggest flaw, and provided them with a focus and musicianship that led to their most consistent (although most un-RHCP-like) album ever. As such a huge admirer of Navarro's work, I was very excited about this solo project. Sadly, I will have to declare this album a minor disappointment.

In a surprising development, the lyrics on this album are very good, and are especially strange and cryptic. After you take some time to figure out what he's talking about, you will find some very disturbing meditations on the murder of Dave's mother and how it has ruined his ability to form relationships with those around him. Although the lyrics are great, the musical aspects of this album are a real problem. It seems that Dave is best at building upon the ideas of other songwriters (Perry Farrell in Jane's, Eric Avery in Deconstruction, Flea in RHCP), and can really add power and precision to the original ideas created by his songwriting partners. Unfortunately, his real weakness is coming up with original ideas himself. His original songs on this album are very standard and predictable alt-rock, despite the attempts to liven them up with weird sound effects or exotic beats. "Rexall" is bogged down by an unnecessarily complicated drum pattern, "Hungry" and "Avoiding the Angel" are damaged by useless noises and sound effects, and "Not For Nothing" destroys the momentum of a killer riff with tragically unfocused vocal harmonies and soloing. Some successful cuts include "Sunny Day" which contains a middle-eastern inflected symphonic section, "Everything" which is about the only stretch of uncluttered straight-up rock on the album, while the cover of Velvet Underground's "Venus in Furs" is a creepy and obsessive dirge.

Navarro performs many of the instruments on the album himself, with some help from some great drummers (mostly Matt Chamberlain who often works for Tori Amos, plus cameos by Jane's drummer Stephen Perkins and RHCP's Chad Smith). All of the musicians are capable, but they (including Dave) are bogged down by the weak material. The big problem is Navarro's apparent refusal to play the guitar god role on this album, and focus on the other instruments instead, leaving the guitar in a mostly supporting role. I can understand Dave's desire to draw attention away from the guitar heroics to the other aspects of his music. But unfortunately, being a guitar god is his major strength. This album just highlights his weaknesses.

I have been a Navarro fan for over 10 years now and this album is nothing short of awesome. We all know that Dave is one of the best guitarists on the planet. But I was surprised at how well he sings. His voice isnt the best I have ever heard but he sings every bit as good as most modern rock singers.

This doesnt sound like a typical solo album to me. Dave isnt saying "look at me, I have a record all my own". "Trust No One" sounds like a band and not one person trying getting his personal glory. All the songs are well written and produced. Everything is top notch here.

My only complaint about this record is that Dave's guitar work takes a back seat to the music as a whole. Not really a bad thing I guess. But Nivarro is an EXCELLENT GUITAR PLAYER. I would have liked his guitar solos to knock me over more often on this CD.

This album is excellent. If you like modern rock music "Trust No One" is the CD for you.

Let me start off by saying I like navarro as a guitarist and musician. Although the chili pepper's album "One Hot Minute" featuring Navarro as replacement guitarist was not rated well versus their other album, it still stands as my favorite album by the band.

With all that in mind, I was not overly impressed with this album as a whole.

I enjoyed the single for the cd, and a few other songs that stood out, but after a run through or two, I found most of the songs to be too similar. I enjoy cd's with a flow, but it seemed that each song flowed into a song barely differant from the last. The music and lyrics were good, but it in general was too much of the same thing.

I could certainly point out far worse albums and far worse artists, but this cd really didn't jump out at me in any shape as other solo albums have in the past.

I must admit the first listening of this CD was a bit lackluster, after all I was expecting the King Of The Sonic Stratosphere to climb to @ 42,000 feet and stay there until the last song on the disc and bring it in for a smooth acoustic finale. What I got was completely different; a well-paced, intricately layered journey into the heart & soul of one of my personal favorite musicians on the scene today. While there are weak lyrical trails here & there, and the music doesn't fry your speakers like I was hoping, it's an outstanding first solo effort and bodes much promise for Dave's future as an enity of and on his own. His singing is the biggest surprise-great pipes! Of course, all the Jane's/RHCP/Deconstruction fans have scooped this one up, but if for some reason you're undecided-hop off the fence & take a chance. You won't be disappointed!

if you're looking for an amazing record from this amazing guitarist, you are going to be disappointed. The first two tracks (and singles) are really good songs. They rock, they move, they inspire. After that, the album seems to melt into one big entity. None of the other songs are as cool, and some suck (not for nothing). My opinion of this album is that it is worth listening too if you're a fan of any of his bands. You may like it, you may hate it. I love Jane's, so I bought it, used, and I don't regret the purchase. When you're feeling depressed and self-absorbed, this is a good record to wallow in.

Dave Navarro has spent almost four years working on his first solo project, hitting various roadblocks along the way. Now he has spent the last two months with a blitzkrieg of advertising and promotion for "Trust No One," making appearances on late-nite shows, reuniting once again with Jane's Addiction, etc. But does this album come close to the expectations held up by the myriad of fans?

While most fans expected an album filled with tracks overflowing with notes and solos, Trust's song list is actually more context driven and therefore more personal. It's a lot more radio-friendly than anything Jane's ever did, but that still doesn't make it a sugarcoated album. The opening track "Rexall" begins with a soothing acoustic hook, which quickly takes a turn with deep electric chords. Dave shows what he's definitely capable of when it comes to his abilities in "Sunny Day", probably the closest in resemblance to Jane's Addiction in that it's the only song where Dave rips through a blazing solo, also greatly resembles Navarro's past project, Deconstruction - as a great portion of the album does as well. "Everything" and "Not for Nothing" are interesting tracks with a heavy drumtrack backbone. "Venus in Furs" is the darkest song in the entire album, and it's a great rendition of the Velvet Underground - the second time Dave does justice to a Lou Reed song (Rock n' Roll on Jane's XXX release being the first). The album finishes things with "Slow Motion Sickness", a very nicely written acoustic piece that helps "Trust" exit just right.

Overall, "Trust No One" is definitely worth checking out. It might take a few listenings to really get to appreciate the album for what it is and what it means to Dave, but it'll be worth the time. It has been a thrilling ride following Dave's career, watching him go from Jane's to Deconstruction to RHCP and now out on his own, which is a better move I think than joining the Peppers.

Dave Navarro, renouned guitarist for Jane's Addiction, has made a solo effort and it is a grand success. I tried really hard to forget that he was the guitarist for Jane's Addiction and that he was just on his own now. It didn't matter what I thought because I was surprised by the beauty and the great songwriting and production that went into this album. I'm really glad I bought this cd. I listen to it alot and it has a very unique, yet grunge-ish type sound to it. Rexall is a good song, but I'd have to say that Mourning Son and Hungry are my favorite songs. It's very hard to pick my fave's out of them because they are all very good, at the same level, but unfortuately all kind of have the same sound to them. This is the only flaw i have found in it and i strongly recommend it to any hard rock music fan. I can't wait for his next cd.

All I have to say is that, this album has not left my CD player since I bought it. And I listen to a lot of music. Enuff Said.....

Surprisingly like nothing he has done with his two former groups Janes Addiction, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This disk shows a much darker side of Dave Navarro. Few guitar solos, and a lot of high tech sounds. Part of this record sounds like Nine Inch Nails. Good diveristy throughout the record. Dave is not the greatest lyricist, but he sings very sincerely. The album is more commercial then I expected, and I wouldn't be surprised if a songs on the record got some air play. A good record to add to your collection.