• Record Label: Kranky
  • Release Date: Sep 24, 2002
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 12
  2. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. You still get the beautiful vocal combination of Sparhawk and Parker and the traditional less-is-more approach Low perfected several albums ago. Yet now you get a band that doesn't want to get stuck in the realm of slow-core, trying new things, redefining themselves. And it works beautifully on what is, undoubtedly, a triumph of an album.
  2. After a couple of trips through Trust, you might feel like I did -- uncertain whether you'd just had the best sex of your life, witnessed an astonishingly moving church service, or attended the funeral of a life-long friend.
  3. This is another great Low record: weighty and airy, compelling and quiet, eminently beautiful.
  4. Uncut
    80
    The effect is a kind of ghostly reconfiguration of classic rock, from a band blessed with unique presence and an unusually melodious minimalism. Outstanding. [Oct 2002, p.108]
  5. 80
    While Low turns to touches less subtle than before on Trust, the drape of ambient tension over gently ramping repetitions results in the band's most assertive album to date.
  6. 'Trust' is a reaffirmation of far more than a vow of silence: it's a commitment to beauty that precious few modern bands capture.
  7. Blender
    80
    They still emphasize meditative atmosphere and near-whispered melody. [#10, p.120]
  8. Trust is surprisingly uneven, but for Low, a modest step backward is still a step worth hearing and savoring.
  9. The album preserves their defining qualities: superb lyricism and powerful tension. But it's missing two key elements of Low's last outing. That is, the engaging songs and captivating production.
  10. Much of 'Trust' dallies down the dark end of the street, where graceful Velvet Undergroundisms lounge around sharing tabs with gentle folk implosions.
  11. Mojo
    60
    In replacing the stark natural timbre of recent albums with layers of reverb and oblique orchestration, the pure heart of the songs has been obscured, if not lost. [Oct 2002, p.96]
  12. Some of the most listless, unaffecting music the band has ever penned.
User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 10 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 10
  2. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. Jul 2, 2014
    7
    While a slight letdown after "Things We Lost In the Fire", "Trust" comfortably fits in with the rest of Low's work. It has all the keyWhile a slight letdown after "Things We Lost In the Fire", "Trust" comfortably fits in with the rest of Low's work. It has all the key elements of a great Low in that its heavy, beautiful, dreary and seeping in atmosphere. "Trust" is an album that requires rather than demands your attention in order to be fully seen and one that I found hard to pin down. It can be hard work but it's an equally satisfying listen. At the record's heart is the brilliant "Last Snowstorm of the Year" and it feels like everything builds and then recovers from this piece in the middle. Full Review »
  2. jesusl
    Dec 18, 2002
    9
    the best of 2002
  3. christophern
    Oct 8, 2002
    10
    One of the best of 2002.