Stop me if you've heard this one before. Guitarist steps out of the shadow of his achievements as part of a band to make a solo record that serves numerous purposes - he releases pent up aggression, proves that he to can write/perform songs, and dabbles in a style that would no doubt be frowned upon by his band mates.
Once they've flown solo for a while (usually one album) the idea is quickly dispensed with, no doubt deflated by the fact that not even their die-hard fans can stomach the lack of melody and the abundance of self-indulgent toss on an album they've been duped into buying. But then we're informed it was never intended for the public consummation, it was just "something I had to get out of my system." Right. Why release it then?
That brings us nicely on to former Chili Peppers axeman and Jane's Addiction founding member Dave Navarro. Oddly 'Trust No One' is his first solo album which is surprising because many of his contemporaries have been down this road already with predictably disappointing results (John Frusicante's recent effort springs to mind) and because this album is pretty good.
Conceived three years ago in the midst of a dark period, this is a truly solo effort (he writes the words and music and sings, plays guitar, bass, piano and co-produces) but instead of mutating into a Dave Navarro vanity project the renowned chord-cruncher draws on a variety of styles to produce a polished rock outing pitched somewhere between the anthemic moments of the Smashing Pumpkins and the glammed-up riffs of Marilyn Manson.
To pinpoint the record's strength is a tricky business. As you would expect the fretwork is predictably riveting but it's his vocal style - a gritty cross between Scott Weiland and Filter's Richard Patrick - that is unexpectedly strong and engaging. The songs are well structured and, dare I say it, tuneful even if the topics explored are the stuff of nightmares.
Herein lies the main point of the album. Navarro has made no bones about the inspiration for the tracks - "I needed to exorcise my darkness" - and if you peer beneath the surface you might not like what confronts you. No stone is left unturned to let go of the demons from the death of his mother ('Mourning Son'), to masochism (The Velvet Underground's 'Venus In Furs'), and celebrity ('Not For Nothing'), to trust, relationships and love in general. Working on the album at a low point (no band, no friends, no future) and bearing in mind his past weakness with hard drugs, Navarro sets about using 'Trust No One' as a vehicle to convey his darkness in the often brutal shape of ten part goth-metal, part industrial, all rock tracks.
But it's not all-hedonistic rock and it's the subtle moments that make the album so effective. It's when the layers and layers of sound suddenly drop off and you're left hanging, wondering what avenue he could possibly explore next, that you realise there's more to this than power chords.
'Trust No One' welcomes the listener in with the gentle hook-laden beginning of 'Rexall' but before the end you've been suitably battered that you're gagging for more. By the time you get to the ferocious 'Not For Nothing' (all Manson and NIN) you feel like you're head's just been through the wash and hung out to dry.
So all those jokes about crappy solo albums have to be temporarily binned. Trust me, this is good.
