My Private Nation

by

Train

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I had bought both previous albums from Train and I only minimally enjoyed them. I mean, there were a few songs that I enjoyed from each beyond the radio hits, like "Free," from the self-titled record, and "It's about You," from Drops of Jupiter, but the overall tone of each collection did not suit me. The self-titled album sounds a lot like country music to me; I don't know. I was nearly going to pass up buying "My Private Nation" just because I rarely listen to the other two.

I'm glad I bought it, though. This record is great. Call me shameful if you want for liking the more "pop-y" sound to it, but I don't care. The radio single, "Calling All Angels," although starting to get overplayed in the SF Bay Area (but I suppose that's to be expected), is good. "Save the Day" has a cool melody line in the chorus. My absolute favorite is "All American Girl." Good lyrics, good song. This is totally worth buying.

Train has come a long way since the days of their first CD, when I hunted all over town to find it after hearing "Meet Virginia -- " I figured that that one track was worth buying an entire CD for, but discovered that the rest of it was just as solid. It was a great mix of radio-friendly hooks with some originality; not an album totally made for radio play, like most bands of their genre are known to put out. Drops of Jupiter took a step further, and was an impressive second effort -- they complemented each other well, with the latter building on the former.

After a number of trips through through My Private Nation, I have to say that while it is more than listenable from beginning to end, there is no new ground broken here, and towards the middle the CD seems to just drone a little. "Get to Me" and "Counting Airplanes" both reference planes, and I was disappointed to discover that on my first listen, I thought the two were the same song! It is usual Train, but I was hoping for a little more development. The best songs are the bookends of the CD ("Calling all Angels" and "I'm About to Come Alive") but I was hoping for a little more substance through the rest. Worth a listen, and if you like their style, worth a purchase, but it will not totally impress you.