My Private Nation

My Private Nation
Studio album by Train
Released	June 3, 2003
Recorded	Southern Tracks Recording, Atlanta, Georgia
Genre	Rock, roots rock, pop rock
Length	43:07
Label	Columbia
Producer	Brendan O'Brien
Train chronology
Drops of Jupiter (2001) My Private Nation (2003) Live in Atlanta (2003) Singles from My Private Nation "Calling All Angels" Released: 2003 "When I Look to the Sky" Released: 2004 "Get to Me" Released: 2005

My Private Nation is San Francisco-based rock band Train's third studio album, which was released June 3, 2003. Charting at #6 on the Billboard 200, it, along with their 2001 release Drops of Jupiter, is their joint highest-charting album in the U.S. to date. The album was reissued February 8, 2005, as a CD+DVD dual disc set. The album is now certified Platinum in the US.

Singles

Four singles were released from this album. The first, "Calling All Angels," was a top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #19, and was a huge success on the Adult Contemporary and Adult Top 40 charts. Second single "When I Look to the Sky" also hit the Top 100 and was successful in Adult Top 40 and the Adult Contemporary chart as well. Third single "Get to Me" was also a successful song on the Adult Top 40 chart, and the album as a whole has been certified platinum by the RIAA.

"I'm About to Come Alive" was covered in 2008 by country music artist David Nail, who released it as a single from his debut album of the same name.^[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Blender	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	(B+)[4]
Chicago Sun-Times	[5]
The Hartford Courant	(mixed)[6]
Los Angeles Times	[7]
Newsday	(B)[8]
Q	[3]
Rolling Stone	[9]
The Washington Post	(favorable)[10]

My Private Nation received positive reviews from most music critics.^[3] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 61, based on 6 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".^[3] Allmusic editor Thom Jurek praised the band's existential lyrics and producer Brendan O'Brien's contribution to the album, stating "O'Brien's gorgeous multi-layered production [...] chromatic shadings and the textures of contemporary psychedelia are rooted in the heart of an ambitious garage band [...] he gets the sound of how big Train actually is in a context that is as aurally beautiful musically as it is emotionally and lyrically poignant".^[2] Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker dubbed it Train's "finest effort yet", complimenting the band's "amusingly self-deprecating lyrics" and the songs' "surface attractiveness".^[4] Sean Daly of The Washington Post noted layers of "featherweight joy" and "Hallmark-deep, guitar-driven pop", and noted lead singer Pat Monahan's performance, "[he] throws his body into every lyric and sounds like a showoff cross between Live's Ed Kowalczyk and Journey's Steve Perry".^[10] E! Online commented that the band "sound[s] like a better Counting Crows (with a dreamier frontman) and less-challenging Wallflowers".^[3] Despite writing that "Pat Monahan's vocals can be a bit grating and Train's material sometimes strays into Black Crowes Lite range", Chicago Sun-Times writer Jeff Wisser called the album "a greatsounding collection of slight but irresistible little poprock confections", noting "a sure sense of songcraft and a well-honed pop sensibility" in the songwriting.^[5]

Q gave the album three out of five stars and stated "[Train] continues to adhere firmly to the rootsy rock of fellow travellers Matchbox Twenty and Counting Crows, while their earnest musicianship and hard work will delight fans of that sort of thing".^[3] Jeff Puma of The Hartford Courant commended Train for their "sincere attempt at a positive message", but wrote "The effect, unfortunately, is schmaltz, and Train comes off as a poor man's Counting Crows".^[6] Rolling Stone writer Gavin Edwards called the band "radio-ready, professional and utterly dull", commenting that "The up-tempo songs are worse than the ballads, and the attempts at lyrical sass are even worse than the sentimental cliches".^[9] Glenn Gamboa of Newsday found the band's "sorta rock" style "painfully predictable" on most songs, but stated "The last three songs - the Oasis-ish 'Your [Every] Color', the '80s power-ballad throwback 'Lincoln Avenue' and the gorgeous 'I'm About to Come Alive' - finally fulfill the promise hinted at in the previous seven songs and most of the previous two albums, for that matter".^[8] Despite calling them "still essentially Matchbox Twenty Jr.", Los Angeles Times writer Steve Hochman commented that the band "expands its menu beyond vanilla, with some playfulness in words and music, and producer Brendan O'Brien helping bring some imagination to the arrangements".^[7]

Track listing

U.S. Edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Calling All Angels"	Charlie Colin, Patrick Monahan, Jimmy Stafford, Scott Underwood	3:49
2.	"All American Girl"	Monahan, Brendan O'Brien	3:17
3.	"When I Look to the Sky"	Colin, Monahan, Stafford, Underwood	4:04
4.	"Save the Day"	Monahan, O'Brien	4:05
5.	"My Private Nation"	Monahan, O'Brien	3:22
6.	"Get to Me"	Train	4:05
7.	"Counting Airplanes"	Train	4:21
8.	"Following Rita"	Train	3:44
9.	"Your Every Color"	Train	4:26
10.	"Lincoln Avenue"	Train	3:36
11.	"I'm About to Come Alive"	Colin, Rob Hotchkiss, Monahan, Stafford, Underwood, Clint Bennett	4:05
12.	"When I Look to the Sky" (Radio Edit)(US bonus track)"	Colin, Monahan, Stafford, Underwood	3:59

Bonus tracks

European edition
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Better Off Alive"	3:15

Japanese edition
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Out Here in the Open"	3:44

DVD

• Entire album in 5.1 Surround Sound and enhanced LPCM Stereo
• Documentary film 21 Days With Train
• "I'm About To Come Alive" music video
• "My Private Nation" live version music video
• Exclusive footage of a rare instore performance
• Karaoke surprise appearance footage
• Band member profiles
• Discography

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
2003	The Billboard 200	6

Single

Year	Single	Chart	Position
2003	"Calling All Angels"	Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks	1
2003	"Calling All Angels"	Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks	1
2003	"Calling All Angels"	Billboard Hot 100	19
2003	"When I Look to the Sky"	Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks	9
2004	"When I Look to the Sky"	Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks	24
2004	"When I Look to the Sky"	Billboard Hot 100	74
2005	"Get to Me"	Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks	6

Certifications

Organization	Level	Date
RIAA – USA	Platinum	March 6, 2004

Personnel

• Charlie Colin – bass
• Patrick Monahan – lead vocals, percussion
• Jimmy Stafford – guitars, backing vocals, mandolin
• Scott Underwood – drums, keyboards, piano, programming, percussion
• Rob Hotchkiss – guitars, piano

Additional personnel

• Brendan O'Brien – keyboards, piano, organ, guitars, marxophone, percussion, backing vocals
• Soozie Tyrell – violin on 10
• Jane Scarpantoni – cello on 10
• Greg Leisz - pedal steel guitar on Calling All Angels

References

1. ^ Malec, Jim (2008-04-22). "David Nail - "I'm About to Come Alive"". The 9513. http://www.the9513.com/david-nail-im-about-to-come-alive/. Retrieved 2008-07-07. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Jurek, Thom (2005). Review: My Private Nation. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2011-02-13.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} My Private Nation Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2011-02-13.
4. ^ ^{a b} Tucker, Ken (June 6, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2011-02-13.
5. ^ ^{a b} Wisser, Jeff (June 22, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved on 2011-02-13.
6. ^ ^{a b} Puma, Jeff (June 5, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. The Hartford Courant. Retrieved on 2011-02-13.
7. ^ ^{a b} Hochman, Steve (June 1, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2011-02-13.
8. ^ ^{a b} Gamboa, Glenn (June 3, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. Newsday. Retrieved on 2011-02-13.
9. ^ ^{a b} Edwards, Gavin (June 26, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2011-02-13.
10. ^ ^{a b} Daly, Sean (June 4, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2011-02-13.

External links

• My Private Nation at Discogs
• My Private Nation at Metacritic