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.

Train's third release, My Private Nation, is the band's finest album to date. This disc contains some of the strongest adult pop-rock made today, consisting of many memorable hooks and skillful album production.

Train has assembled several incredibly infectious tunes on this album, beginning with the opening anthem "Calling All Angels" - who can resist this Top 40 hit with one of the most stirring choruses of 2003? Soaring, colorful choruses are Train's mantra, as they demonstrate again here. The title track includes a stomping, powerful chorus, perhaps the sweetest spot of the album - at 3:22, however, the tune ends too abruptly. An additional 40 seconds developing and repeating the chorus on "My Private Nation" would have been choice. "When I Look to the Sky" is another gem, a song that has already made it big on the charts, and the CD bears a twelfth (hidden) track containing a second version of this tune (which is NOT overkill for this majestic song). "Get to Me" boasts another delightful chorus, rhythmically recited with a catchy beat.

Having said all that, why would I only give this album four stars? Good question. I've spent quite a bit of time listening to this album to think of how I might review it. Despite the great tunes identified above, I couldn't justify a five-star rating. I asked myself if I have some kind of bias against Train. I concluded that I don't. This album contains a lot of "filler" material, songs that are lackluster at best. Because forgettable songs equal the number of memorable ones on this album, in objectivity I have to downgrade the album's overall rating to four stars.

Train is apparently a band that has sacrificed its potential artistically for success commercially. With enormous songs like "Calling All Angels," "Drops of Jupiter," or even "Meet Virginia," Train has shown they have the talent to write and craft amazing songs. On albums, however, the band is content including a limited number of such masterworks, accompanied by a slew of filler material. The tracks intended to be hit singles are meticulously written, fully developed musically, and immaculately produced, and most importantly they follow the band's established commercially viable sound. Those made-for-radio songs will hit the Top 40 and sell the album. The rest of the album doesn't seem to matter, so Train loads up the remaining space with second-rate music. This is why Train doesn't reach the heights of a truly great band - their albums simply don't stack up musically. It's impossible to listen to My Private Nation as a whole and say "WOW." But you can say that hearing a few tracks, and those make the album worth its price. The unfortunate thing is that Train has the potential to be an authentically great band, both commercially and musically, if they applied more artistic effort to their complete body of music. This would require a philosophical change, so we may not ever see it. Only time will tell... But we can be sure this commercially savvy band (and its record company) will release another album before My Private Nation has faded too far from our memory.

I have been a big Train fan for years and was eagerly awaiting the release of this CD. When I first listened to it, I thought it was OK, nothing really jumped out at me. I continued to listen to it for the next 4 days and now I absolutely love it. The lyrics are amazing and the music is great. Calling All Angels is a great track, but the one that blows me away is "I'm About to Come Alive." It is absolutely incredible.

If you are a Train fan, you must go out and buy this album. Make sure you give a couple of listens before judging it, it will definitely grow on you.

I think this CD is great. There isn't one song on it that I can't stand to listen to. There is definately variety throughout the CD and some thought-provoking lyrics. Not the best lyrics I've ever heard, but some of them are great. My favorite Train songs are not on this CD, but they are still pretty good songs. They seem to have an edgy country boy thing going on. I tend to like the quieter songs more than the edgier "rockier" ones for some reason. I must say none of the songs capture what Drops of Jupiter had. All in all, a good disk, I recommend it.

1. Calling All Angels - overplayed on the radio, so I don't really like it anymore, but if I was hearing it for the first time I would say it's one of the best on the CD. It's my dad's (50 years old) favorite. One of the more serious songs on the CD.

2. All American Girl - seems to be about the same girl in Meet Virginia - ha ha! It's quite an upbeat song, and catchy. The lyrics don't seem to make a ton of sense, but whatever.

3. When I Look to the Sky - another song I used to love, but I've heard it too many times now. It seems to be trying to be as good as Drops of Jupiter, but it doesn't quite get there. It's a really awesome song, regardless. I love Pat's vocals in it. It shows what a good singer he is.

4. Save the Day - this one's alright once you get into it. It picks up and gets better, but I don't like the beginning. I catch myself singing the chorus sometimes, and I'm a girl. Ha ha! "Hey baby, I don't want to be your superman, I just want to be your man and I'll be super, baby."

5. My Private Nation - probably one of the edgiest songs. I like it a lot. I can't quite put my finger on what it's about; maybe I'm just not going into it deep enough.

6. Get to Me - catchy, I like the rhyming in it. I'm not totally crazy about this song...it's okay.

7. Counting Airplanes - this one's one of my favorites. Someone said the lyrics are dumb, yeah, at times, but big deal. The chorus is the best part. It does make sense if you get past the dumb lyrics at the beginning. It has a melancholy feel to it, which I like.

8. Following Rita - this is really great to listen to. Makes me wonder who "Rita" is. It seems to capture the spirt of a young guy trying to figure things out.

9. Your Every Color - a very unique and catchy song. The lyrics are really interesting. "I can see the red, white and free in you, you light the night up like the moon, and underneath your clouds I see the gloom." It has a lazy feel to it, but it isn't boring.

10. Lincoln Avenue - another melancholy, kind of sad song. It's a great song. Another favorite of mine. I like the vocals in it.

11. I'm About to Come Alive - I think this is 2nd favorite, after When I Look to the Sky. A little less sad than Lincoln Avenue, but it has sort of the same theme. It has kind of soothing thump thump thump instrumentals, if that makes any sense. A great song to finish off the CD.

At the end there is an alternative version of When I look to the Sky. I don't notice much difference between this and the original. I think the vocals are a little different. I have compared the two just now on the computer and this one also has different keyboarding or piano (whatever it is) at the beginning and throughout the song.