My Private Nation: Difference between revisions

My Private Nation
My Private Nation
Studio album by Train
Released	June 3, 2003
Studio	Southern Tracks Recording, Atlanta, Georgia
Genre	Rock; roots rock; pop rock; alternative rock;
Length	43:07
Label	Columbia
Producer	Brendan O'Brien
Train chronology
Singles from My Private Nation
	"Calling All Angels"; Released: April 14, 2003; "When I Look to the Sky"; Released: 2004; "Get to Me"; Released: 2005;

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My Private Nation is the third studio album by American pop rock band Train. It was released June 3, 2003. The album was reissued February 8, 2005, as a CD+DVD dual disc set. The album is certified Platinum in the US.^[1]

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.

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 mixed 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	4:01
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"	Colin, Rob Hotchkiss, Monahan, Stafford, Underwood	4:05
7.	"Counting Airplanes"	Colin, Hotchkiss, Monahan, Stafford, Underwood	4:21
8.	"Following Rita"	Colin, Hotchkiss, Monahan, Stafford, Underwood	3:44
9.	"Your Every Color"	Colin, Hotchkiss, Monahan, Stafford, Underwood	4:26
10.	"Lincoln Avenue"	Colin, Hotchkiss, Monahan, Stafford, Underwood	3:36
11.	"I'm About to Come Alive"	Colin, Hotchkiss, Monahan, Stafford, Underwood, Clint Bennett	4:05

Bonus tracks

USA edition
No.	Title	Length
12.	"When I Look to the Sky" (Radio Edit)	4:00
Total length:		47:07

European edition
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Better Off Alive"	3:15
Total length:		46:22

Japanese edition
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Out Here in the Open"	3:44
Total length:		46:51

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

Personnel

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

Additional personnel

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

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2003)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[11]	29
Italian Albums (FIMI)^[12]	64
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[13]	44
Scottish Albums (OCC)^[14]	79
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[15]	91
UK Albums (OCC)^[16]	100
US Billboard 200^[17]	6

Year-end charts

Chart (2003)	Position
US Billboard 200^[18]	119

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


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)^[19]	Platinum	1,000,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

^ "Radio Swiss Pop - Music database - Band". Retrieved June 30, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Jurek, Thom (2005). Review: My Private Nation. Allmusic. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f My Private Nation Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More. Metacritic. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Tucker, Ken (June 6, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Wisser, Jeff (June 22, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Puma, Jeff (June 5, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. The Hartford Courant. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Hochman, Steve (June 1, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Gamboa, Glenn (June 3, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. Newsday. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Edwards, Gavin (June 26, 2003). "Review: My Private Nation". Archived from the original on November 10, 2007. Retrieved November 10, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Rolling Stone. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Daly, Sean (June 4, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. The Washington Post. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.
^ "Australiancharts.com – Train – My Private Nation". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
^ "Italiancharts.com – Train – My Private Nation". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
^ "Charts.nz – Train – My Private Nation". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
^ "Swisscharts.com – Train – My Private Nation". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
^ "Train Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2003". Billboard. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
^ "American album certifications – Train – My Private Nation". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved January 2, 2023.

External links

My Private Nation at Discogs
My Private Nation at Metacritic

[1] "Radio Swiss Pop - Music database - Band". Retrieved June 30, 2018.

[Jurek-2] Jurek, Thom (2005). Review: My Private Nation. Allmusic. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.

[Metacritic-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f My Private Nation Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More. Metacritic. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.

[Tucker-4] Tucker, Ken (June 6, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.

[Wisser-5] Wisser, Jeff (June 22, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.

[Puma-6] Puma, Jeff (June 5, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. The Hartford Courant. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.

[Hochman-7] Hochman, Steve (June 1, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.

[Gamboa-8] Gamboa, Glenn (June 3, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. Newsday. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.

[Edwards-9] Edwards, Gavin (June 26, 2003). "Review: My Private Nation". Archived from the original on November 10, 2007. Retrieved November 10, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Rolling Stone. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.

[Daly-10] Daly, Sean (June 4, 2003). Review: My Private Nation. The Washington Post. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.

[ac_Australia_Train-11] "Australiancharts.com – Train – My Private Nation". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2021.

[ac_Italy_Train-12] "Italiancharts.com – Train – My Private Nation". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2021.

[ac_New_Zealand_Train-13] "Charts.nz – Train – My Private Nation". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2021.

[ac_Scotland_-14] "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 28, 2021.

[ac_Switzerland_Train-15] "Swisscharts.com – Train – My Private Nation". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2021.

[ac_UK2_-16] "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 28, 2021.

[ac_Billboard200_Train-17] "Train Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 28, 2021.

[18] "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2003". Billboard. Retrieved October 28, 2021.

[United_StatesTrainMy_Private_NationalbumCertRef-19] "American album certifications – Train – My Private Nation". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved January 2, 2023.

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v t e Train
Pat Monahan Jerry Becker Hector Maldonado Matt Musty Taylor Locke Charlie Colin Johnny Colt
Studio albums	Train Drops of Jupiter My Private Nation For Me, It's You Save Me, San Francisco California 37 Bulletproof Picasso Christmas in Tahoe Train Does Led Zeppelin II A Girl, a Bottle, a Boat AM Gold
Live albums	Alive at Last
Compilation albums	Greatest Hits
Video releases	Midnight Moon
Concert tours	2011 Summer Tour Mermaids of Alcatraz Tour Play That Song Tour
Singles	"Meet Virginia" "Free" "I Am" "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)" "Something More" "She's on Fire" "Calling All Angels" "When I Look to the Sky" "Get to Me" "Cab" "Hey, Soul Sister" "If It's Love" "Marry Me" "Shake Up Christmas" "Save Me, San Francisco" "Drive By" "50 Ways to Say Goodbye" "Bruises" "Mermaid" "Imagine" "Angel in Blue Jeans" "Cadillac, Cadillac" "Bulletproof Picasso" "Give It All" "Play That Song" "Drink Up" "Call Me Sir"
Related articles	Discography Band members Awards and nominations Last of Seven "The Truth"