''Bulletproof Picasso'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band

Train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

. The album was released by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

in Friday-release countries on September 12, 2014, and in the United States on September 16, 2014. It is available on CD, vinyl and as a digital download. It is the band's first album to feature drummer Drew Shoals, replacing founding member Scott Underwood, who departed from the band before it was recorded. It is also the band's first album since 2006's ''

For Me, It's You ''For Me, It's You'' is the fourth studio album by American band Train (band), Train, released through Columbia Records on January 31, 2006. It was Train's last album to be recorded as a five-piece until 2014's ''Bulletproof Picasso'' and is ...

'' to feature a full band line up. The producers were Azeem,

Espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and contributed to five songs that pe ...

, Jake Sinclair,

Butch Walker Bradley Glenn "Butch" Walker (born November 14, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was lead guitarist for the glam metal band, SouthGang from the late 1980s to early 1990s. From 1997 to 2001, he became th ...

and Whams.

Background

With ''Bulletproof Picasso'', the band set out to achieve goals that would allow them to become a more

mainstream Mainstream may refer to: Film * ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film Literature * ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine * Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher * ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso * ...

band. Guitarist Jimmy Stafford explained that the band had never been "cool" and "hip", something he believed this album would make them, enabling them to feel justified in their desires to play at and sell out

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

and even becoming musical guests on an episode of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

''. Lead singer

Pat Monahan Patrick Monahan (born February 28, 1969) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead singer and sole constant member of the band Train. He has also collaborated with multiple artists and has recorded a solo album, '' Last of Seven''. ...

also expressed an intent for a more personal, yet ambitious record, stating that "I've always wanted to emotionally connect with people through the songs, but I also want to get into people's lives with this album" and that he felt that he wanted to create "everything that e'dwanted to".

Recording

Lead singer

had started creating material for Train's seventh studio album during the band's Mermaids of Alcatraz Tour, in support of '' California 37''. Monahan stated in a Radio.com interview during the latter stages of the tour, "I'm going to spend the whole fall tightening up what I started and creating everything that I've wanted to. San Francisco,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, New York and

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

will be the main places I'll write it". Monahan had also stated, in an interview with Jason Tanamor of Zoiks! Online, that due to the ambitions set for the new album, wanting to do their "best work", writing for ''Bulletproof Picasso'' was harder than what they had previously written and recorded. The production team on the album were the following: Azeem,

, Jake Sinclair,

and Whams.

Packaging

The title of the album, ''Bulletproof Picasso'', while borrowing the name from the album's second track, also serves as a statement about the band's long-running career, representing the band's 20-year career as artists. The phrase Bulletproof Picasso is a reference to Spanish painter, poet and playwright

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

, who, while in a different artistic medium to Train, who are musical artists, creates art nonetheless. The phrase means that the band, as artists, are bulletproof, and will continue as artists, dodging every bullet shot at them.

Promotion

''Bulletproof Picasso'' was formally unveiled by the band and

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

on June 9, 2014, announced for a September 16, 2014 release date in the United States. "Angel in Blue Jeans" was the first track to be lifted from ''Bulletproof Picasso''. The track was released as a single by Columbia Records on June 9, 2014, serving as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

from ''Bulletproof Picasso''. Guitarist Jimmy Stafford originally

tweeted A tweet (officially known as a post since 2023) is a short status update on the social networking site Twitter (officially known as X since 2023) which can include images, videos, GIFs, straw polls, hashtags, mentions, and hyperlinks. Around ...

a cryptic message on May 5, 2014, a month before the release of "Angel in Blue Jeans", concealing the title of the single in an

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...

that read, "sgijannulaebenel". "Angel in Blue Jeans" was also released to

Adult contemporary radio Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, ...

and Triple A radio for

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

on June 16. The

album cover An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released album, studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to: * the printed paperboard covers typically used to package: ** sets of a ...

and track listing of ''Bulletproof Picasso'' was unveiled on July 15, 2014, with

preorder In mathematics, especially in order theory, a preorder or quasiorder is a binary relation that is reflexive relation, reflexive and Transitive relation, transitive. The name is meant to suggest that preorders are ''almost'' partial orders, ...

s for the album on digital download and physical formats starting on the same day. "Angel in Blue Jeans", which appears as the third track on the album, was also released early on the iTunes Store ahead of the full release of ''Bulletproof Picasso'' when pre orders for the album started on the store. A music video to accompany the release of "Angel in Blue Jeans" was also released on July 15, coinciding with the commencement of preorders for ''Bulletproof Picasso''. The video, which featured American actor

Danny Trejo Danny Trejo (, ; born May 16, 1944) is an American actor. Known for his Danny Trejo filmography, large body of work as a character actor, films in which he has appeared in have grossed over $3.7 billion worldwide. A native of Los Angeles, Tr ...

as his

Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodriguez ( ; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ...

character

Machete A machete (; ) is a broad blade used either as an agricultural implement similar to an axe, or in combat like a long-bladed knife. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the Spanish language, the word is possibly a dimin ...

and Canadian television hostess and actor

Hannah Simone Hannah Simone (born 3 August 1980) is a British-Canadian actress from London, television host, and former VJ and fashion model. She portrayed Cece Parikh on the Fox sitcom ''New Girl''. Early life Simone was born in London to a British India ...

, was shot in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

and is staged as a Tarantino-style

Spaghetti Western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

. It also stars lead singer Pat Monahan as the antagonist taking hostage of a woman, played by Simone, who acts as the

love interest (; ) were stock characters within the theatre style known as commedia dell'arte, who appeared in 16th-century Italy. In the plays, everything revolved around the lovers in some regard. These dramatic and posh characters were present within pl ...

of Machete, played by Trejo. The video had fetched over a million views by August 1, 2014. The title track was released to iTunes on July 29, along with the announcement of a

sauvignon blanc Sauvignon blanc () is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the city of Bordeaux in France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an ind ...

wine of the same name to be available when the album is released. A promotional single, "Wonder What You're Doing for the Rest of Your Life", was released on August 25, 2014, preceding the release of ''Bulletproof Picasso''. "Cadillac Cadillac" was sent to US

Hot AC Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, ...

radio stations on September 29, 2014, as the second single off of the album. "Bulletproof Picasso" was sent to US

radio stations on January 26, 2015, as the third single off of the album. "Give It All" was sent to US

radio stations on May 19, 2015, as the fourth single off of the album.

Picasso at the Wheel Tour

Train had made numerous performances and appearances on television and radio in the three-month lead up to the release of ''Bulletproof Picasso''. The band had expressed their intent to let fans hear new material on tour before ''Bulletproof Picasso'' was released in September, with Jimmy Stafford stating that they were "too excited to not play any other songs off the record", with Stafford being motivated by his opinion that ''Bulletproof Picasso'' was the best album the band had ever made.

Set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

s staged for the band's pre-album performances included "Cadillac, Cadillac", "Bulletproof Picasso", "Angel in Blue Jeans" and "The Bridge"; the most new material the band had played on a single tour. The band, however, while keen to perform new songs, felt uncomfortable at the possibility of throwing off long-time fans during the "limbo period" between the releases of "Angel and Blue Jeans" and ''Bulletproof Picasso'', where fans have not heard the new material. Stafford further explained, "You don't want to put a song no one has heard between "

Hey, Soul Sister "Hey, Soul Sister" is a song by American rock band Train. It was written by lead singer Pat Monahan, Amund Bjørklund, and Espen Lind. It was released as the lead single from the band's fifth studio album, '' Save Me, San Francisco'' (2009). ...

" and " Meet Virginia" because it feels like a lull in the show. So it's tricky". The band's promotional media tour started with an appearance on

Sirius XM Radio Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merger ...

show ''

The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was radio syndication, nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WINS-FM, WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The sho ...

'' on June 9, 2014, coinciding with the album's unveiling. The band also premiered "Angel in Blue Jeans" on the show before the track was released as a single the same day. The band also appeared on 94.3 FM The Point on June 11 as part of a radio special entitled "Breakfast with Train", where the band invited fans to ask questions and spend breakfast with them. They performed on the ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

'' on June 13, as part of the show's ''Toyota Summer Concert Series'' held at

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

in New York City. On August 27, they performed at the

MLB Fan Cave The MLB Fan Cave was a building on Fourth Street (Manhattan), Fourth Street and Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in NoHo, Manhattan, New York City, designed by Paul DiMeo, where baseball fans, selected by Major League Baseball as part of its Dreamjob ...

in New York City. The Picasso at the Wheel Tour was announced in January 2015, and began on May 21, 2015, in

Wheatland, California Wheatland is the second-largest city by population in Yuba County, California, United States. The population was 3,456 at the 2010 census, up from 2,275 at the 2000 census. Wheatland is located southeast of Marysville. Geography Wheatland is ...

. ;Opening acts *

The Magic Numbers The Magic Numbers are an English alternative rock band consisting of two brother-and-sister pairs, from Hanwell in west London. The group was formed in 2002, releasing their debut album titled '' The Magic Numbers'' on 13 June 2005. Their follo ...

and Natasha North *

The Fray The Fray is an American rock band from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2002 by schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King. Their debut studio album, '' How to Save a Life'' (2005) was released by Epic Records and received quadruple platinum certific ...

and

Matt Nathanson Matt Nathanson (born March 28, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter whose work is a blend of folk and rock and roll music. In addition to singing, he plays acoustic (sometimes a 12-string) and electric guitar, and has played both solo and with ...

;Tour dates

Reception

Critical

Writing for ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', Elysa Gardner says "The best tracks on Train's latest album are the driving and high-spirited ones, where Pat Monahan's sweet, keening tenor... evocative here of a Wings-era Paul McCartney... rides meaty but crisply percussive arrangements." Richard Bienstock for ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' writes how "the Bay Area rock band buffed out the rootsier and rockier aspects of its sound for a more pop-centric approach" that's another "extension of its bid for mainstream glory."

Commercial

The album debuted at No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart on its first week of release, selling 50,000 copies in the United States in its first week. As of June 2016, the album has sold 145,000 copies in the US. The album also debuted at No. 7 on the

Canadian Albums The Canadian music charts are a collection of record charts reflecting the music consumption of people in Canada. ''RPM'' and ''Billboard'' are the biggest publications to have published Canada's official charts for decades. However, the first Can ...

chart.

Artwork

The album art features a burning Cadillac (in reference to the album's single "Cadillac, Cadillac") with a licence plate that reads "PICASSO". This album art was cited among ''

''s worst album covers of 2014.

Track listing

;Notes *"Just a Memory" contains excerpts from "Pain in My Heart", as performed by

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

and written by

Naomi Neville Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, descri ...

. * signifies an additional producer * signifies a vocal producer

Personnel

;Train *

– lead vocals, acoustic guitar * Jimmy Stafford – guitar * Jerry Becker – keyboards, guitar * Hector Maldonado – bass guitar * Drew Shoals – drums * Sakai – background vocals * Nikita Houston – background vocals ;Additional Musicians * Aaron Zuckerman * Amor Salem *

Espen Lind Espen Lind (born 13 May 1971) is a Norwegian record producer, songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is one half of the production team Espionage, and together with his long time partner Amund Bjorklund he has written and/or produced ...

Jake Sinclair Jake Tony Sinclair (born 29 November 1994) is an English footballer who plays as a forward for Mangotsfield United. He has played professionally for Southampton and Hibernian. Career Sinclair joined Southampton at the academy level at the ...

* Larry Goetz * Mark Stepro * Noah Gersh *

Rob Mathes Rob Mathes (born September 10, 1970) is an American record producer, music arranger, composer, songwriter, and performer. He also writes bluesy spiritual-pop music.Columbia Records albums Train (band) albums 2014 albums