''My Private Nation'' is the third studio album by American pop 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 ...

. It was released June 3, 2003. The album was reissued February 8, 2005, as a CD+

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

dual disc set. The album is

certified Platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in the US. It is Train's last album to feature bassist Charlie Colin and rhythm guitarist Rob Hotchkiss, who both left in 2003.

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 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

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...

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 Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

David Nail David Brent Nail (born May 18, 1979) is an American singer/songwriter and country music artist. In 2002, he debuted the single "Memphis" from an unreleased album for Mercury Records Nashville. Five years later, he signed with MCA Nashville, fo ...

, who released it as a single from his debut album of the same name.

Reception

''My Private Nation'' received mixed reviews from most

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 61, based on 6 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".''My Private Nation'' Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More

. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

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".Jurek, Thom (2005)
Review: ''My Private Nation''

. Retrieved on February 13, 2011. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

''s Ken Tucker dubbed it Train's "finest effort yet", complimenting the band's "amusingly self-deprecating lyrics" and the songs' "surface attractiveness".Tucker, Ken (June 6, 2003)
Review: ''My Private Nation''
''

''. Retrieved on February 13, 2011. Sean Daly of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' noted layers of "featherweight joy" and "

Hallmark A hallmark is an official Mark (sign), mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term ''Wikti ...

-deep, guitar-driven pop", and noted 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''. ...

's performance, " ethrows his body into every lyric and sounds like a showoff cross between

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

Ed Kowalczyk Edward Joel Kowalczyk (; ; born July 16, 1971)"Edward Kowalczyk IMDb entry"
''Inte ...

and Journey's

Steve Perry Stephen Ray Perry (born January 22, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and frontman of the rock band Journey during their most successful years from 1977 to 1987, and again from 1995 to 1998. He wrote/co-wrote ...

".Daly, Sean (June 4, 2003)
Review: ''My Private Nation''
''

''. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.

E! Online E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable television network. It is owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The channel focuses primarily on pop culture, celebrity based reality shows and movies. ...

commented that the band "sound like a better

Counting Crows Counting Crows is an American rock band from the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of rhythm guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immergl� ...

(with a dreamier frontman) and less-challenging Wallflowers". 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 The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' 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.Wisser, Jeff (June 22, 2003)
Review: ''My Private Nation''
''

''. Retrieved on February 13, 2011. '' Q'' gave the album three out of five stars and stated "

rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

continues to adhere firmly to the rootsy rock of fellow travellers

Matchbox Twenty Matchbox Twenty (stylized as Matchbox 20) is an American rock band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995. The group currently consists of Rob Thomas (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Brian Yale (bass guitar), Paul Doucette (drums, rhythm guit ...

and Counting Crows, while their earnest musicianship and hard work will delight fans of that sort of thing". Jeff Puma of ''

The Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is advertised as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven an ...

'' 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".Puma, Jeff (June 5, 2003)
Review: ''My Private Nation''
''

''. Retrieved on February 13, 2011. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' 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".Edwards, Gavin (June 26, 2003). . ''

''. Retrieved on February 13, 2011. Glenn Gamboa of ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...

'' found the band's "sorta rock" style "painfully predictable" on most songs, but stated "The last three songs - the

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment very Very may refer to: * English's prevailing intensifier Businesses * The Very Group The Very Group Limited is a multi-brand online retailer and financial services provider in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its head offices are based in the ...

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".Gamboa, Glenn (June 3, 2003)
Review: ''My Private Nation''
''

''. Retrieved on February 13, 2011. Despite calling them "still essentially Matchbox Twenty Jr.", ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' 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".Hochman, Steve (June 1, 2003)
Review: ''My Private Nation''
''

''. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.

Track listing

;U.S. Edition

Bonus tracks

;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 The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

* Jimmy Stafford –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

*Scott Underwood –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, keyboards, piano, programming,

* Charlie Colin –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Rob Hotchkiss – rhythm guitar, bass guitar, piano, backing vocals

Additional personnel

* Brendan O'Brien – keyboards, piano,

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

, guitars,

marxophone The Marxophone is a fretless zither played via a system of metal hammers. It features two octaves of double melody strings in the key of C major (middle C to C''), and four sets of chord strings (C major, G major, F major, and D7). Sounding ...

, percussion, backing vocals *

Soozie Tyrell Soozie Tyrell (born May 4, 1957), formerly known as Soozie Kirschner, is an American violinist, guitarist, and vocalist, most known for her work with Bruce Springsteen in the E Street Band and formerly the Sessions Band. Early life and educatio ...

–

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

on "Lincoln Avenue" * Jane Scarpantoni –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

on "Lincoln Avenue" *

Greg Leisz Gregory Brian Leisz ( ; born September 18, 1949) is an American musician. He is a songwriter, recording artist, and producer. He plays guitar, dobro, mandolin, banjo, lap steel and pedal steel guitar. Biography Leisz grew up in the garage ba ...

–

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

on " Calling All Angels"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Single

Certifications

References

External links

*
My Private Nation
' at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

*
My Private Nation
' at

{{Authority control 2003 albums Albums produced by Brendan O'Brien (record producer) Columbia Records albums Train (band) albums