This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
You could say — and I will — that Train’s fame fell from a shooting star.
After 2001’s Drops of Jupiter, you couldn’t get within 10 yards of a radio without hearing the astronomical lyrics and anthemic roots-pop of its title cut. With this followup, singer Patrick Monahan and the lads fire up the retro-rockets one more time and hope to hit the same heights. My Private Nation has 11 brand-new pop-rockers and piano ballads that somehow manage to sound like ersatz, freeze-dried classic rock — as if Elton John, Rod Stewart and The Beatles made an album back in the ’70s that’s just been unearthed. Of course, from my perspective, it would have been better if My Private Nation sounded like an album by Train instead of a blatant, uninspired mish-mash of influences, cliches and nostalgia. But hey, who knows: Maybe their lucky star will shine on them again.
