Following a hit is a tough thing for any band, and for Train, a cult band that literally came out of nowhere to land a monster single like "Drops of Jupiter" and a platinum album to boot, the pressure to deliver something "more" from label execs is intense. In addition, usually when a band decides to scrap its plans for one album and go back to the drawing board and do something else, it doesn't bode well for the finished product. Train has turned the tables on the redo jinx. Creatively, My Private Nation, Train's third album, is the moment this band has worked for since it started making records. Bringing Brendan O'Brien back on board as producer (perhaps the best rock producer out there right now) and as a co-writer on three songs, Train has upped the aesthetic ante by stripping away any notion that it has to prove that it is "sincere" as a band. The songs speak for themselves. The opening track, "Calling All Angels," which also serves as the first single, is the one song the Counting Crows wish they could still write. It's a huge rock song that signifies what the rest of the album elaborates on. Guitars, drums, backwards tracking of keyboards, and a huge chorus make it an anthem. But it's not so much how hooky and beautiful the tune is -- and is it ever -- as what it says: That in a time of great confusion, loss, and disorientation, one does not call for redemption, but asks for a sign of inspiration, for the courage to not surrender to despair. It's a tome about hope against the odds, acknowledging vulnerability, and accepting responsibility to remain focused and critical enough to win one's own redemption in everyday life, in order to become a better human being. ... Read More...