Train (©1998 Columbia)

1: Meet Virginia 2: I Am 3: If You Leave 4: Homesick 5: Free 6: Blind 7: Eggplant 8: Idaho 9: Days 10: Rat 11: Swaying 12: Train 13: Heavy

Train is one of those bands whose sound shouldn’t be as catchy as it is. A cross between pop and Americana the band at times reminds me of Counting Crows, and Bill Malonee from Vigilantes of Love. This is a band I like quite a bit. Of course like so much I have in my collection, I’m working my way backwards through their collection. Doesn’t help that I post my reviews in release order rather than in the order I wrote the review in the first place. Hey, life is unfair. As a result this one took me longer to get into – their later work being so much stronger.

Here we get the guys as they were starting to stretch themselves, and there are a number of really good songs here. From the lead off track “Meet Virginia” which is arguably the most accessible song on the disc, to songs like the straight ahead rocker “Free” the guys connect more often than they miss. The worst that can be said is that some of the songs are just sort of there and don’t do much to impress or offend. Although of the two "hidden" tracks (since when does not listing them on the liner notes make a track hidden when it's so easily found on the CD?) "Train" is kind of irritating.

Remember these guys were just leaving the station and there best work was yet to come. Is this worth picking up if you have their later albums? In a word, yes.

Reviewed November 14, 2005

Drops Of Jupiter (©2001 Columbia)

1: She's On Fire 2: I Wish You Would 3: Drops Of Jupiter 4: It's About You 5: Hopeless 6: Respect 7: Let It Roll 8: Something More 9: Whipping Boy 10: Getaway 11: Mississippi

Sometimes I get things just because. Like this one, I got it as an after thought. Oh don't get me wrong, I don't have money to burn, it's just that I was taking advantage of one of those audio club deals, you know the one - get 15 free CDs and buy two more blah blah blah. Well, dear reader, if you play it properly you can come out way ahead on these deals. So there I was trying to come up with 15 selections and was running out of greatest hits packages and new Yanni stuff, so I figured I'd take a chance with this one. I mean how bad could it be?

Well, it's a monster. As soon as I put on Drops of Jupiter, I recognized the title cut. "Ah, so that's who did that song." I do listen to the radio, but not very often, and I'm more or less falling out of the loop on the newer stuff. To be honest it's not my favourite song on the disc - it has too much of a Black Crows thing going on. But the rest of the disc sparkles. There's not a dud in the bunch. I'm hard pressed to pull of some killers, since the whole thing works so well. But, I'm always up for a list: Respect, She's On Fire, Let It Roll, Something More. Although I'd be willing to bet that I'd have a different list tomorrow. I've found another band to watch.

The enhanced portion of the disc is great too, and is a mini "making of" thing, which I enjoyed, and helped sink the hook a little deeper.

Reviewed July 29, 2003

My Private Nation (©2003 Columbia)

1: Calling All Angels 2: All American Girl 3: When I Look To The Sky 4: Save The Day 5: My Private Nation 6: Get To Me 7: Counting Airplanes 8: Following Rita 9: Your Every Color 10: Lincoln Avenue 11: I'm About To Come Alive

To my friend Dorf who practically disowned me for liking Train, I waited just about two years before summoning the courage to stick to my guns and proclaim to the world, "I like Train."

There I said it.

Now, of course having said it, I'll take my lumps. In revisiting their previous album I realize I was perhaps a little too enthusiastic - but hey, this whole "pretend to be a reviewer shtick" is a subjective exercise at the best of times. So to temper myself I've limited this review to four stars. Mainly because I don't want Dorf to kill me, and secondly in case I change my mind later (not likely, this is a really good album).

The album starts of really strong with Calling All Angels, and keeps moving along with good song after good song. I guess what I like about these guys is the fact that they aren't little kids, they're a band of guys in their thirties who like to write a good pop song and they do it better than most.

Reviewed May 22, 2005