Album of the Day — September 14
Train — Train
Train — Train
14.September.2020
Train
Train
1996
In 1997/8, rock music was still a thing. File sharing wasn’t as ubiquitous as it would become in two years, and radio stations had the marginal latitude to play new music.
That’s how Train found an audience for their self-titled debut album.
By the mid-aughts, the music of Train and Patrick Monahan’s distinctive voice was everywhere.
The band began after Erie, Pennsylvania native Monahan moved to San Francisco and hooked up with Rob Hotchkiss. The two worked the Bay Area coffee house circuit, sharing vocals. Eventually deciding to form a full band, the two recruited Hotchkiss friend Jimmy Stafford on guitar, Charlie Colin on bass, and Scott Underwood on drums.
That line-up kicked around the scene for a bit and eventually pullled $25k together to record this self-titled debut album.
In late 1996, Train was released independently by Aware Records (John Mayer, Guster, Five for Fighting), and by 1997 Train was touring nationally, opening for headlining bands like Hootie and the Blowfish, Cracker, and Counting Crows.
Eventually, Columbia Records A&R big-wig Tim Devine (Aerosmith, Soul Asylum, Pete Yorn) caught wind of the album. He wisely orchestrated a deal with Aware to pick up distribution and marketing and Train would go on to sell one million copies — that’s pretty good ROI.
With the slew of music being pumped out in the mid to late nineties, for Train to rise above the fray required, this debut had to be more than just good …it had to be exceptional and have universal appeal. Train had both.
The members of the band was just in their late 20’s as they wrote, recorded, and toured behind this debut album. So it’s the songs on Train capture that existential angst as people transition into adulthood.
The first time I heard that initial snare hit on the album’s first single, “Free”, I was gobsmacked. It grabs your attention right away. And then the song rolls into everything that makes a great rock song, smart, incisive lyrics, a clear hook-heavy guitar sound that builds to a crescendo and chorus that turns the table on the meaning of freedom.
When a relationship collapses, people often want to know who left whom. After high school, those things are irrelevant …but people still want to know. As an adult, what you’re left with is the breadth of freedom, but the constraint of loneliness and hurt. It’s that sad sense of freedom that “Free” captures.
Free
Staring at the dark again, you left your silhouette upon my pillow
Right inside the night, I’m waiting for the light, seems like
I’m in the middle
Workin’ for something that I can’t touch and sometimes
Can’t even believe in woah
Cradled by the hands of fate the faith that
Sometimes wraps around too tight so tight
They call me free but I call me a fool
They call me free but I call me a fool
Well I look back at April, but she won’t look back at me
No, no, no
So I pray in May for June to stay, but she just came
To wash into the sea away
They call me free but I call me a fool
Slipped down to Mexico, started messin’ with her yellow afro
Slipped down behind the sheets, started talkin’ bout Pistol Pete
Slipped down to the African, started talkin’ bout what she can do
Well here we are again, back where we started
Slipped down to the dark again
You left your silhouette on my pillow hey
Well I’m right inside the night, I’m waitin’ for the light
Seems like I’m in the, seems like I’m always in the middle
They call me free but I call me a fool
While I understand that appeal of the band’s second single, “Meet Virginia”, it’s too saccharine for me …but I get it.
The albums third and final single, “I Am”, again captures the existential angst and self-doubt that creeps up on us …those of us that think of such things. Are we ever who we think we are? Are we as good as we think we are? As good as we can/should be? The beauty of this song is that regardless of all that doubt of who we are or think we are, the most important thing we can do for those we care about is to show up.
I Am
I never been on a railroad, as many times as they pass me by
I never crashed in the desert or seen a rodeo
I don’t know much about the world wars or Vietnam
I’ve yet to read about Uncle Tom
Never climbed a real rock or seen Colorado
Am I the son I think I am
Am I the friend I think I am
Am I the man I think I wanna be hey
I never had a day where money didn’t get in my way
I never listened to much Elvis
I can’t remember a warm December
Am I the son I think I am
Am I the friend I think I am
Am I the man I think I wanna be hey
’ Cause I’m here for my sanity sanity
I am here for you
I’m here for your fantasy sanity, I am here
I am
Am I the son I think I am
Am I the friend I think I am
Am I the man I think I wanna be
’ Cause I’m here for my sanity sanity I am here for you
Whether or not I’m walkin’ in
Whether or not I’m walkin’ out
I’m always here for you
There is a lot of “adulting” going on on Trains debut album.
Train deserves the success they’ve achieved. The original tracklisting of the independent album opens with “I Am” and goes right into “Free.” The popular release had the album open with “Meet Virginia” and then go into “I Am,” while relegating “Free” to the fifth track. But the album is more than just the singles. Tracks like “If You Leave”, “Homesick”, and “Idaho” all highlight the bands ability. The whole album serves as a harbinger of the well-deserved success they would soon achieve.
CRITICS
Roxanne Blanford from AllMusic — “Fronted impressively by vocalist/songwriter Patrick Monahan and supported by strong, guitar-driven pop melodies, this is easy listening rock with crafty edges and unforgettable tunes. “Eggplant,” “I Am,” “Free,” and “Meet Virginia” crackle with inspired hooks and reflective lyrics. Train’s music is direct and basic. All around, Train is a total package of good music with smart songcraft.”
I recall seeing Train in 1999, and they did a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On”, from their second album. That was jaw-dropping — I didn’t know at the time that Pat Monahan’s first band was a Zep tribute band in Eerie called “Rogues Gallery.” In 2015, the band went all-in and recorded a complete cover of Led Zeppelin II, which was a bit like Gus Van Sant’s shot-for-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho — perfectly fine, just wildly unnecessary.
Train also has a complete album of Christmas songs, which is a modern signifier that you’ve both made it, and that your band will be played at least once a year ad infinitum.
Few bands have the luxury and skill set to carry on a career after a debut this good. Train is one of them. They followed this self-titled debut with the Brendan O’Brien (Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen) Drops of Jupiter, which would go on to win two Grammy Awards. This commercial success would carry them well into today.
In May of 2020, the current line-up of Train recorded and released a song called “Rescue Dog,” with proceeds going to help the North Shore Animal League America.
Over the years, the five members of Train who recorded this debut would slowly drop out. Original Train members Charlie Colin, Rob Hotchkiss, and Scott Underwood have a band called Painbirds, while Jimmy Stafford has released two solo albums.
The only original member of the current line-up is lead singer Patrick Monahan.
There isn’t anything necessarily earth-shattering or mind-bending on Train’s self-titled debut album. But once you listen, you will be reminded that some things are timeless — blue jeans, t-shirts, Chuck Taylor’s …and good old fashioned rock and roll, which is what Train is.