Train
Drops Of Jupiter

Train is a group with peculiar circumstances. Every one or two years, they reappear, and inevitably put out a song that gets an overwhelming amount of radio play, until (especially with their last two singles "Hey, Soul Sister" and "Drive By") one cannot help but develop a spontaneous dislike for the band. The result is that generally anyone who seriously cares about music despises them, but, since the band doesn't have a particularly distinctive image, the heavy-rotation masses barely remember who they are, so that even if they make a decent amount of money, no one really wants to know them. The single that propelled Drops of Jupiter was the title track, a piece that secured the band worldwide fame. But behind such a strong track, there's a band at the peak of its form delivering a genuinely good work.

In fact, our guys also make Pop-rock music , something that might lead some purists to label them as "sellouts" or "commercial", but as true professionals, they don't try to appear as something different from that, and on a careful listen, it's easy to grasp how this is Pop-rock done right. Always meticulously crafted, each song has its reason to be appreciated: whether it's the dreamy sadness of "Hopeless" with its perfect melodies, the slide guitar piece in "Let it Roll", or the melancholy of the touching "Mississippi," just to name a few examples. What delights the listener are the sounds, typically of piano, various guitars, bass, and drums, always precisely calibrated, the melodies never banal, and especially the arrangements, which are always varied and equipped with significant harmonic solutions though never intrusive, since everything remains in the realm of light music. The most successful summation of these elements is the aforementioned title track, a piece with a great emotional impact that deservedly achieved overwhelming success. This is, moreover, the only piece where Pat Monahan's voice has a strong presence, as despite the good range, his strained timbre tends to be scarcely distinctive and a bit forced.

Sure, if one wanted, there are countless criticisms that can be made of this work: most notably the lack of desire to experiment and create a unique and truly distinctive sound; even the themes addressed, although the lyrics aren't excessively banal, don't stray far from happy or less happy romantic tales. Yet the album has no such pretension in this direction and results in an honest and enjoyable light music album, perfect for non-demanding listening or a car trip.

RATING: 7.5