''AM Gold'' is the eleventh studio album by American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band

Train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

, released on May 20, 2022, through

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. To date, ''AM Gold'' is the first Train album of original material not to chart on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

albums chart.

Background

On February 16, 2022, Train released a single called "AM Gold" and announced that an album of the same name would be released on May 20, 2022. They also uploaded a video to their YouTube channel showing

Ken Jeong Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong (, ; born July 13, 1969) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, producer, writer and licensed physician. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in ''The Hangover'' film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the ...

promoting the album. Frontman

Pat Monahan Patrick Monahan (born February 28, 1969) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and sole constant member of the band Train. He has collaborated with multiple artists and recorded a solo album, '' Las ...

says that, regarding the album, "writing songs is hard. It's difficult to create something that you love and then other people love as well. Writing songs for two and a half years in front of video screens instead of being in the presence of other humans has been a long, strange trip. And now here we are. It has to start with love. Love that goes into work comes out of work. We love (the title track), this album, and our fans. Thank you for waiting so long for us. I think it was worth it. ''AM Gold''! Here we go!"

Promotion

Other than the lead single, "AM Gold", the album was preceded by three promotional singles. These songs were "Running Back (Trying to Talk to You)", released on April 14, 2022, "Turn the Radio Up" featuring Jewel, released on May 6, 2022, and "Cleopatra" featuring

Sofía Reyes Úrsula Sofía Reyes Piñeyro (born 25 September 1995) is a Mexican singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in 2018 with her song " 1,2,3", which featured Jason Derulo and De La Ghetto. In 2019, she released the song " R.I.P." with Brazilian si ...

, released on May 18, 2022.

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave ''AM Gold'' a positive review, stating that "Train makes maximalist pop music, the kind designed to be heard and sold at big-box stores, a sensibility that's rare in 2022, which is why ''AM Gold'' delivers a very particular kind of retro good times.

Tour

The band subsequently announced the AM Gold Tour with Jewel and

Blues Traveler Blues Traveler (formerly known as "The Establishment" or "The Black Cat Jam" or "The Establishment Blues Band") is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. They are known for extensive use of segues in live performance ...

, with a few select shows with Thunderstorm Artis and Will Anderson. The tour began on June 8, 2022, in

Mansfield, Massachusetts Mansfield is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the United States 2020 Census, the town population is 23,860. Mansfield is in the south-southwest suburbs of Boston and is also close to Providence, Rhode Island. The vill ...

Track listing

Personnel

Train * Jerry Becker – guitar, keyboards,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

* Nikita Houston – background vocals * Taylor Locke – guitar * Hector Maldonado – bass *

– lead vocals * Matt Musty – drums, production * Sakai Smith – background vocals Musicians *

Wayne Bergeron Wayne Bergeron (born January 16, 1958) is an American jazz trumpeter. Bergeron rose to prominence as a member of Maynard Ferguson's band in the 1980s. Since then, he has worked on over 400 TV and motion picture soundtracks. As a lead and studio ...

– trumpet (1, 2, 7, 8) *

Charlie Bisharat Charlie Bisharat is an American violinist known as a member of Shadowfax and for his work in film and with other New Age Jazz artists. He was born in Inglewood, CA in 1963 to parents who immigrated to the United States from Palestine in the 1950 ...

– violin (4–6, 9) * Jacob Braun – cello (4–6, 9) * Zach Dellinger – viola (4–6, 9) * Andrew Duckles – viola (4–6, 9) * Bruce Dukov – violin (4–6, 9) * Steve Erdody – cello (4–6, 9) * Jessica Guideri – violin (4–6, 9) *

Dan Higgins Dan Higgins (born January 28, 1957 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American saxophone and woodwind player. He has worked with such artists as John Williams, Seth MacFarlane, Aerosmith, Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, Al Jarreau, Maroon 5, Kenny Loggin ...

–

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

(1, 2, 7, 8),

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

(2, 7, 8) * Paula Hochhalter – cello (4–6, 9) * Luanne Homzy – violin (4–6, 9) * Alex Iles – trombone (1, 2, 7, 8) * Julia Laws – background vocals (3) * Natalie Leggett – violin (4–6, 9) * Maya Magub – violin (4–6, 9) * Shawn Mann – viola (4–6, 9) *

Eric Marienthal Eric Marienthal (born December 19, 1957) is a Grammy Award-nominated Los Angeles-based contemporary saxophonist best known for his work in the jazz, jazz fusion, smooth jazz, and pop genres. Early life Eric Marienthal was born on December 19, 1 ...

–

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

(1, 2, 7, 8) *

Rob Mathes Rob or ROB may refer to: Places * Rob, Velike Lašče, a settlement in Slovenia * Roberts International Airport (IATA code ROB), in Monrovia, Liberia People * Rob (given name), a given name or nickname, e.g., for Robert(o), Robin/Robyn * Rob ( ...

– conductor (1, 2, 4–9) * Rafael Padilla – percussion (1, 3, 7, 8, 10) * Alyssa Park – violin (4–6, 9) * Molly Rogers – violin (4–6, 9) * Rob Schaer – trumpet (1, 2, 7, 8) * Terez Stanislav – violin (4–6, 9) * Josefina Vergara – violin (4–6, 9) Technical * Tristan Ableson – engineering assistance * Jeff Balding – mixing * Jordan Blackmon – miscellaneous production (6) * Thom Bridges – co-production (3) * Jeff Fitzpatrick – engineering assistance (2, 4–7) * Lilly Graves – engineering assistance (2, 4–7) * Chandler Harrod – engineering (2, 4–9) * Todd Stopera – engineering *

Butch Walker Bradley Glenn "Butch" Walker (born November 14, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the glam metal band SouthGang from the late 1980s to early 1990s as well as the lead vocalist ...

– production,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

Charts

References

{{Train 2022 albums Albums produced by Butch Walker Columbia Records albums Train (band) albums