Last Train Home
Encyclopedia
"Last Train Home" is the second single from Start Something
, the second album by the Welsh
rock
band Lostprophets
. This single is the band's joint highest charting in the UK to date, tied with "Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)
". It remains their most successful in the USA.
".
Part of the music video was shot in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the video Ian Watkins wears the Pittsburgh Strikers T-shirt (an amateur football club in Western Pennsylvania).
Johnny Loftus of Allmusic said "'Last Train Home' was an absolute masterpiece of pop single mixing board surgery, flawlessly, brazenly binding the properties of three of California's most marketable acts into one monster of an alternative rock anthem, sung by a bunch of immaculately T-shirted dudes from Pontypridd. Beginning with an instrumental run through its unstoppable chorus, the song drifted into faraway echoes of piano as vocalist Ian Watkins emoted vaguely meaningful lyrics like 'Love was once apart / But now it's disappeared.'"
Kirk Miller of Rolling Stone
said "Last Train Home" is "one of the catchiest hard-rock songs to hit the radio in the past three years. Singer Ian Watkins has Mike Patton's croon/scream down cold, and his group deftly applies FNM's anything-goes approach: equal parts thrash riffs, symphonic keyboards and moody jazz intervals."
Additional group vocals
On "Last Train Home"
Start Something
Start Something is the second studio album by the Welsh alternative metal band Lostprophets, released on 2 February 2004 through Visible Noise in the United Kingdom and South Korea. The album was released internationally on 5 February 2004. The band began work on the album in 2003 after touring for...
, the second album by the Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Lostprophets
Lostprophets
Lostprophets is a Welsh rock band from Pontypridd, formed in 1997. Founded by vocalist Ian Watkins, bassist Mike Lewis, drummer Mike Chiplin and guitarist Lee Gaze, they were originally a side-project to hardcore punk band Public Disturbance. To date, Lostprophets have released four studio...
. This single is the band's joint highest charting in the UK to date, tied with "Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)
Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)
"Rooftops " is a song by Welsh rock band Lostprophets. The song is released as the first single from their third album Liberation Transmission....
". It remains their most successful in the USA.
Release and reception
"Last Train Home" was released in the spring of 2004 and became the most successful song from Start Something on the rock charts and arguably the band's most recognizable and popular song. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart and number ten on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. "Last Train Home" is the second single to ever chart in the U.S., the first one being "Shinobi vs. Dragon NinjaShinobi vs. Dragon Ninja
-Personnel:* Ian Watkins – lead vocals* Lee Gaze – lead guitar* Mike Lewis – rhythm guitar* Stuart Richardson – bass* Jamie Oliver – synth, turntables, samples* Mike Chiplin – drums, percussion-Chart positions:...
".
Part of the music video was shot in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the video Ian Watkins wears the Pittsburgh Strikers T-shirt (an amateur football club in Western Pennsylvania).
Johnny Loftus of Allmusic said "'Last Train Home' was an absolute masterpiece of pop single mixing board surgery, flawlessly, brazenly binding the properties of three of California's most marketable acts into one monster of an alternative rock anthem, sung by a bunch of immaculately T-shirted dudes from Pontypridd. Beginning with an instrumental run through its unstoppable chorus, the song drifted into faraway echoes of piano as vocalist Ian Watkins emoted vaguely meaningful lyrics like 'Love was once apart / But now it's disappeared.'"
Kirk Miller of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
said "Last Train Home" is "one of the catchiest hard-rock songs to hit the radio in the past three years. Singer Ian Watkins has Mike Patton's croon/scream down cold, and his group deftly applies FNM's anything-goes approach: equal parts thrash riffs, symphonic keyboards and moody jazz intervals."
Track listing
Personnel
- Ian Watkins – lead vocals
- Lee Gaze – lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
- Mike Lewis – rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
- Stuart Richardson – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Jamie Oliver – synth, turntables, samplesSampling (music)In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
, backing vocals - Mike Chiplin – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
Additional group vocals
On "Last Train Home"
- Billy MartinBilly Martin (guitarist)William Dean "Billy" Martin is an American musician best known as the guitarist and keyboardist of the pop punk band Good Charlotte.-Life and career:...
& Benji MaddenBenji MaddenBenji Madden is an American guitarist and backup vocalist for the band Good Charlotte, which he co-founded with his identical twin brother, Joel Madden.-Early life:...
, both of Good CharlotteGood CharlotteGood Charlotte is an American rock band from Waldorf, Maryland that formed in 1996. Since 1998, the band's constant members have been lead vocalist Joel Madden, lead guitarist and back-up vocalist Benji Madden, bass guitarist Paul Thomas and rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Billy Martin...
Chart positions
| Chart (2004) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| German Singles Chart | 48 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
8 |
| US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks | 10 |
| US Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
75 |