Collective Soul [2009]

Performer: Collective Soul
Engineer: Ryan Potesta; Ryan Potesta; Shawn Grove
Producer: Ed Roland; Shawn Grove; Will Turpin; Joel Kosche
Distributor: n/a

Notes: Lyricists: Dean Roland; Ed Roland; Will Turpin; Joel Kosche. Personnel: Ed Roland (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Joel Kosche (guitar); Bobby Yang (violin); Cheney Brannon (drums, percussion); Will Turpin (percussion, background vocals); Ryan Potesta, Ryan Potesta (programming). Audio Mixers: Chris Lord-Alge; Neal Avron; Shawn Grove. Recording information: Edible Studios, Lake Keowee; Flame Under Heel Studios; Jan Smith Studios; Paramount Studios, Los Angeles, CA. Fourteen years after their first self-titled album, Collective Soul deliver another in 2009 and it's fair to say that the album is a bit of a reintroduction, not a reinvention. It's also fair to ask who Collective Soul are reintroducing themselves to, and the answer is pretty simple: after spending the better part of the decade in the indie leagues, the band is returning to the majors with 2009's COLLECTIVE SOUL, making a pitch at reconnecting with the wide mainstream audience they had a decade ago. The group doesn't ignore what it's done over the last ten years--there's a pronounced Bowie influence that still lingers, first aired on the glam-tastic YOUTH (especially on "Fuzz"), but this is high-gloss, high-octane arena rock. Collective Soul doesn't make an attempt to modernize their sound (although the verse of "Understanding" has an unmistakable phrase borrowed from Jack White) choosing instead to refine their best techniques, so this winds up being a very big, very hooky modern rock record that might not find the audience it once did but only because of the shifting landscape of modern rock. As a record, this is as strong as anything Collective Soul have ever done.

Riding the crest of the grunge movement as it crashed on the shores of mainstream rock, Georgia's Collective Soul showed up in the mid 1990s with everything rock fans wanted, and now expect, from their radio stars: big, compressed, gut-wrenching guitars, sensitive lyrics and emotive wailing that presaged emo vocals, and hooks galore. Their debut album went double-platinum, largely due to the lovely power ballad "Shine." They continued to release solid, hit-spawning albums for Atlantic Records, but left after a greatest-hits package in 2001, and began self-releasing their recordings to a still-enthusiastic base of loyal fans.

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