From The Ground Up [EP] [Digipak]

Performer: Collective Soul
Engineer: Zack Odom
Distributor: Alternative Dis. Alliance

Notes: Initial pressings of FROM THE GROUND UP will include a Collective Soul guitar pick. Includes rare tracks and acoustic versions Collective Soul's hits. Collective Soul: Dean Roland, Ed Roland, Will Turpin, Shane Evans, Joel Kosche. Audio Mixer: Zack Odom. Photographer: Lee Clower. Though Collective Soul was often lumped in with the legions of second-string grunge bands that followed in the wake of Nirvana and Pearl Jam's massive success, astute listeners always knew that the group was about crafty pop songwriting more than overblown angst. It seems natural, then, that leader Ed Roland's tunes work just as well in a stripped-down setting as they do accompanied by a wall of slickly produced guitars. FROM THE GROUND UP was recorded on a whim in only two days, in an effort to capture the group and a batch of their (mostly) new songs in a fresh, unadulterated state. The sound quality and performances here are the equal of anything Collective Soul has done. "Compliment" starts with some sparkling, soulful acoustic-guitar strumming in the vein of Tom Petty's WILDFLOWERS, while "She Said" is driven by a loping guitar/bass unison riff and bluesy vocals that recall the Black Crowes. The disc's highlight, though, is a slowed-down, acoustic version of the group's chart-topping "December," which puts focus on the song's dark and brooding lyrics. FROM THE GROUND UP is an illuminating look into the basic elements of the Collective Soul sound.

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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