Collective Soul
Collective Soul is an alternative rock or post-grunge band from Stockbridge, Georgia, USA. Throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, they enjoyed moderate popularity on alternative rock radio. Collective Soul enjoyed much more success on mainstream rock radio, as they created hook-laden melodies on top of crunchy guitar riffs reminiscent of classic rock bands from the '70s and '80s. Ed Roland cites Elton John and the Cars as main influences, though their music can be as heavy as Led Zeppelin.
Collective Soul achieved the most success among bands in the mid-1990s rock scene which produced hooky melodic clean rock, such as the Gin Blossoms, Better Than Ezra, and Live. These bands created a sound of their time following the grunge movement in the early 1990s which took the international music world by storm, led by Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Collective Soul eventually paved the way for bands such as Matchbox 20 to achieve enormous success.
Collective Soul broke through in 1994 with their hit "Shine". "Shine" became a number one rock smash for 8 weeks, peaked at number 4 on alternative and hit number 8 on the pop chart. The multi-format smash also became an MTV staple. "Shine" also became the number one Album Rock Song of 1994 and won a Billboard award for the Top Rock song that year. Subsequent single "Breathe" did not fare as well on the charts but the band returned to the studio to release their best-selling album to date, the self-titled Collective Soul.
Their second album bore five hit singles, along with two crossover smashes, "December" and "The World I Know". Both were #1 Mainstream Rock hits, with "December" repeating "Shine's" success by winning the Billboard award for the Top Rock song of 1995.
Third studio effort Disciplined Breakdown did not fare as well, producing no real crossover hits. However, it added two to Collective Soul's tally of number one hits. In 1999, Collective Soul released Dosage amidst critical acclaim. Two tracks, "Heavy" and "Run" were simultaneously released to radio. The former became a Top 5 Alternative smash and a number one hit on Rock radio for a record-breaking 14 weeks. (Since then, the record for the longest stay at number one was broken in 2000 by 3 Doors Down, who stayed at number one for 21 weeks with "Loser") "Run", a softer ballad, was released to mainstream radio and was featured in the movie Varsity Blues. It garnered moderate success on alternative, hot AC and the Top 40 formats but became somewhat of a cult favorite. At the end of 1999, "Heavy" was the #2 rock song of the year.
Collective Soul was one of the Top 5 most played bands on the Mainstream Rock format in the 1990s. In 2000, Collective Soul released its fifth studio album Blender which achieved modest success. It entered at number 22 on the Billboard 200 but produced no more than one bona fide hit with "Why, Pt. 2" peaking at number 2 at their strongest format. Subsequent singles flopped, such as "Perfect Day" (a duet with Elton John) and "Vent", which barely cracked the Top 40 on the Rock chart.
Longtime lead guitarist Ross Childress left the band in 2001, eventually being replaced by his own guitar tech Joel Koesche. In November 2004, Collective Soul released their sixth studio album Youth, under their own label El Music Group. The album entered at number 66 on the Billboard 200, after a string of promotional club/radio appearances, including a sold-out show at Los Angeles's Roxy Theater, performing a high-energy show. They scored a Top 10 Rock smash with "Counting The Days" the same week.
By the winter of 2004, Collective Soul released the second single off their Youth album. "Better Now" fared moderately well on rock radio but garnered more airplay on Hot Adult Contemporary radio. "Better Now" could also be heard on a television commercial for the cereal "Special K" during 2005 as well as in the episode "Scry Hard" of the US television series Charmed.
Collective Soul performed two shows with the Atlanta Youth Symphony Orchestra April 23 and 24, 2005, to highly favorable reviews, and on May 24 of the same year released an acoustic EP of past hits and rarities From the Ground Up.
Current Members
- Ed Roland - vocals, keyboards, guitars, songwriter
- Will Turpin - bass, percussion
- Dean Roland - rhythm guitars, keyboards
- Shane Evans - drums, percussion
- Ryan Hoyle - drums, percussion (temporary drummer, 2005)
- Joel Kosche - lead/rhythm guitars
Former Members
- Ross Childress - lead/rhythm guitars (1993-2001)
Discography
Studio albums
- Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid, (1994), Atlantic
- Collective Soul, (1995), Atlantic
- Disciplined Breakdown, (1997), Atlantic
- Dosage, (1999), Atlantic
- Blender, (2000), Atlantic
- Youth, (2004), EL Music Group
Compilations
- 7EVEN Year Itch, (2001), Atlantic
- From the Ground Up, (2005), EL Music Group (Acoustic EP)
DVDs/Videos
- Music in High Places: Live from Morocco, (2001), Image
Singles
Billboard "Mainstream Rock" Chart
- from Hints, Allegations & Things Left Unsaid
- 1994 "Shine" #1(8)
- 1994 "Breathe" #12
- 1994 "Wasting Time" --
- from Collective Soul
- 1995 "Gel" #2
- 1995 "December" #1(9)
- 1995 "Smashing Young Man" #8
- 1995 "The World I Know" #1(4)
- 1996 "Where The River Flows" #1(2)
- 1996 "Reunion" --
- from Disciplined Breakdown
- 1997 "Precious Declaration" #1
- 1997 "Listen" #1
- 1997 "Blame" #11
- 1997 "Maybe" --
- 1998 "She Said" #16 (Scream 2 Soundtrack)
- from Dosage
- 1999 "Heavy" #1(14)
- 1999 "Run" --
- 1999 "No More No Less" #10
- 1999 "Needs" --
- 1999 "Tremble For My Beloved" #32
- from Blender
- 2000 "Why Pt 2" #2
- 2000 "Perfect Day" --
- 2000 "Vent" #34
- from "7EVEN Year Itch"
- 2001 "Next Homecoming" #39
- from Youth
- 2004 "Counting The Days" #8
- 2005 "Better Now" #35
- 2005 "How Do You Love" --