Collective Soul - 7even Year Itch: Greatest Hits 1994-2001 Review

If you're going to put out a "best of" or a "greatest hits" album, you may as well do it right.  This is what makes the Guns N Roses greatest hits laughable, while, say, the Garbage greatest hits is pretty much spot on.

Apparently, Collective Soul didn't get the memo.  Oh sure, they got the memo about including 2 new tracks so that their diehards would have reason to buy this even though they already own all of the other songs.  Of course, they also got the memo that says those songs don't actually have to be anything good, just new.  They also threw on a hard to find rarity that, SURPRISE, isn't very good either.

What is good is the majority of tracks here.  Collective Soul has always been a  bit confused about whether they want to be a rocking band, a pop band, or something that combines the two.  However, despite the fact they very easily could have been assigned "one hit wonder" status after the success of "Shine," they became one of very few bands in the 90s that saw each of their first 5 albums achieve no less than gold certification status by the RIAA.  Pretty impressive.

Shine is one of those tracks that I always thought should have been re-recorded.  Since the album it came off of was essentially a collection of demos, it sounds like one production wise.  Thankfully, enough of the song's energy comes out to sell it, but anyone who has heard a live version knows what I'm talking about.

Most of their "rocking" singles didn't do so hot in terms of mass appeal.  This despite the fact that they had solid hooks more often than not.  Gel had that great bassline intro followed by that crunching riff and guitar sound that came to define Collective Soul.  Why Pt 2 was essentially a ripoff of Bon Jovi's It's My Life, but it was a better song anyway, so who really cares? 

More than anything though, Collective Soul is a band that became known for their ballads and pop confections better than anything.  Run is an affecting acoustic based ballad, though by far the biggest mystery in terms of songs that blew up for this band.  The World I Know was a heartfelt rumination on suicide, complete with a string section and an uplifting sounding chorus.  And December is sugary guitar pop at its very best, mixing in a great melody with a forceful chorus.

The two new songs are both way below average for this band.  Energy features a generic Collective Soul riff over some mailed in vocals and lyrics by Ed Roland.  They try to put some energy into the chorus, but the verses are so bad and uninteresting that you just don't care by the time you get there.  Next Homecoming is more of the same, another generic riff, but this time, Roland tries to sound different, and he just comes off as irritating.  Again, the chorus tries to save the song, but it just can't.

And that soundtrack rarity?  She Said (from the Scream soundtrack) is quite possibly the worst song of the band's career.  There's a reason it was buried on a soundtrack and never heard from again, ok people?

Notable omissions from the record include Where the River Flows (how do you leave off your biggest live show staple?), Simple, and the Elton John duet Perfect Day.

This disc is fine for the most casual of Collective Soul fans, but even then, they'll probably want to grab the self titled disc to complete their collection.

3.5 stars, rounded DOWN