Collective Soul (Rabbit)

Being a big fan of Collective Soul I really don't know how I missed this one. But it has to be one of the best CS albums around. Every tune is a gem and I now have it playing constantly in the car and at home. If you've never heard it, and are a fan, you won't be disappointed. Just go ahead and buy it !!

Collective Soul (Ed Roland, Dean Roland, Will Turpin and Joel Kosche) has been one of the bands I've followed since high school. I always enjoyed their music because at a time where my life was more or less suspended, their mellow rock style and lyrics to which I could easily relate, suited my state of mind. Collective Soul was one of the bands that stand out from that point in my life.So what's so special about this band? Well, when you consider that the band has sold 10 million albums (4 of which went platinum) and boast seven #1 hits (so far) since their formation and continue making music they love without compromising their sound just to sell records, it's pretty impressive.Collective Soul has quite a few memorable and popular songs in their kit since hitting the post-grunge music scene in 1993 and I was curious to see if they'd be able to top their previous successes. I don't know that they have, but this, their eighth studio release, dubbed 'Rabbit', stays true to the band's classic style and sound.Rabbit is a collection of tracks ranging from more beaty and lively to mellow, slow-grooving compositions. Take the intro, "Welcome All Again", with its catchy tune and chorus that will have you singing along. This song sets the standard for the faster songs on the album. There are admittedly a few filler tracks that are pretty much average ("Fuzzy", "Dig", "Love") but there are still a few other goodies in there, such as "She Does" and "You" which definitely raised the bar some."Staring Down" was the first single released to radio back in June and it also reached the top 20 on the Mediabase Hot AC chart and charted on Billboard's Adult Top-40. Is it a hit? Possibly so. The tune istelf and arrangement is reminiscent of a combination of things I recognize but just can't put my finger on, but the chorus is catchy and engaging in a way that will have you snapping your fingers and tapping your foot in time.The remaining tracks are a mix of average and slighty above average and typical of Collective Soul. And that's probably a mixed blessing. On the one hand, the band stays true to its roots, keeps the sound it is known for and does what it does best and what proves to be popular with fans the world over. On the other hand, it had little imagination and does not wow with its delivery, melodies or lyrics. And while there are some pretty cool guitar stylings and drumming in the mix and some instances of strong vocals and great lyrics, the songs lack that the polish and creativity that could make them great.So what's the verdict on the newest addition to the collection? If you're a CS fan, it should be instant love. Overall a very enjoyable, classic sounding CS album that will appeal to many.

Collective Soul back to the best with catchy feel good grunge rock. If you are ever feeling down these guys are the ones you'll want to listen to.

I think the energy and vibe in this album is great. CS gets better each album. My favorite is "She Does" followed by "Welcome All Again".

Discreto album a mio avviso sopravalutato perciò nn ritengo sia un cd da prendere in considerazione. Musica datata e superata

I have been a huge fan of Collective Soul since their first album. Their songs are consistently smart (lyrics and music) and well-crafted and well-executed and fun, and their albums stand up to listen after listen after listen. This album is no exception...actually, I may be slightly IN LOVE with this album! It has stood up to 865,234 listens so far (and I only got it last week!) and it just keeps getting better...the more I listen, the more I appreciate the band's artistry--from creating their music to making it come to life in the recording. Wow! Whether you have loved CS from the 90s like me, or whether you're just discovering them now, I highly recommend you buy this album. You will love it. It's high energy and memorable and compulsively sing-along-able. ("Fuzzy" may be my favorite...it's this perfect gem of a song I can't get out of my head, though I don't want to...how do they do this? And how do they make it look easy?) Okay, so you need to stop reading reviews now and hit the "buy this" button. You won't regret it. Thank you, Collective Soul, for your dedication to excellence and to your distinctive brand of music. I can't imagine my CD library without you in it (your CDs are the ones I reach for over and over, whatever my mood). And if anyone out there ever gets a chance to see this band live, absolutely jump on it--it will be one of the best shows you'll ever see. I was so happy and so impressed with the performance itself (they give it their all on stage, really blew me away), but I was also so impressed with how grateful they are to their fans.

Die Vorfreude meinerseits auf ein neues Album der Jungs von COLLECTIVE SOUL ist schwer zu beschreiben. Wer es ansatzweise nachempfinden möchte, höre sich den Anfang des Songs "love" aus dem neuen Album "Collective Soul" (Arbeitstitel: "Rabbit") an. Die Musik macht einfach Spaß, Ed Roland's Stimme mischt sich zu eingängigen Melodien, bei deren Hören man sich wünscht, ein Cabrio zu fahren. Und plötzlich stellt man fest, dass man die Songs immer wieder hören möchte und die "Skip back" Taste wird permanent betätigt.Schon die beiden Vorab-Single-Auskopplungen "staring down" und "welcome all again" liessen im Vorfeld einmal mehr auf ein sehr gutes Album hoffen. Und die vorliegende Scheibe bestätigt dies eindrucksvoll. Das Album rockt! Neben den beiden Singles ragen aus der ohnehin grossen Masse an guten Songs die Tracks "fuzzy", "dig", "you", "understanding" sowie das bereits erwähnte "love" heraus. Die sehr persönliche Ballade "hymn for my father", in der Ed Roland die Beziehung zu seinem vor 4 Jahren gestorbenen Vater thematisiert, bildet einen guten Gegensatz zum Rest der Songs und einen schönen Abschluss zu einem tollen Album.Ich hoffe, dass Ed Rolands Aussage, mit diesem Album auch nach Europa zu kommen und hier endlich mal wieder live zu spielen, Taten folgen und man die Band auch hierzulande mal wieder live erleben kann. Doch die mangelnden Marketing-Anstrengungen in Europa (von Band und Plattenfirma), lassen befürchten, dass sich die gesamte Promotion-Arbeit (und damit der Erfolg) erneut auf Nordamerika beschränken werden. Bei amazon USA ist das Album jedenfalls derzeit auf Platz 15 notiert und bereits seit 23 Tagen in den Top 100, obwohl es dort erst am 25. August veröffentlicht wird.Ich leg mir das Album gleich nochmal auf... welcome all again ;-)

In my world of listening real music, as my senses as the same way internal light tell me what to listen in quality of great sounds melody of music and reviewing this art music production, I can realize that the inspiration and the sound of the music is always with the feeling to feel, the sight to see, the expanded mind to hear and my accurate ear to listen as the good listener to notice that the artist put the whole effort and music to inspire hearts, flames, individual soul or in collective soul. Seriously this is time genre music as it works for perfect timing; I think also this production gets into the new era of musical tendency. And good listener has to preserve this production as one immortal work.