Blender it is, though blander might fit just as well -- for all the protestations of good-time recording techniques and the fun of writing and recording this album, it comes across as a carefully constructed piece of pop, ready for radio, dancefloor, and movie soundtrack album (and maybe a shot on Dawson's Creek at the time of release).
The music is all very pretty, the songs are professionally constructed, the performances are all tight and efficiently edited, and the entire construction lacks soul of any kind, never mind collective.
Aside from the coldly pop nature of the album, there is the duet with Elton John -- for which the mix is inexplicably softened to something approaching the mushy end of AOR, which is very much the place that people saw John inhabiting through 1999-2000.
The end result is hardly distinctive enough to be of interest.
Another element of confusion comes with the image that Ed Roland and the band have chosen to pursue this time around -- namely, the presentation is straight out of the Y2K boy band image catalog.
It becomes seriously mind warping when looking at the interior artwork, where it's obvious that this bunch hasn't been beardless boys for some time.
One has to wonder where they thought their market was for this release.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SkinEd Roland | Collective Soul | Play | 03:08 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 2 | Vent | Collective Soul | Play | 03:13 | 7 MB | 24 MB |
| 3 | Why, Pt. 2Ed Roland | Collective Soul | Play | 03:38 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 4 | 10 Years LaterEd Roland | Collective Soul | Play | 03:21 | 7 MB | 24 MB |
| 5 | BoastEd Roland | Collective Soul | Play | 03:38 | 8 MB | 28 MB |
| 6 | TurnEd Roland | Collective Soul | Play | 03:38 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 7 | You Speak My LanguageMark Sandman | Collective Soul | Play | 03:23 | 7 MB | 25 MB |
| 8 | Perfect DayEd Roland | Collective Soul, Elton John | Play | 03:48 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 9 | After AllEd Roland | Collective Soul | Play | 03:44 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 10 | Over TokyoEd Roland | Collective Soul | Play | 03:37 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 11 | HappinessEd Roland | Collective Soul | Play | 03:31 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 38 mins | 88 MB | |||||
| 38 mins | 286 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Childers | Engineer |
| 2 | Ross Childress | Guitar |
| 3 | Collective Soul | Primary Artist |
| 4 | Steve Davis | A&R |
| 5 | Rick Diamond | Photography |
| 6 | Greg Drew | Vocal Coach |
| 7 | Shane Evans | Drums, Percussion |
| 8 | Jayce Fincher | Vocals (Background) |
| 9 | Elton John | Featured Artist, Guest Artist, Performer, Primary Artist, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 10 | Joel Kosche | Guitar Technician |
| 11 | David LaChapelle | Photography |
| 12 | Mike Lawler | Organ |
| 13 | Chris Lord-Alge | Mixing |
| 14 | Bob Ludwig | Mastering |
| 15 | Shawn Mullins | Guest Artist, Vocals |
| 16 | Jack Joseph Puig | Mixing |
| 17 | L.A. Reid | Handclapping |
| 18 | Anthony J. Resta | Keyboards, Producer, Programming, Turntables |
| 19 | Dean Roland | Guitar |
| 20 | Ed Roland | Composer, Guitar, Keyboards, Producer, Vocals |
| 21 | Bob St. John | Mixing |
| 22 | Mark Sandman | Composer |
| 23 | Jake Shapiro | Cello |
| 24 | Phil Tan | Engineer |
| 25 | Will Turpin | Bass, Percussion |
| 26 | Mickey Wade | Drum Technician |
| 27 | Butch Walker | Vocals (Background) |
| 28 | Alan Yates | Assistant Engineer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |