Collective Soul is still at it after 25 years. The “Shine” artists are releasing their twelfth album this June, Blood. “I think Blood expresses where we’ve been on this life journey,” observes vocalist, Roland. “And we’ve done so with songs featuring piano and strings to those with a lot of guitar riffs. Blood is an accumulation of all the different styles we’ve used over the years — but it’s still Collective Soul. I think it’s the best we’ve ever done.”
Family has been a big part of the band and Collective Soul’s success can be attributed to the importance of family. From the album artwork of a silhouette of a pregnant woman to the track titles, this album is a great tribute to family and its legacy.
Opening the album is “Now’s The Time.” It starts off with a great beat that instantly gets your body moving. It’s pretty motivating with its lyrics of “Now’s the time for pushing, now’s the time to shove, now’s the time to change that, now’s the time for love.”
“Crushed” has a great heavy feel to it with its great guitar solo. “Right as Rain” is the latest released single, with a lyric video current;y out. Check it out here. To me, that track is the perfect legacy single. It definitely feels like Collective Soul from when they came out in the ’90s, but also has a great modern evolution to it.
“Porch Swing” ends the album on the perfect note. It’s a soft melodic song about sitting on the porch swing with those you love. Collective Soul made one of those songs that actually takes you back to memories of family, and this song, even after it ended, had me reminiscing about that.
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole album. It’s a great listen throughout with the tracks that get you moving, to the tracks that get you thinking and day-dreaming. I’m looking forward to the release of this new album that’s sure to be a quick classic. Collective Soul is on their “Now’s The Time” tour to support the upcoming release. Follow their social to catch all of their updates and news!
Tracklist:
- Now’s The Time
- Over Me
- Crushed
- Right as Rain
- Them Blues
- Good Place to Start
- Observation of Thoughts
- Changed
- Big Sky
- Porch Swing
