Specification
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #45966 in Music
- Released on: 2000-10-10
- Number of discs: 1
- Format: Enhanced
- Original language:
English - Dimensions: .45" h x
5.75" w x
5.00" l,
.21 pounds
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful.
Don't let a fan think of the title next time
By 32-year old wallflower
It's great to have prolific bands like Collective Soul around in a day and age where people prefer to take years in the studio crafting an album. Within 6 years, Collective Soul has released 5 albums of music that's been more influenced by Bad Company than Nirvana. Their debut HINTS, ALLEGATION AND THINGS LEFT UNSAID (1994) found a home with both pop and modern rock radio, with "Shine" even becoming a #11 hit. The 1995 self-titled follow-up showed a more subdued sound with hits in ballads like "December" and "The World I Know", proving Collective Soul wasn't all about turning up the guitars. But DISCIPLINED BREAKDOWN (1997) not only didn't conquer the charts like their previous albums, it indicated that the band was suffering from the same-old, same-old syndrome. Then came DOSAGE (1999), along with shorter haircuts and a slightly more modernized sound. Collective Soul seemed to be tapping into a fresh vein of creativity. Even with a throwback sound, the band still knows the meaning of quality. But by now it seems quantity is more important than quality for Collective Soul, because their latest BLENDER seems like it left the studio a bit too soon. The album's 40-minute length, which while is quite welcome, only further hints at this album rushed's production. I'm a sucker for a short 3-minute song as much as top 40 radio is, but BLENDER's songs still sound like they were in embryonic form as they were given the final mastering. Just as soon as you're turning up the volume on songs like "Skin", "You Speak My Language", the proto-ballad "Why Pt. 2" and the Prince-derived "Vent", it's all over too soon. I think maybe Ed Roland was trying too hard to combine 5 minute-long ideas into 3-minute singles. Some songs are just plain wonderful like the sweet-but-not-saccharine ballad "10 Yrs. Later" and the duet with Elton John on "Perfect Day", while the rest sound too much like works in progress to be taken as full songs. When I heard that the title of this album was BLENDER, I expected it to be just that, a diverse selection of various styles. But it turns out to be anything but, and that BLENDER was tht title suggested by a fan that Collective Soul thought sounded great. BLENDER comes only 18 months after the creative recharging that came along with DOSAGE. But whereas that album breathed some new life into what seemed like a stagnating Collective Soul, BLENDER seems to indicate the band needs to again take stock of what they're doing right now, and decide if this is really what they think their music should be about. BLENDER doesn't really indicate a shortage of ideas, just a dearth of what to do with those ideas.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
Something for everyone...give it a try!
By N. Roberts
As a ridiculously devoted Collective Soul fan, I'm always a little apprehensive when a new CD comes out. Will I like it as much as the last one? Will they stay true to their style but also take a chance artistically? With Blender the answer is a resounding YES!! From the first track to the last, there is something for everyone.
I don't think you can get two songs on one CD more different than the catchy "Perfect Day" (w/Elton John) and the driving, intense "You Speak My Language." It's like pitting a piano against a guitar...and not being sure which should win. There's the first trio of songs "Skin," "Vent" and "Why pt.2" that go by so fast I always want to rush the CD player to play them again. "Boast" is lyrically the simplest, most repetitive track...which just means it stays in your head longer. And I can't help but favorably compare "10 yrs. later" to Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here." And as things start to wind down with the soothing "After All" and "Over Toyko," the boys from Atlanta come back with one last classic, guitar-driven rock song "Happiness" that makes you realize why their fans are so devoted.
My only complaint about the entire CD is that it's so short. And if you're like me, you could use a whole lot more than 40 minutes of music like this.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.Probably the Best CD You've Never Heard Before
By B. Lynch
Collective Soul remind me of the best days of "Cheap Trick", the best material by "The Cars" and other good 1970's bands. WIth their hard-edge guitar and vocal sounds, also sound a litle like Poison, Ratt, Warrant, and other 1980's metal bands (but without the outrageous hair). The guitar riffs bump and grind, lyrics are simple but that makes them memorable (and there's the added advantage of minimal electronic aural reprocessing, which means that you could do a decent cover version if you want). The drumming is fierce and propulsive, and the bass lines give the mix a 'larger than life' feel. Like The Goo-Goo-Dolls and the present Bon-Jovi lineup, they can cut it live on stage, too.
This CD features a good blend of power ballands, flat out rockers, a few punky/new wave sounding cuts, and a few variations that enhance the overall mix. By sticking to what they know, Collective Soul's experiments succeed, rather than falling flat because they were ill-conceived.
The best cuts here are "Skin", "Vent", "Why Pt.2", "10 Yrs Later", "You Speak My Language", and "Perfect Day"--featuring Elton John, an unlikely collaborator.
The packaging on the CD is probably the only mistake: it screams "Boy Band" (based on looks), and suggests that the CD is full of lame 'bubble-gum' and 'teenybopper' music. I doubt that Collective Soul's fans were put off (they know the band is not going to sell out and do shlock), but the music probably put off the girls who buy "boy band" CD's and the cover art probably caused a lot of potential fans to avoid the CD because it made Collective Soul look too much like the "Backstreet Boys", or "WestLife".
MTV and VH-1, both of which have fallen into a pit of musical supidity lately (playing total rubbish for hours on end), ignored this CD completely (just as they ignored "Dosage", the previous CD). The collapse of ratings for both of those cable stations might bring new management and programmers, who understand that you can't force an audience that cares about music to sit and watch really lame "pop" or really dumb "rap" videos.
This is defintely one of the best CD's from 2000.
See all 128 customer reviews...Blender is the open source, cross platform suite of tools for 3D creation.
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