COLLECTIVE SOUL: Here to Eternity

Has any band ever rebounded from the One Hit Wonder label as definitively as Collective Soul? Thirty years ago, they were riding high on the success of “Shine,” which quickly became an MTV and rock radio staple. But the saturation of that first single had a lot of snarky critics quick to write them off as a flavor of the month- along with the fact that their first album, Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid, was essentially a demo that Atlantic Records catapulted into wide release. Those same critics were pretty quickly silenced by the band’s steady onslaught of #1 hits, from “December” to “Gel” to “Heavy,” with a ton of fantastic deep cuts in between.

Now, 30 years after “Shine” exploded, the Georgia quintet have finally dropped the double album that they’ve been teasing for years. Here to Eternity is a fitting title, because it sounds like everything you already enjoy and expect from Collective Soul, without ever sounding like a band looking back or wallowing in nostalgia. It’s everything a fan would want in a late career victory lap.

“Keep It On Track” sounds like it could have been hatched from the same sessions as “Tremble For My Beloved,” with its gloriously atmospheric build ups and payoffs. The glossy, powerful guitar solo of “I Know You, You Know Me” has shades of their classic tune “Run,” eliciting sheer goosebumps with a few simple licks. Opening track "Mother’s Love” calls to mind “Why Pt. 2” or “Precious Declaration,” in that it features what might just be the band’s signature trick: A thundering hard rock verse that explodes into a soaring and heartfelt chorus.

If there’s anything lacking from this collection, it’s the poetic ambiguity of the band’s ‘90s work. It’s hard to say what “December” or “Where the River Flows” were actually about, but that ambiguity is a big part of what makes those particular tunes so timelessly appealing. Frontman Ed Roland has always been a fairly easygoing and accessible presence- especially when compared to other ‘90s rock stars- but on Here to Eternity, his lyrics are more straightforward than ever. And that’s not even a critique so much as an observation. He’s evolved into the kind of songwriter that wears his heart on his sleeve, and doesn’t need to hide behind metaphor.

Take “Who Loves,” for example, which has all the hallmarks of a classic midtempo Collective Soul love song. “There are days I come home/I don’t know what life’s about,” Roland sings on the spoken word breakdown. “But then I hold my girl/And I have no doubt.” For a fanbase that’s probably well into married life and/or parenthood, the sentiment isn’t especially original, but it’s immediate and powerful.

So if you happened to assume back in 1994 that the band behind “Shine” would be a one-and-done footnote, you certainly weren’t alone. The MTV Buzz Bin was littered with Deep Blue Somethings and Harvey Dangers; getting there was hard and staying there was even harder. But 30 years later, Collective Soul remains a case study in how to outlast the buzz and the critics, by clinging to everything they do well without ever bending to fads or gimmicks. Keep it on track, indeed. A-