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Dosage

"What?! First you cover King's X when they're not really a Christian band, and then you review Collective Soul on us?! What are you doing, HM, becoming secular?!" Thanks. I appreciate your feedback. Now, shut up and think.
Collective Soul stormed the airwaves with their surprise hit "Shine" (in ‘93), which sounded like a prayer for "Heaven, let your light shine down." Then, if you picked up the album Hints Allegations & Things Left Unsaid, you had to wonder, "Did these boys grow up on Terry Taylor and Daniel Amos?" Every other song on that first disc sounds like it was directly inspired from Terry & DA. The lyrics sound like they were influenced by the Bible. With the second, self-titled album, they seemed to answer the questions they must have been getting about their faith (the song "Untitled" seems to answer with a hint of rebuke). There's a vulgar word used for "complaining" in "Smashing Young Man," which is the closest any of their songs have come to even be questionable for the "evangelical appropriateness test" many in our scene will filter their music choices through (me included). Then their third album, Disciplined Breakdown, seemed to find the band at peace with who they are and what they believe. Check out these lyrics from "Precious Declaration," their biggest single from that record: "I believe all hope is dead no longer . . . I was blind but now I see / Salvation has discovered me."
Some professional athletes, when they have a great game and are interviewed on television afterwards, will declare, "I want to give God all the glory," or some other public praise. Sometimes this acts as a two-edged sword. It makes the people "on their side" cheer, and it makes another athlete that doesn't speak up questionable. "Why didn't they speak up?" We can find several verses about "letting your light shine before men," but when we try to apply these Scriptures, we might be flying in the face of others, where God instructed some of His children to do something different, which was misunderstood.
Some really hope for Collective Soul to stand on a podium and declare their personal allegiance to the cause of Christ. This hope is often bent to a point to where we voice our displeasure that the band is not doing this public declaration. Then the band is faced with not only what God wants them to do, but with what you want them to do. We might find ourselves in disagreement with God. Perhaps we should just listen and not speak. Let Collective Soul perform their art and express their thoughts. It seems to me that they're producing good art, and their thoughts are encouraging to me. I, too, find myself needing "to learn the depth or doubt of faith to fall into" ("Needs"). I don't exactly relate to the questions in "Crown," but it sounds like the questions are pointed in the right direction. They ask, "Who's gonna be the shepherd / To lead this poor boy back home / Well, I hope I'm not lost / But I think that hope is now distancing."
I've never been to a Collective Soul concert. I don't know if they cuss between each song like Ozzy, nor do I know if they are living in purity above reproach. What I read when I read their lyrics is good stuff that still seems almost wholly based on biblical thought. With Dosage, there seems to be a return to the "this is who I am" approach in the song "No More No Less," where lyricist, producer, and vocalist (how many bands have that in one person?) Ed Roland states, "See, I'm no more no less of an angel / Than you'd have me be."
And now the music: The first track, "Tremble For My Beloved," sounds like Collective Soul got the U2 bug. You know what I'm talking about. The attitude of: "I'm bored with this. Let's experiment!" The band seems to have felt the influence of U2 post Achtung Baby sound (electronica). But this is only in spots. The first radio single, "Heavy," is classic Collective Soul -- anthemic modern rock with a hook. "Generate" is another hit here, capitalizing on the formula that Collective Soul wrote and now leads the pack with.
With this Dosage, think, listen, and enjoy. [Atlantic/ DV]