Collective Soul (Expanded Edition)

the take

Though one of my coworkers and I get along with each other (for the most part... when I'm not annoying lmao), our main music tastes couldn't be further from one another. After she showed me they were listening to a song from this very album by Collective Soul, I told them I'd give the album a listen just so I can talk mad trash about it. Well, at least I was half correct. Honestly, I didn't expect to like this at all, but I caught myself enjoying this quite a bit. People have said that this album is boring and bland and the like, and yes, that might be true. But that's the thing: it's a change of pace from what I normally listen to. It's rock music, but it's lowkey pretty tame and calm. Lead singer Ed Roland did a surprisingly kickass job with his vocals that are perfectly aligned with the alt-rock instrumentation heard throughout. The album starts off strong, but kind of loses steam due to every song almost sounding identical to one another. I'd make a case and say it's not a bad thing because it makes the project a cohesive enjoyable listen. I would tell my coworker that this album is good to their face, but the last thing I want to do is admit when I'm wrong to them because they will gloat to possibly no end.