# Collective Soul: Greatest Hits, or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collective-soul-greatest-hits-or-not/255223 "2004-07-15T05:36:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collective-soul-greatest-hits-or-not/255223/1 "2004-07-15T05:36:18Z")
Someone in the “I Love the 90’s” thread mentioned the band Collective Soul, and it occurred to me that I’d forgotten all about them. They were hugely popular around Atlanta when I was in college and just afterwards, and they got constant airplay on 99X. I liked the songs I’d heard, but never made any effort to get the albums. Their greatest hits album is on iTunes, and it has the songs I remember and like from the radio: “December,” “Shine,” “Gel,” and “The World I Know.” It’s between getting that, or getting their first two albums _Hints, Allegations…_ and _Collective Soul_. Is the greatest hits sufficient, or would I be missing out on good stuff from the first 2 records? ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collective-soul-greatest-hits-or-not/255223/2 "2004-07-15T06:56:19Z")
I have both albumns and IMO you’d be fine getting the greatest hits. In fact, I wonder what they’d fill a greatest hits albumn out with. Not slagging them, they were good, but it’s not like they’ve had 10 or 12 “hits” to be “greatest”. ---
**Author:** ![Chunky\_Bum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Chunky\_Bum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chunky_Bum)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collective-soul-greatest-hits-or-not/255223/3 "2004-07-15T13:15:46Z")
Ah, I love **Collective Soul**. A great thinking man’s AOR band. Ed Roland is super talented. My favorite album is _Dosage_ (1999). It’s Genesis, Dire Straits, and ELO all rolled into one. 😉 Did you know that Collective Soul has more Number One rock radio hits in North America than any other act during the 1990s? More than Radiohead. More than Pearl Jam. More than U2. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collective-soul-greatest-hits-or-not/255223/4 "2004-07-15T16:21:47Z")
> [@Chunky Bum](#): > > Ah, I love **Collective Soul**. A great thinking man’s AOR band. I think that’s probably the best description I’ve read of **Collective Soul**. They have a habit of recording albums. Not songs. If you want to be able to listen a couple of their songs, get the greatest hits. If you want to listen to a good album, get either _Dosage_ or _Collective Soul_. ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collective-soul-greatest-hits-or-not/255223/5 "2004-07-15T16:27:34Z")
Did Collective Soul break up? ---
**Author:** ![Chunky\_Bum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Chunky\_Bum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chunky_Bum)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collective-soul-greatest-hits-or-not/255223/6 "2004-07-15T16:34:25Z")
> [@Chastain86](#): > > Did Collective Soul break up? No. They just started a World Tour, with a new album due in the fall. ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collective-soul-greatest-hits-or-not/255223/7 "2004-07-15T16:40:41Z")
> [@Maus Magill](#): > > If you want to be able to listen a couple of their songs, get the greatest hits. If you want to listen to a good album, get either _Dosage_ or _Collective Soul_. I’d agree with those recs.! _Collective Soul_ is still my favorite, I think. Though _Disciplined Breakdown_ is great, too. CS is one of those great bands where you can’t go wrong with either the GH or going album by album. Some greatest hits collections are made up of novelty songs or concessions to radio, but CS is always amazingly consistent in their sound- so their singles are always as true to their identity as the non-singles. That being said, each album since _Disciplined Breakdown_ seems to have been giving more and more of a nod to techno-flavored stuff. Which isn’t necessarily bad. . . I just hope it doesn’t mean Ed’s getting bored. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collective-soul-greatest-hits-or-not/255223/8 "2004-07-15T21:04:01Z")
> [@Moody Bastard](#): > > … CS is always amazingly consistent in their sound… I have 3 albums of thiers and can concur. So much so in fact \* that you can’t tell some songs from others!\* Got sick of them pronto! I would say the hits album would be more than enough. Hell, get a single of “Shine” and you have pretty much the whole catalog. I’ll sell ya all I have, cheap! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collective-soul-greatest-hits-or-not/255223/9 "2004-07-15T21:10:22Z")
> [@Moody Bastard](#): > > … CS is always amazingly consistent in their sound… I have 3 albums of thiers and can concur. So much so in fact \* that you can’t tell some songs from others!\* Got sick of them pronto! I would say the hits album would be more than enough. Hell, get a single of “Shine” and you have pretty much the whole catalog. I’ll sell ya all I have, cheap! ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collective-soul-greatest-hits-or-not/255223/10 "2004-07-15T21:42:39Z")
Well, I was listening through the sample tracks on _Collective Soul_ last night and was reminded that I’d actually owned that album at one point. Must’ve traded it in for car insurance money or groceries or something. So I got that album and then bought “Shine” from the first one. (yeah) Viva la iTunes!