7even Year Itch - Greatest Hits (1994-2001)

Album Review

Collective Soul had just enough good singles to make you think that a collection such as 7even Year Itch would be a great guilty pleasure for all of those who hummed along to "Shine" even as they bought Nine Inch Nails and Alice in Chains discs. And it is true that there are some very good songs here, such as the assured "Shine," the tempered power ballad "December," and the terrific Urge Overkill rip "Gel," perhaps not their biggest hit but arguably their finest moment. These, of course, are all on 7even Year Itch, but there aren't quite enough other cuts in this 13-track collection to convince the doubters (the non-chronological sequencing doesn't really help matters, either). But even if this collection doesn't make the case for being a great populist, critically shunned band (Stone Temple Pilots hold that title for the '90s), it still does summarize Collective Soul's career well, and will be of interest to the casual listeners who enjoyed certain songs on the radio during the heady post-grunge days of the second half of the '90s.