Published on Jan 31, 1998
Scoring a smash hit on your first try can be murder on your
career.
Ask Collective Soul, whose first effort “Shine” was a smash hit
on both alternative and modern rock radio stations. Its success led
their debut album,
Hints, Allegations And Things Left Unsaid to rampant
success, and Ed Roland and crew landed a coveted spot on the bill
of Woodstock ’94.
But when all the hype is gone, what you’re left with is an
average, albeit somewhat pleasant, effort that otherwise plows no
new ground.
There’s no denying the fact that “Shine” is a killer track. The
three guitar attack of Roland, his brother Dean and Ross Childress
leave no dount that this track will bore its way into your mind.
Bassist Will Turpin and drummer Shane Evans solidify the effort
with a solid backbeat. In fact, the song’s only real “weakness” is
in the pauses during the bridges, where Ed Roland says “yeah” – if
you have a sick mind like I do, you tend to flow in additional
commentary. But I digress.
Collective Soul manages to keep the energy level pretty high for
the first few songs of the album. “Goodnight, Good Guy” would have
been a great follow-up track on rock radio, as would have “Sister
Don’t Cry” – or even later in the album, “Reach”.
Unfortunately, the band is not able to maintain the same energy
and quality levels they set early on throughout the rest of
Hints, Allegations And Things Left Unsaid. “Breathe” is a
track that could have been a great number, but slightly falls short
of the mark… though not by much. “Wasting Time” is too slow and
laid back for my tastes, while “Heaven’s Already Here,” “In A
Moment” and “All” just fall flat. In the end, tracks sounding
similar to each other is what does this album in.
The one thing I will say about this album is that, five years
and two more albums later, you can see the progression of the band
beginning, almost to the point where
Disciplined Breakdown‘s “Listen” is a natural successor to
“Goodnight, Good Guy”. Where I think the difference lies is that,
in 1998, the band has greatly improved their songwriting skills –
skills which show they were in development on
Hints, but not quite there yet.
In the end,
Hints, Allegations And Things Left Unsaid will be remembered
for “Shine,” and that might not be a bad thing. But it would have
been nicer if more material had stood out on this effort.