Youth [ENHANCED]

Collective Soul

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 16, 2004)
• Original Release Date: November 16, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: El Music Group
• ASIN: B0003QJRK0
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (231 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #14,714 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty solid album from a pretty solid band, February 9, 2006

By	Eddie Lancekick "A Regulator" (Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

What I like about Collective Soul, is that they continue to put out albums of music that are diverse in theme and style. Hard Rockers, moody drifting tunes, songs with power as well as songs that are funny as well as fun. The lineup doesn't change, the lead singer isn't in rehab every other day. This band is what a rock band should be: Musicians that put on their hard hats, grab their lunch pails, and go to work every day, resulting in a wonderfully diverse discography that spans over a decade.

With "Youth", we have them opening up with a couple of really great toe tapping, powerful tracks in "Better Now" and "There's a way" which have a lot of the background vocals of an "ah ah ah" type feel that were common with the Beatles and later Van Halen. Diversity is one of Collective Soul's strengths as they could never be pegged in my opinion as "formula rock". Tracks like "How do you love" and "Perfect day" are Perfect examples of this. With an album like that, you can listen all the way through and enjoy it forever, and not just be enamored by one or two radio pop hits which later get overplayed and eventually make you throw it in a drawer and forget about it.

The edgy song "Satellite" rounds out the 11 track listing and is one of my favorites. Collective Soul's been around awhile, but all the more reason their music is not, to me, grouped in with any specific generation or era. Whether you deem yourself old or young, "Youth" will make you feel good. Great album by one of the best bands to come out of the 90's.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Welcome Back!, November 16, 2004

By	Pyezahn (CA, USA) - See all my reviews

Thanks to digital locker, I've been listening to this CD for over a month now. It's truly a great CD from begining to end. In my opinion, it's a lot more pop-oriented, commercial, and listener-friendly than their typically 'heavy' rock material. They still have the same distinct sound that us fans have grown to love, it just doesn't have the same hard edge found on previous recordings. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that...bottom line is, it's still great music to listen to. Highly recommended...you wont' be disappointed.

There are a few gems on this CD, yet I still don't think there's anything 'ground-breaking' here, which is why I only gave it 4 stars instead of 5. I think this is truly a great CD, a nice way to get back into the groove, but they're only scratching the surface right now. This band is extremely talented and continually growing and improving with each new venture. I assure you that the next CD will REALLY blow us away.

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A step back...but at least it's a step. , December 3, 2004

By	John P. Thompson (Saint Paul, MN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Collective Soul is back and well..they sound the same for the most part. The music is a little more experimental from their 90's stuff, showing that they haven't moved too far away from 2000's release, Blender. However, the Lyrics to Youth are a lot more uplifting than their last album.

As a fan of the downer lyrics off Blender: 10 Years Later, After All, Over Tokyo, Turn Around, and so on...it really is a change of pace to be hearing songs such as Under Heaven's Skies, Better Now, Satellite and so on.

The closest that Youth ever reaches to Blender's comfortable wallowness is on Him. The bouncy intro, it's questioning lyrics, and hypnotic outro just scream BLENDER! Thank you!

The worst song of the album is easily It Feels Like(It Feels Alright). A rocker gone bad, Ed's voice just sounds horrible during the chorus. However not as bad as the voice that joins in singing "It's alright" near the end. This song does NOT make me feel alright. Another reviewer said Counting The Days was a better rocker than this song and well yes, that's true, but I definitely think There's A Way has them both beat.

The best song hands down on the album is Under Heaven's Skies. The band said during a recent concert I attended that they wanted a rocker to be the first single...boy did they ever screw up. Counting The Days is a decent song, however this song would have owned the airwaves. Simply beautiful. Who could not buy this CD after they heard this song? Bad commerical mistake.

In review, there are a lot of great uplifting songs on this album to keep anyone who is in an optimistic mood happy. Collective Soul may have taken a step in a different direction than what I had hoped for but at least it is a step. Hopefully we won't have to wait 4 years for their next one.