Collective Soul

Youth, the new album from the platinum selling Collective Soul, is like a loud explosion over a soft blanket of guitar, with a dash of keyboards separating it from the average rock album. Singer Ed Roland's voice joins this mix with an ability to go from aggressive to sultry. The musical intro to "There's A Way” almost sounds like a male rock version of Ladytron, showing how diverse this group can be. There is a wide mesh of styles brought in throughout the album, which can often be heard intrasong. Throughout the majority of Youth, the songs switch intermittently from electronic to rootsy rock. The electronic portions are the most interesting because they don’t try to comfort you, this is because comforting doesn’t always work, and it is a lot easier to unsettle you.