‘Give Me A Word: The Collective Soul Story’ – Documentary Review

Recently, Collective Soul released on Blu-Ray, their very own documentary entitled ‘Give Me A Word: The Collective Soul Story’ and I finally had a chance to sit down and watch it. And I am so glad I did. One of my all time favorite bands, I feel Collective Soul is one of the most underrated bands out there. They have a unique sound and tone that is all their own. You hear one of the many cool-ass riffs they’ve written and you know in an instant that is Collective Soul. You hear the vocals of lead singer, Ed Roland, and you know it is Collective Soul.

The band hails from Stockbridge, Georgie which is just south of Atlanta and because of that, I consider them a local band for me as I lived just outside of Atlanta myself. Thanks to the college radio station at Georgia State University (where my wife went to college around that time), the world was introduced to the song ‘Shine’ thanks to radio DJ Southside Steve…man, I so remember that station and DJ. Brings back so many fond radio memories. It was because of that little college radio station playing ‘Shine’ that the band drew interest and were signed to Atlantic Records. They released their debut album, ‘Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid’ which was really only a collection of demos. They felt, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

The documentary kicks off with the band recording an album at Elvis Presley’s Palm Springs house and shows the band recording as well as talking to them about the history of the band. While they were there recording, Lisa Marie Presley passed away which is a little surreal for them.

We go back to the debut and they walk through their time with Atlantic and then how things fell apart once their contract was up with the label. Ross Childress, lead guitarist, slept with Ed Roland’s wife so he was out of the band. The original drummer, Shane Evans, got in to drugs and was in a really bad place and he left the band. That left Ed, his brother Dean and bass player Will Turpin to carry on, which they did.

The band brought in some new players, but once they found Johnny Rabb on drums and Jesse Triplett on lead guitar, the band was again set and now had one of their best line-ups since the original gang. Johnny Rabb at one time was one of the fastest drumers in the world as he hit 1071 (around there) beats in a minute. Nuts. Despite line-up changes, the sound is and has always been nothing but the Collective Soul sound. And one of the best guitar riff bands out there ever.

There are some great moments like them working with Mickey Thomas (Starship) and hearing Mickey sing and man, the man hasn’t lost his touch. I learned that Dolly Parton covered their hit song ‘Shine’ and won a freaking Grammy while the boys have never been nominated for one. Sammy Hagar was in it as well as Van Halen took Collective Soul out on tour with them back in 1995.

Then there were the heartfelt moments when Ed lost his best friend, parted with his manager, the crash that nearly cost him his life while it did cost the life of another friend, and many other little tragedies while at the same time saying he has never had a bad day in his life!! He said he had some hard ones, but never a bad one.

This documentary gives you the many highs and lows they went through as a band and yet they are still going strong. They have now had 12 studio albums, 3 live albums, 1 compilation and multiple E.P’s over 30+ years while selling over 15 million albums and have had 7 #1 songs. Most bands would kill for that, but they didn’t have to do that thank goodness.

I learned a lot about Ed’s mind and how it never shuts down. He is constantly writing and working on music. He can’t turn it off, but I don’t think he would if he could. Music is his life and his love that band and the band members is definitely shown. The band has been in a really good place for years and don’t seem to be slowing down. They have consistently given us solid albums and they sound like Collective Soul albums. They don’t feel the need to change anything and honestly, I don’t want them to do that. I buy a Collective Soul album, I want a Collective Soul album and I am never disappointed.

I think this video is something everyone should see to discover a band that worked hard, played fair and gave it their all and have turned this music thing into a lifelong career. I think you would enjoy even if you don’t know anything by the band (or think you don’t know anything) as it shows a band that was persistent, cared for the craft and found success. If it ended tomorrow, they could hold their heads high with pride as they did things the right way and didn’t sell their soul to do it. Collective Soul is a collection of souls whose soul is drenched in music. My Overall Score is a obviously a 5.0 out of 5.0 Stars. This is a band you need to hear and really listen as their music will speak to you as it has spoken to me for 30+ years.