Approaching their 25th anniversary in 2019, it’s evident the legacy of Collective Soul is as strong as ever. “I think it all comes down to the songs,” Roland believes. “When we started out as a band, we just wanted to write the best songs we could. We always had the mindset of being an album-oriented band. We wanted to create the 10 or 12 best songs we could get on there. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, that’s the hit. That’s the one that’ll be on the radio. Let’s hurry up and finish.’”
What does Roland feel is the best song in the Collective Soul canon? “Well, it’s actually the most necessary song I’ve ever written — and that would be ‘Shine.’ Had it not gotten the attention it did, no other song would have been written. But which one is the best one?” he muses. “It’s the one I wrote yesterday, because that’s the way I treat it. If I think I’ve already written the best song I could write, then I need to stop. I don’t think I’ve even come close. My brother Dean tells me all the time, ‘You just live for that next song!’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah.Yeah, I kinda do.’”
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