Collective Soul – Dosage
My previous album review from my favorite albums post was a review of Collective Soul’s Blender. The album they released just before that one was Dosage, an even better one. It was so iconic to the band’s sound that they even had a tour years later to re-celebrate the album in its entirety.
Of course we went! Sheesh…
I was working in Texas when this album was released and a co-worker of mine that had an inside scoop on all things Collective Soul clued me in to two upcoming releases by the band. Those singles would turn out to be “Heavy” and “Run” – the album’s two biggest hits. The opening riff of “Heavy” told me everything I needed to know about the song, and it was an instant favorite. Being an acoustic guitar player myself I was also drawn to “Run”. These both got extensive play on my computer at work until the album was actually released. Then I got it. Then I played it.
Wow.
This album was noteworthy for its extensive use of loops, more advanced recording software, and inclusion of lots of synth sounds. The result was a highly polished album. It even featured a track written and sung by the lead guitarist, Ross, which was a first for the band. In typical fashion, it would shift from hard hitting songs like “Heavy” to the softer “No More, No Less” and “Needs”. Another noteworthy song was the ‘hidden’ track “She Said” at the end of the album.
Sidebar: Hidden Tracks – why bother? I mean, in this day and age, maybe it’s not done anymore, but in this particular case I probably listened to the album 3 or 4 times before I noticed it was there. It was actually part of the last track, so you’d have to let the last track play in silence for a bit before it started up. I even remember an album from another band around this time that had an absurd number of tracks (like dozens) where most were just empty and the ‘hidden’ one was a very high number. Why?? Frustratingly unnecessary.
As for “She Said” they would later release this as a standalone track on subsequent albums. So much for trying to hide a great song. Furthermore, I’ve heard the lead singer, Ed, say in concerts that this was his favorite song…so why hide it?!
Ok, I’m over it.
Mostly.
Speaking of concerts, the first time I saw Collective Soul in concert was just after the release of this album. It was in Texas at a music festival called BuzzFest. My only other live concert experience to this point was a horrible night of Alanis Morissette during her Jagged Little Pill tour (fantastic album and a hilarious experience that will be covered in a future post), so I was pleasantly surprised to have enjoyed BuzzFest! They opened with “Heavy” (of course) and I was blown away. Once they left the stage I knew I wanted to see them live again. As I already mentioned, I would get my chance with their next album, Blender. However, because Dosage ended up being such an iconic album, they had a special tour over a decade after its 1999 release in 2012. My wife and I made it a priority to attend and we had a blast being right back up there with Collective Soul at the Tabernacle, which was the venue for the first time we saw them together a decade before. Sadly, this is also the last time we saw them live, though we’re hoping to go at least one more time in the future!
