7even Year Itch: Greatest Hits 1994-2001

1	Heavy
2	She Said
3	Shine
4	Energy
5	Run
6	Gel
7	Precious Declaration
8	Why Pt. 2
9	The World I Know
10	Next Homecoming
11	Listen
12	December
13	Forgiveness

Barnes & Noble

It's easy to forget about Collective Soul. They don't resort to offensive stage antics, they don't make headlines by getting arrested, and they don't cavort with Donald Trump. All Ed Roland and company have done in the past seven years is create radio staple after radio staple, songs that stick in the head long after the flavor of the week has evaporated from memory. This collection brings together all the band's hits -- riff-driven rockers like the still-uplifting "Shine" as well as gentler songs like the piano-laced ballad "Run" -- and adds a pair of new songs sure to appeal to the Soul-stirrers out there. "Energy," as befits its title, harnesses Roland's trademark blend of yearning and hope to a driving (but not overpowering) hunk of nicely hewn rock. "Next Homecoming," the other new addition to the band's catalog, is more pensive, pairing a subtle dynamism with a forward-looking narrative that's intended to make the listener think as well as feel. There's nothing terribly fancy about that formula, but when you get down to it, Collective Soul are one of the few modern-day chart denizens trying to make it work. David Sprague

All Music Guide

Collective Soul had just enough good singles to make you think that a collection such as 7even Year Itch would be a great guilty pleasure for all of those who hummed along to "Shine" even as they bought Nine Inch Nails and Alice in Chains discs. And it is true that there are some very good songs here, such as the assured "Shine," the tempered power ballad "December," and the terrific Urge Overkill rip "Gel," perhaps not their biggest hit but arguably their finest moment. These, of course, are all on 7even Year Itch, but there aren't quite enough other cuts in this 13-track collection to convince the doubters (the non-chronological sequencing doesn't really help matters, either). But even if this collection doesn't make the case for being a great populist, critically shunned band (Stone Temple Pilots hold that title for the '90s), it still does summarize Collective Soul's career well, and will be of interest to the casual listeners who enjoyed certain songs on the radio during the heady post-grunge days of the second half of the '90s. Stephen Thomas Erlewine