Lend an ear to SPINEMA: a column exploring all movie music, music related to movies, and movies related to music. Be they film scores on vinyl, documentaries on legendary musicians, or albums of original songs by horror directors, all shall be reviewed here. Batten down your headphones, because shit’s about to sound cinematic.
Give Me a Word: The Collective Soul Story hit digital platforms today, and arrives on Blu-ray and DVD home video tomorrow, July 8. The source of this review and screen captures is the Apple release, and the compressed images and are not representative of actual picture quality.
Over 30 years since exploding onto a grunge-dominated rock scene with their uplifting single Shine and debut album Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid, Collective Soul is still going strong, continuously touring and putting out new albums. The Georgia outfit experienced massive success early, charting their first single as a demo before even solidifying a lineup, but also weathered numerous trials and challenges, both internally and in the shifting music industry.
Give Me a Word: The Collective Soul Story, filmed in 2023 as the band records what would become their double-album Here to Eternity at Elvis Presley’s west coast estate in Palm Springs, CA, finds the group introspective and grateful as they approach their 30th anniversary.
Speaking personally as the reviewer, I’m a big fan of this band, especially their first four records – Hints was followed by Collective Soul, Disciplined Breakdown, and my personal favorite Dosage – which were all an integral major part of the soundtrack to my high school years. And I’ve stayed with the band and continued to enjoy their new music, though not with the same level of impact or interest as in my youth.
As the band’s creator, frontman, and primary songwriter, Ed Roland gets the most attention in the film, but each current member is featured prominently and former members are also included. While the band’s lineup has had some changes, its core is a family affair, anchored by a core trio almost from the beginning: preacher’s kids Ed and younger brother Dean (rhythm guitar), and their childhood friend Will Turpin on bass.
For many fans like myself, the first iteration of the band, with lead guitarist Ross Childress and drummer Shane Evans, is the one that we are most attached to. I was very pleased to see that both members were interviewed and included in the doc – and then surprised to learn the “terminated with cause” circumstances behind each of their departures, which I was not aware of. (It’s worth noting that we don’t really hear about their departures from their own perspectives, and their interview segments are recorded separately, providing no indication that any reconciliation has taken place, and suggesting the opposite).
The film does get into some raw moments and painful memories, not only on the conflicts that broke up the original band, but personal struggles, the deaths of close friends, and an embattled divorce from the band’s original manager Bill Richardson, someone they regarded fondly as a friend but who also failed as a manager to protect their interests. I was shocked to learn that at the height of their commercial fame, the band members were were living on poverty wages despite selling multiplatinum records.
The film also devotes a segment to another Bill, honoring Bill Turpin (Will’s father, who passed away in 2018), who served as a mentor and teacher to the boys, which is great bit of backstory I wasn’t aware of. Bill owned a recording studio which served as an indispensable backdrop for the developing musicians learning and honing their craft. The band calls their initial breakout a “nine year overnight success” – their sudden arrival was prefaced by nearly a decade of Ed tooling around and learning everything he could about making, recording, and producing music at Real to Reel Studios.
His tireless dedication as a musician is definitely a theme, and one particular segment I found really interesting was Ed reviewing a library of his own brainstorm recordings on his phone – like many musicians he jots down or records his song ideas constantly, reviewing them later to see what sticks. While not unusual, it’s a nice candid(ish) moment looking into his process.
The film has an unenviable task of trying to cram three decades of history into a feature length documentary, and does its best. While I would have liked to see certain things expounded on more, I can’t argue that it didn’t focus on the most important areas: the band’s background and formative years, rise to stardom, first couple of albums, implosion, rebirth, and current status. It’s a good balance: unfortunately the later period (as an independent entity, post-Youth) is glossed over, but in the context of a feature-length film, that’s the right stuff to cut out – instead, the doc honors this era by highlighting the newer members, lead guitarist Jesse Triplett and drummer Johnny Rabb. In addition to the band, the film also highlights some other key team members who are a part of the family, supporting them in other areas like production and marketing.
One omission that truly did surprise me was the band’s collaboration with Elton John on “Perfect Day” (on Blender, the fifth and final record from the Atlantic era with the band’s classic lineup) – doubly surprising since it’s often highlighted by the band as a key milestone.
Aside on the subject of Blender, Ed gave another shocking statement that its (oft hated) Backstreet Boys-esque album cover was an inside joke that backfired. Even now after hearing his take, I kind of question whether he actually understands how much this design choice hurt the band’s image and credibility among fans who didn’t get the joke.
Anyway for the most part that this film is edited pretty well given the challenging constraints. Excusing one jarring instance in which Ed is shown loading a record onto a turntable – even from a brief, obscured view of its cover it’s obviously The Clash’s Combat Rock – and then cutting to him dancing to a completely unrelated tune. This transition just feels like an underestimation of the audience.
As a longtime fan who loves this band, I also loved this documentary and was at times moved to tears, and I actually did learn a lot I didn’t know. Maybe that puts me in a sweet spot; it’s hard to say how more detached or objective viewers would react without being as emotionally invested in the subject. On the other hand, more hardcore fans might not find it as informative as I did. But I can’t imagine any music lovers not finding something of value with this inside look at one of America’s most earnest, original, and enduring rock bands.
A/V Out
Get it at Amazon: Blu-ray | DVD
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