Producers include: Ed Roland, Ross Childress.

Engineers include: Greg Archilla.

Personnel: Ed Roland (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Dean Roland, Ross Childress (guitar); Shane Evans (drums, percussion); Will Turpin (percussion).

Audio Mixer: Tom Lord-Alge.

Recording information: Tree Studios, Atlanta, GA.

Photographers: Mil Cannon; David LaChapelle.

Collective Soul scored with some of the most melodic rock hits of the '90s, and most are included on this album, which, it seems, came out perhaps a little too early in the band's career. 7even Year Itch brings together all their charted American hot 100 singles and chart-topping rock tracks, including the grunge-heavy rockers "Shine" and "Heavy," the hook-laden "December" and "Precious Declaration," the soaring "The World I Know," and the gorgeous "Run" and "Listen." Beyond their major chart hits, however, the band scored an impressive number of rock radio hits, and some of those are accounted for, including the electric dance rocker "Gel" and "Why Pt. 2," the only real hit from the album Blender. What taints this otherwise engaging 52-minute collection, however, is that way too many hits are left off, including "No More No Less," "Where the River Flows," "Smashing Young Man," "Untitled," and "Maybe," and there is plenty of room for those songs on this album. Additionally, the inclusion of the non-hit "Forgiveness" over the omitted tracks is somewhat bewildering. Finally, the album's two new tracks, "Energy" and "Next Homecoming," easily rank as some of the most uninspired music Collective Soul has ever recorded. So, even though the hits are great, this collection proves more frustrating than anything else, and leaves one hoping that next time they'll get it right. As a final note, the hard to find soundtrack single "She Said" is also (thankfully) included. ~ Jose F. Promis

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

Led by the raspy-voiced Ed Roland, Collective Soul avoided falling into the morass of sameness plaguing many of their faceless post-grunge brethren and instead quietly established themselves as one of the more intellectually stimulating bands of the '90s. For its 7EVEN YEAR ITCH compilation, this Georgia quartet consistently displays a deceptively simple approach that avoids bandwagon-jumping and instead focuses on hook-laden, guitar-driven manna with the occasional philosophical observation (not surprising as the band's name is an Ayn Rand reference).

Avoiding any hint of didactic pretensions, Roland's songwriting often touches on simple truths, be it the quest for guidance by a higher being in "Shine" (which was later given a gorgeous bluegrass reading by Dolly Parton), the pain of solitude on the moving "The World I Know," or the glory of absolution addressed in "Forgiveness." Even the new songs included on this collection continue down this path of introspection. With a more rhythmically hard-hitting approach than normal, "Next Homecoming" seeks out a sense of security in an unsure future while "Energy" churns out an insistent groove over a declaration of suspected betrayal. 7EVEN YEAR ITCH prove hooks and brainy concepts needn't be mutually exclusive of each other.