Collective Soul have now emerged as on of the surprise success stories of the ‘90s. Neither blatantly “alternative” or particularly “hip”, these wild-eyed Southern boys have continually proven that well-crafted, well-played rock and roll can defy trends, styles and movements. Guitar/vocalist Ed Roland and bandmates Ross Childress, (guitar), Dean Roland (guitar), Shane Evans (drums), and Will Turpin (bass), have now returned to the scene with their third album, Disciplined Breakdown, that continues the already-noble musical traditions that CS first established with their two previous million-selling discs, Hints, Allegations and Things Left Unsaid and Collective Soul. Recently we caught up with the soft spoken Ed Roland to discuss the group’s new disc, as well as what lies ahead for this platinum-coated quintet.

Hit Parader: How would you describe the differences between this album and your first two?

Ed Roland: There was a huge difference between the first two. The first one was really a solo album. The second was a real band effort. This one is kind of a continuation of the last one. It does show the growth the band has undergone over the last few years. When you go on the road with bands like Aerosmith and Van Halen, and get the chance to perform on stage in front of 15,000 people every night, there should be some growth, don’t you think? Well, the growth is evident on these songs- at least I hope it is.

HP: There seems to be a very “live” feel to a lot of these songs.

ER: That’s good; that’s what we were looking for. The fact is that we really took our time on this album, but despite taking twice as much time recording this album as we took to record the last one, we got more of a live feel. Maybe working out of my house was the reason we were so successful in getting the kind of musical vibe we were looking for. Basically we set up everything in my kitchen and just played when the mood hit us. We were kind of tied up in some business matters during the time we were working on the album, so we really couldn’t do anything except write and record. We ended up with something like 30 songs. It wasn’t easy cutting down to the final group of 12 that made it onto the album.

HP: Is there a particular significance to the title Disciplined Breakdown?

ER: Yeah, there is. As I was saying, we had some business problems with our former manager that we had to clear up, and we did it through tail-end of the last year. It was a real nerve-wracking time for us, but I can’t say that we went through a nervous breakdown even though we came close at times. We had more of a disciplined breakdown. So since this album kind of reflects that period of time, and what we were going through, we thought Disciplined Breakdown was a good title.

HP: Tell us about your favorite track on the album.

ER: Maybe my favorite song is Precious Declaration which is about freedom and the chance that you get to enjoy yourself. It’s something we may all take for granted, but in the business situation we had found ourselves in during the last two years, a lot of freedom had been taken away from us. You don’t realize how important your freedom is until it’s taken away from you.

HP: With two successive platinum albums to your credit, did you fell a great deal of pressure this time around?

ER: There was so much pressure on us from what was going on in the rest of our lives, that playing music was our biggest relief. So we really felt no pressure with making the music for this album. That was a lot of fun. I think the success we’ve had over the last three years has given us a lot of confidence, and perhaps you can hear that in some of the songs. But we certainly haven’t gone crazy. We don’t have that “we can put out anything and people will buy it” attitude. I know some bands get that feeling once they’ve had some success. Not us. We want to play the music that make the fans happy.

HP: Playing “fan friendly” music is very “un-90s”, don’t you think?

ER: I really never thought about it that way, but you may be right. I don’t really know why people have accepted us so well. We don’t play the kind of music that seems to be really popular now. I think if I did think about that, it would freak me out. All we do is play the music we like. We’re very honest about our music; we are what we are. I’ve always believed that good rock and roll music isn’t trendy. There’s always and audience for that. We haven’t tried to fit into the ‘90s, and I think we’ve succeeded.

HP: You spent so much time on the road over the last few years, both headlining and opening for the likes of Van Halen and Aerosmith. On this tour will you still occasionally open?

ER: No way! While I certainly enjoyed touring with bands like that, it’s time for us to try things on our own. We know we’ll be taking a big step back in terms of the size of the places we’ll be able to play, but it’s time for us to pay our dues as headliners. With three albums out, we’ve got enough material for a whole headlining set, and that’s really important. Even with two albums, you had to play virtually everything on both albums to play a two hour show. Now we can pick and choose what we want to play. It’s a good situation.

HP: What was the highlight of touring the world with some of rock’s most famous bands?

ER: It’s an unbelievable thrill to just sit back stage and talk to Eddie Van Halen or Joe Perry. These are people I idolized! I still idolize them! It’s a big kick to be able to watch them play every night. You can learn so much from just watching what they do and the way they do it. But at the same time, seeing them made me realize that it’s time for us to step out on our own. We want our own stage, and know it’s our crowd. It’s time for us to make our stand.