Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid
Encyclopedia
Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid is the debut album of Atlanta
rock band
Collective Soul
. It was originally released as a demo on a small indie label in Atlanta called Rising Storm Records. However, the track "Shine
" attracted attention to the band thanks to college radio. They signed on with Atlantic Records
and, in 1994, re-released the demo as an official studio album
under the Atlantic label.
The album's title is derived from the lyrics of Paul Simon
's 1986 hit "You Can Call Me Al
". The cover art itself is a modified version of the original logo of Stephen Sondheim
's 1979 Broadway musical, Sweeney Todd
. The album's opening track, "Shine," would become arguably Collective Soul's biggest hit.
hoped to simply sell the songs to a publishing company rather than begin a band. He gave the demo to a small college radio station in Atlanta, Georgia
which began playing "Shine." The track quickly became their most requested song and the band was asked to perform some concerts for the station. Favoring an opportunity to perform a few shows with his brother, Roland agreed and regathered the demo's guitarist and drummer as well as his brother Dean.
However, the attention gained by "Shine" allowed it to chart and catapulted the band to national stardom. They were soon picked up by Atlantic Records
who wished to release the demo as the debut studio album
of Collective Soul. In a 1995 interview, Roland elaborated on his mixed feelings regarding the situation:
Consequently, Collective Soul would regard their self-titled 1995 studio album under Atlantic as the band's official debut. Roland told Metal Edge
, "It's so funny for people to compare the two. It's like comparing one band to another band. [Collective Soul] is our first record, flat out."
during their Get a Grip Tour
.
Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid featured three singles, the most successful of which was "Shine
." Aside from radio popularity, the song also had a music video
which received airplay on MTV
.
-influenced contemporaries.
Chuck Eddy of Entertainment Weekly
gave a somewhat sarcastic review, describing the album as "bubble-gum
grunge: an idea whose time has come."
.
The 1993 version included an additional track not on the Atlantic version, an orchestral ballad titled "Beautiful World."
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
rock band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
Collective Soul
Collective Soul
Collective Soul is an American rock band originally formed in Stockbridge, Georgia. Collective Soul broke into mainstream popularity with their first hit single, "Shine", which came from their debut album Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid, released in 1993...
. It was originally released as a demo on a small indie label in Atlanta called Rising Storm Records. However, the track "Shine
Shine (Collective Soul song)
"Shine" is a song by American post-grunge band Collective Soul. It served as the lead single from their 1993 debut album Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid. "Shine" would remain the band's most well known song and a hallmark of 1990s alternative rock. It became the #1 Album Rock Song of...
" attracted attention to the band thanks to college radio. They signed on with Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
and, in 1994, re-released the demo as an official studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
under the Atlantic label.
The album's title is derived from the lyrics of Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
's 1986 hit "You Can Call Me Al
You Can Call Me Al
"You Can Call Me Al" is a song by Paul Simon, the first single released from his album Graceland. The song originally charted in the U.S. at No. 44 in October 1986 but it was reissued with greater promotion in March 1987 and hit No. 23. In the UK it peaked at No. 4, while in Sweden and the...
". The cover art itself is a modified version of the original logo of Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
's 1979 Broadway musical, Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as then antagonist of the Victorian penny dreadful The String of Pearls and he was later introduced as an antihero in the broadway musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and its film adaptation...
. The album's opening track, "Shine," would become arguably Collective Soul's biggest hit.
Background and release
Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid was recorded in a basement in 1992 and intended as a promotional demo. Band frontman Ed RolandEd Roland
Edgar Eugene Roland III was born August 3, 1963 in Stockbridge, Georgia. He is an American musician and vocalist of the alternative rock band Collective Soul. He is the primary songwriter and also contributes guitars, keyboards, producing, and engineering....
hoped to simply sell the songs to a publishing company rather than begin a band. He gave the demo to a small college radio station in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
which began playing "Shine." The track quickly became their most requested song and the band was asked to perform some concerts for the station. Favoring an opportunity to perform a few shows with his brother, Roland agreed and regathered the demo's guitarist and drummer as well as his brother Dean.
However, the attention gained by "Shine" allowed it to chart and catapulted the band to national stardom. They were soon picked up by Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
who wished to release the demo as the debut studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
of Collective Soul. In a 1995 interview, Roland elaborated on his mixed feelings regarding the situation:
- "It wasn't even remixedAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
. It was the same demo. Before we got signed we'd already charted with 'Shine.' Once we got signed I said, 'We want to rerecord. This is not a band recording.' But they said, 'You're gonna lose momentum. You're looking at a three to five month process. So let's go with it and you can get your next record out quick.' We thought it would be great to sell 10-20,000 units. [When it went gold], we were sitting there with our eyes wide open."
Consequently, Collective Soul would regard their self-titled 1995 studio album under Atlantic as the band's official debut. Roland told Metal Edge
Metal Edge
Metal Edge was a magazine covering heavy metal music published by Zenbu Media. It was founded in the summer of 1985, during the height of Glam metal's success.Both Metal Edge and its sister publication, Metal Maniacs, ceased operations in 2009....
, "It's so funny for people to compare the two. It's like comparing one band to another band. [Collective Soul] is our first record, flat out."
Promotion and touring
Collective Soul performed at Woodstock 1994 and opened for AerosmithAerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
during their Get a Grip Tour
Get a Grip Tour
The Get a Grip Tour was a concert tour by American hard rock band Aerosmith that lasted over eighteen months, from early June 1993 to mid-December 1994...
.
Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid featured three singles, the most successful of which was "Shine
Shine (Collective Soul song)
"Shine" is a song by American post-grunge band Collective Soul. It served as the lead single from their 1993 debut album Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid. "Shine" would remain the band's most well known song and a hallmark of 1990s alternative rock. It became the #1 Album Rock Song of...
." Aside from radio popularity, the song also had a music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
which received airplay on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
.
Reception
The album gained overall positive reception from critics. Hints was given credit for its strong melodies but a less savory response regarding its apparent lack of originality. Also of note was Collective Soul's more upbeat sound amidst their more angst, grungeGrunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
-influenced contemporaries.
Chuck Eddy of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave a somewhat sarcastic review, describing the album as "bubble-gum
Bubblegum pop
Bubblegum pop is a genre of pop music with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers.Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972...
grunge: an idea whose time has come."
Track listing
All songs written by Ed RolandEd Roland
Edgar Eugene Roland III was born August 3, 1963 in Stockbridge, Georgia. He is an American musician and vocalist of the alternative rock band Collective Soul. He is the primary songwriter and also contributes guitars, keyboards, producing, and engineering....
.
- "ShineShine (Collective Soul song)"Shine" is a song by American post-grunge band Collective Soul. It served as the lead single from their 1993 debut album Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid. "Shine" would remain the band's most well known song and a hallmark of 1990s alternative rock. It became the #1 Album Rock Song of...
" – 5:05 - "Goodnight, Good Guy" – 3:35
- "Wasting Time" – 3:27
- "Sister Don't Cry" – 3:52
- "Love Lifted Me" – 3:48
- "In a Moment" – 3:53
- "Heaven's Already Here" – 2:13
- "Pretty Donna (Instrumental)" – 1:58
- "Reach" – 4:21
- "BreatheBreathe (Collective Soul song)"Breathe" is the second single from Collective Soul's first album, Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid. The song became a moderate radio hit, and peaked at #12 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart....
" – 3:03 - "Scream" – 3:00
- "Burning Bridges" – 3:36
- "All" – 3:29
The 1993 version included an additional track not on the Atlantic version, an orchestral ballad titled "Beautiful World."
Personnel
Although Ed Roland has stated that the musicians on the recording Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid were entirely different from Collective Soul's future recordings, the follow people are credited in its Atlantic reissue:- Ed RolandEd RolandEdgar Eugene Roland III was born August 3, 1963 in Stockbridge, Georgia. He is an American musician and vocalist of the alternative rock band Collective Soul. He is the primary songwriter and also contributes guitars, keyboards, producing, and engineering....
– lead vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Dean Roland – guitar
- Ross ChildressRoss ChildressRoss Childress is a guitarist and songwriter, best known as the former lead guitarist and co-songwriter of American rock band Collective Soul from 1993 to 2001...
– lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure... - Will Turpin – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Shane Evans – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Additional musicians
- Matthew Serletic – keyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
s, tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s and string arrangementString sectionThe string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
s on "Sister Don't Cry" and "Pretty Donna" - Joe Randolph – guitar on "Goodnight, Good Guy," "Love Lifted Me" and "Scream"
- Melissa Ortega – solo violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
on "Wasting Time"
String ensemble
- Jun-Ching Lin – leaderConcertmasterThe concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
, violin I - David Braitberg – violin II
- Paul Murphy – violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Daniel Laufer – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
Production
- Ed Roland, Matthew Serletic, Joe Randolph – producers
- Bill Richardson – executive producer
- Ed Roland, Matthew Serletic – mixers and engineers
- Matthew Serletic – mastering
- Mike Childers – digital editing
- DTP-Mike Childers – artwork
- Mario Castellanos – photography
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Top Heatseekers | 1 |
| 1994 | The Billboard 200 | 15 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | "Shine" | Billboard Hot 100 | 11 |
| Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 | ||
| Modern Rock Tracks | 4 | ||
| Top 40 Mainstream | 4 | ||
| "Breathe" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 12 |