72: I'm Newly Calibrated

72. "Better Now" by Collective Soul [iTunes? Yes] {Video: Better Now.}

I wrote briefly about Collective Soul way back at #192 with their first hit, "Shine." I really like Collective Soul. They seem a bit out of place when compared to other late-90s, early-00's bands. They weren't really "alternative." They were never "hip" or "cool." I'm pretty sure Collective Soul has never been called a "jiggy" band.

They just play the guitar and rock.

After they hit the scene with "Shine," they had several other minor hits. They quickly settled into a rhythm, where they would release an album and I would really like two or three songs on that album. These songs, like "Gel," "Heavy," and "Run," would all be really good, but just lacking some little thing to push them over the top to being great songs.

The song "Why, Part 2" almost made it to great status. It's a really good rocker of a song, and I actually included it in one of the rough drafts of the HondoJoe Top 200. But, eventually it missed the cut.

And then there's this song. "Better Now" is an excellent rock song. It has driving guitars. The riff is a little reminiscent of "Rock You Like a Hurricane" by the Scorpions, except better. The song has a bit of an optimistic feel to it with the whole "Better Now" vibe. (It also helps that lead singer Ed Roland has a low enough voice that I can at least attempt to sing along.)

But what really makes "Better Now" slightly better than all the other really good Collective Soul songs is the out-of-nowhere, totally unexpected saxophone. The song is three minutes and fifteen seconds long, and it is pretty much just heading for the closing fade-out when, with 38 seconds left, the saxophone comes a-blaring!

I've said before that I don't usually care for long instrumental fade-outs, but this is a definite exception. I'm not sure why, but that closing saxophone just really brings the whole song together and makes it awesome.

(I think the band added the sax on later, because if you watch the video, there is absolutely no one playing the sax at the end while the rest of the band plays on the guitars. In fact, a different version of the video features the song without the fading sax, and the song most definitely lacks without it.)

COMING UP NEXT: A song not sung by a chipmunk.