News: Collective Soul joins hands with Target for Afterwords

Billboard.com lets the light shine down:

"We definitely considered all means of distribution for this album but this new partnership with Target is a new way of doing business," Collective Soul frontman Ed Roland tells Billboard.com. "There seems to be no right or wrong way in the industry these days and it's exciting to be doing something different. We were with a major label for seven years and five albums. All the new alternatives are very intriguing."

Plus, "there are two stores within miles of one another where I live in Georgia," he says. "I'm literally there every week getting the latest and greatest video game for my son."

On "Afterwords," the group worked behind-the-scenes with prior collaborators Shawn Grove and Anthony J. Resta, while Roland co-wrote with guitarist Joel Kosche. He describes "All That I Know" as "a real different style for the band," while "Good Morning After All" is "triumphant and positive" and "Adored" stands out for its "simplistic arrangement and instrumentation."

"It's all there -- heavy, melodic rock to the three-minute pop song (see radio single 'Hollywood')," Roland says. "We're still a guitar-oriented band, but we're more confident than ever in the music we're making and the reason we're making it."

Someone should tell me in the comments section what the commercial for this record's going to look like.  I mean, that's one of the things that Target's known for.

Remember, alternative rockers of yesteryear, relevancy can be found again in the wide-open arms of big-box retailers.  Something tells me that Dolores O'Riordan should have put in a phone call to Sam Walton a long long time ago.

(stream)    Collective Soul - Various tracks [via MySpace]

Godspeed!