Collective Soul will return to the musical mix next week with the release of its fifth album, "Blender," while the first single from the new record, "Why Pt. 2" is already working its way up the rock and active rock radio charts.

The Atlanta-based band originally issued a track called "Why" as an Australian B-side to the "Breathe" single from the group's 1994 debut, "Hints, Allegations And Things Left Unsaid," although frontman Ed Roland recently explained that "Pt. 2" was not intended to be a sequel to the earlier song.

"Lyrically, it's a song where I just kept singing, 'Why?'" Roland told MTV Radio of the new track.

"So when I was writing this song," he continued, "I just kept singing 'Why' and couldn't get it out of my head. Then I remembered we already had a song [called] 'Why,' so I thought, 'Well, it doesn't have anything to do with that song and not really many people heard that song, so I'll just put 'Pt. 2' at the end of it and try to be cute and clever and move on.' Basically, [I got] lazy and didn't want to rewrite the song." [RealAudio]

Roland also indicated that such a laid-back, nonchalant attitude pervaded much of the recording sessions for "Blender," which he said was a reaction, in some ways, to the meticulousness that went into Collective Soul's previous LP, 1999's "Dosage."

"['Blender'] is a very open and very loose record, and I don't mean that in a sloppy way," he described. "It's just on the last record, we put it under a microscope and we made sure that everything was perfectly placed and perfectly played. It's good to do a record like that, but we spent a lot of time in the studio.

"Whereas with this record, we recorded it in our rehearsal space in Atlanta, which is just this big open room. We rolled in the ProTools, learned the song, and then played it. I don't think anybody took more than three takes, once they learned the part they were going to play, so it has that kind of vibe, which is good."

"There are a couple of [songs], actually, where the first time I sang and played them, we used what you usually call the scratch track," Roland said.

Collective Soul will issue "Blender" on October 10, and the band is currently out and about on the road opening up for fellow Southern rockers Creed. The Creed-Collective Soul outing is scheduled to roll into Spring, Texas on Wednesday night and continue through an October 18 gig in Oklahoma City.

• Collective Soul

Collective Soul is set to issue its fifth album, titled "Blender," on October 10, and the Atlanta-based group will gear up for the record's release by opening several shows for fellow Southern rockers Creed in October and November.

The group recorded "Blender" in an Atlanta studio, with band frontman Ed Roland co-producing along with Anthony J. Resta, who programmed samples on Collective Soul's previous effort, "Dosage," and produced Duran Duran's 1997 LP, "Medazzaland."

Among the new tracks to be included on "Blender" are: "Why," "Skin," "After All," "You Speak My Language," "Boast," "Happiness," "10 Years Later," and "Perfect Day," a collaboration between Collective Soul and one of Roland's admitted idols -- and part-time Atlanta resident -- Elton John.

The title of the new record was chosen by the band from more than 12,000 suggestions by fans taking part in a "Collective Soulection" contest sponsored by Atlanta radio station WNNX in May (see "Collective Soul Wants Fans To Name Next LP").

Dates where you can see Collective Soul supporting Creed:

• 9/22 - Sacramento, CA @ Valley Amphitheater
• 9/23 - Laguna Hills, CA @ Irvine Meadows
• 9/25 - Los Angeles, CA @ Universal Amphitheater
• 9/27 - Phoenix, AZ @ Desert Sky Pavilion
• 9/29 - Albuquerque, NM @ TBA
• 9/30 - Las Cruces, NM @ Pan American Center
• 10/2 - Dallas, TX @ Starplex Amphitheater
• 10/4 - Houston, TX @ Woodlands Amphitheater
• 10/5 - San Antonio, TX @ Alamodome
• 10/7 - Mercedes, TX @ Corpus Christi Showgrounds
• 10/9 - Houston, TX @ Woodlands Amphitheater
• 10/11 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Myriad
• 10/12 - Wichita, KS @ Coliseum
• 10/13 - Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
• 10/15 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Delta Center
• 10/17 - San Francisco, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheater

• Collective Soul

Collective Soul is currently huddled in the studio working on its fifth album, and the band has teamed up with Atlanta radio station WNNX for a "Collective Soulection" contest to name the forthcoming album.

• Collective Soul

Collective Soul is taking its riff-laden rock into a rather unusual corporate arena.

• Collective Soul

By mid-Sunday, the calming effect of performances by artists such as Everlast, Mike Ness, and Elvis Costello had helped to counterbalance Saturday night's metal-fueled mayhem, restoring some semblance of normalcy to the scene at Woodstock '99. But during the last few hours of the three-day concert event, something went inexplicably wrong as concertgoers set fires and wreaked destructive havoc across the compound following the Red Hot Chili Peppers' closing set.

• Collective Soul
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Sevendust

Over 127,000 people were estimated at the Hard Rock RockFest held at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday.

The twelve-hour festival featured sets from the Offspring, Third Eye Blind, Everlast, Eve 6, Sugar Ray, Silverchair, and Collective Soul.

Marvelous 3, Live, Taxiride, and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones also played the event, which featured an impromptu one-on-one volleyball match between former "MTV Sports" host Gabrielle Reece and members of the band Better than Ezra.

Citizen King played in place of New Radicals, who dropped off the bill in mid-May citing illness (see "New Radicals Cancel RockFest Appearance").

The inaugural RockFest has also spawned a mini-tour featuring Smash Mouth, Marvelous 3, and another, yet-to-be-named act (see "RockFest Adds Citizen King; Plans Spin-Off Tour With Marvelous 3, Smash Mouth").

The first set of dates for the RockFest Concert Series is:

• 6/23 - San Antonio, TX @ Sunken Gardens
• 6/27 - Denver, CO @ Mile High Stadium Parking Lot
• 7/25 - Atlantic City, NJ @ Gardener's Basin Park
• 7/31 - Cleveland, OH @ Riverview Parking Lot
• 8/1 - St. Louis, MO @ Union Station Parking Lot

• Collective Soul
• Everlast
• House of Pain
• Sugar Ray

After wrapping separate spring tours, the Cranberries and Collective Soul will head out on the road together for six weeks of amphitheater dates starting on August 5 in Tampa, Florida.

• 8/5 - Tampa, FL @ Sundome
• 8/7 - Miami Beach, FL @ Coral Sky Arena
• 8/9 - Atlanta, GA @ Chastain Park
• 8/10 - Charlotte, NC @ Blockbuster Pavilion
• 8/13 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Arts Center
• 8/14 - Wantagh, NY @ Jones Beach
• 8/17 - Philadelphia, PA @ E-Center
• 8/19 - Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
• 8/21 - Boston, MA @ Tweeter Center
• 8/22 - Hartford, CT @ The Meadows
• 8/24 - Buffalo, NY @ Darien Lake PAC
• 8/27 - Toronto, ONT @ Molson Amphitheater
• 8/28 - Montreal, QUE @ Molson Center
• 8/30 - Detroit, MI @ Pine Knob
• 8/31 - Columbus, OH @ Polaris Amphitheater
• 9/2 - Cleveland, OH @ Blossom Music Theater
• 9/4 - Indianapolis, IN @ Deer Creek Amphitheater
• 9/5 - Chicago, IL @ The World Music Theater
• 9/7 - Minneapolis, MN @ Roy Wilkins Auditorium
• 9/9 - Milwaukee, WI @ Marcus Amphitheater
• 9/10 - St. Louis, MO @ Riverport Amphitheater
• 9/12 - Denver, CO @ Fiddler's Green
• 9/16 - Los Angeles, CA @ Universal Amphitheater
• 9/18 - San Francisco, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheater

• Collective Soul
• The Cranberries

Attention Collective Soul concert-goers: If you want to light up during the group's power ballads, fine. Just don't flick your Bic at Ed Roland.

• Collective Soul

Collective Soul is currently in the midst of a spring tour with fellow Georgians the Marvelous 3, but Ed Roland and company are already eyeing some high profile gigs for later in the year.

• Collective Soul

Collective Soul is back with its fourth album, "Dosage," which has gotten a significant boost over the past two months from its duelling singles: "Run," a ballad which first appeared on the "Varsity Blues" soundtrack, and "Heavy," which is, well, heavier. What's the reason for the double play?

• Collective Soul