Ed Roland, the frontman and songwriter for Collective Soul, offers no apologies for the band's radio-friendly sound. "We wanted to make a pop/rock record, I'm not afraid to say that," he says of the group's latest outing, Blender. "We understand what kind of band we are -- we're a song-based band that loves melody. That's what we grew up on and that's what we feel most comfortable with." Critics have not been kind to the band over the years, but to millions of fans, the Atlanta-based quintet has nothing to apologize for. Blender is the band's fifth CD, following a string of four albums, three of which reached platinum status.

Although that streak makes the band among the most popular rock groups in the world over the last five years, Roland says they are not letting such success lead to complacency. Which is why they accepted an invitation from Creed to open their recent tour. "No matter what size band we get to be, we want to play to as many people and reach as many people as we can," he explains. "Creed's audience is much bigger than Collective Soul's right now; I'm not that egotistical not to realize that."

Humility like that is almost unheard of in the often ego-driven world of rock & roll, but it fits Roland, who comes across as one of the nicest guys in the business. He credits his "teacher" -- Elton John. Roland and John, who's a part-time Atlanta resident, struck up a friendship a few years ago. "Elton John was my introduction to rock & roll and the reason I wanted to be a songwriter, Roland says. "I've learned a lot from him. It's not just about music. The thing about Elton is he's such a good human being and the things that he's done for his AIDS foundation, you learn from that."

So it was not surprisingly a dream come true for Roland to have John play on Blender. Reg lends his distinctive vocals and piano playing to the rich pop of "Perfect Day" (no relation to the Lou Reed classic of the same name). Roland explains how the collaboration came to be. "We had dinner one night and I said, 'It would be great if you'd sing on the record.' He said, 'I'll sing if you let me play too.' And I was like, "Okay, there you go.'"

Roland says he knew instantly that "Perfect Day" was the right track for John to make his appearance. "We knew immediately when I wrote it that was the song we wanted Elton to perform on and sing on because it has a British pop feel."

Collective Soul also pays homage to another musician whose work they greatly admired on Blender, Morphine's late leader Mark Sandman. Their tribute to Sandman, who died in 1999 in Rome while on stage, comes in the form of a cover of Morphine's "You Speak My Language." The band was listening to Morphine's Good with Blender co-producer Anthony J. Resta when guitarist Ross Childress said something that made "You Speak My Language" stand out. "That song came on and Ross goes, 'Oh my God, that's the coolest guitar riff I've ever heard that's not a guitar,'" recalls Roland. "We all just looked at each other and go, 'Okay, that's the song we'll do.'"

Roland realizes the correlation between his band and Morphine isn't readily apparent. But he hopes that Collective Soul fans will be inspired by the cover to go back and discover Morphine's music for themselves. In talking about Sandman, whose death at only forty-seven shocked the music world, Roland's sensitive side shines through. After pointing out that "Anthony was good drinking buddies with Mark and he told me what a cool cat he was," Roland takes a moment to reflect, then says with a wistful tone, "That's what it's all about. If you can leave behind stories like that and good music, that's a good life."

Of course, it's not necessarily an easy life. Now a father, Roland admits to having had some tough times when it comes to going on the road and leaving his family behind. Beyond the personal issues, there are all the pressures that come with success. Case in point, at the time of this interview, Roland was in Los Angeles to shoot a video that, by his own admission, he didn't know a thing about (he says each band member takes their own responsibilities, and his brother Dean is the video guy).

Still, Roland's not complaining. Collective Soul have found a sure-fire way to maintain their enthusiasm for music, even as detractors continue to take potshots at them for their determination to keep making "pop-rock" records like Blender. "It was fun doing these songs," Roland says. How do you argue with logic like that?