It’s been said that the only things on Earth that could survive a nuclear blast are cockroaches, but if any humans have shown their ability to survive, it’s the guys in Collective Soul. After a stint as the biggest band in the world for a couple of weeks in 1995, they’ve survived certain commercial death at least five times — most recently in 2005, when they released what seemed like a surefire career-killer, a live album backed by a youth orchestra.

Yet, two years later, they’re back with a new album. Afterwords, painfully, is exactly what you’d expect: a ruthlessly efficient, lifeless rock record. As they tend to do, Collective Soul put together a collection of songs that are decently constructed — solid beats and melodies just catchy enough to get stuck in your head, destined for anonymous radio play. What’s missing is any semblance of personality. Not only does the band fail to differentiate themselves from any other modern rock act, even the individual songs on Afterwords are hard to tell apart. It’s 11 songs and 40 minutes of pure formula. Granted, the formula has kept Collective Soul going for over a decade, but you’d be better served by searching out their mid-’90s work in the discount bin.