The sonically cinematic, sometimes abrasive, yet always rockin’ approach to music finally has paid off for Georgia rockers Collective Soul.

This past week, the band rewrote modern rock history with the smash hit “Heavy,” off the band’s fourth album, “Dosage.”

“Heavy” has spent a record-breaking 14 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s modern rock charts. The song also broke the record for the number of times a single was played on the radio in one week.

In the final week of March, “Heavy” spun a whopping 6,159 times, beating out Metallica’s “Turn the Page,” which previously held the record with 6,037. Shockingly, those are the only two bands to break the 6,000 mark.

These aren’t the first marks of success for the band, however. Back in 1994, Collective Soul earned Album Rock Song of The Year for “Shine,” off the album “Hints, Allegations and Things Left Unsaid.”

The band earned the award again in 1995 with the hit “December,” off the band’s self-titled follow-up to “Hints…,” making Collective Soul the only band to receive the award two years in a row.

It hasn’t all been awards and glamour though. Those are the afterthoughts of the intense hard work that finally culminated in another record-breaking album.

Recorded at Miami’s Criteria Studios, the band was miles away from the remote log cabin, affectionately known as “The Shack,” where 1997’s “Disciplined Breakdown” was born.

Apparently, the band disliked the unfavorable conditions surrounding that recording, so by moving to a nicer studio at the opposite end of the spectrum, their creative juices were allowed to flow more freely.

The band began an intensive six-month recording spree, experimenting and exploring, and often witnessing numerous sunrises along the way.

The experimentation found bandmembers Ed Roland (vocals, keyboards, guitars), Ross Childress (guitar), Dean Roland (guitar), Will Turpin (bass, percussion) and Shane Evans (drums, percussion) leaving the confines of their own instruments.

Turpin recorded a few songs on the vibes, his major at college, and Evans played bass on one song, but the changes didn’t stop there. Childress penned the pop tune “Dandy Life,” and the Roland brothers even combined forces lyrically on “Slow.”

Collective Soul’s rock ‘n’ roll sensibility also has earned the band appearances on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Late Night with Conan O’ Brien,” gaining the band even more legions of fans.

With intelligent marketing schemes, such as featuring the band’s singles “Run” and “Heavy” on the soundtrack to “Varsity Blues,” along with the band’s innate devotion to spirited rock, Collective Soul will continue to be a success, rocking modern radio into the millennium.

Collective Soul plays the Civic Center in Des Moines tonight at 7:30. Tickets are $22.50.