Creed is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) selling acts in recent music history. Led by frontman Scott Stapp and his religious beliefs, it was a big debate over whether the band was a Christian rock group, or a modern-mainstream rock group. You could answer both to that debate and not be wrong. The point is, is that after their third release, entitled
Weathered, it appeared as if the band was going downhill. Most of the songs on this album reflect that, with their trademark style of entering in with a clean guitar, hitting the distortion right before the chorus, and having Scott singing very poorly.
Creed was:
Scott Stapp: Vocals
Scott Phillips: Drums
Mark Tremonti: Guitar
A touring bass was used to record the bass parts for the album.
One Last Breath, My Sacrafice and
Don’t Stop Dancing, the three singles on the album, each show a different side of the album, but are the lows. The only one with any remote success is My Sacrafice. Unlike the other two, and about 80% of the album, the guitar work is very good. It isn’t complicated, but enough work was done to make it interesting. As most songs on here, it starts out with a clean guitar and works its way into the chorus, where Scott does some decent singing (which is rare). One Last Breath features the same layout as My Sacrafice and most other songs on here, start with a clean guitar, chorus, ect. The lyrics weren’t even good, so it subtracts from the overall album when one of your main single’s lyrics aren’t even comprehendible, in the sense of using the right wording. Don’t Stop Dancing features the rest of the album, where the musicianship is good, but the lyrics aren’t that great. Pretty mediocre, considering there are two gems on this album that stand (musically, at least) above the rest of the CD.
These two songs are
Bullets and the title track
Weathered. Bullets features probably the most aggressive that they have been (until the formation of Alter Bridge), and although the lyrics aren’t the best, they can suffice, considering what is on the rest of the album. Mark does a weird intro on the guitar, almost as it was changing its image, if you will. Everything about this song (musically) is great, and could go down as one of Creed’s better songs. It is definitely one of the best on this album, and it shows. Weathered, features the same old, uninspired intro with a clean guitar, but this time, Creed, instead of doing a love song, type where you are trying to make up for something, they go and do a song about overcoming certain things to get where you want. The guitar work done by Tremonti was great, compared to the rest of the album. It was very melodic and dark, and somewhat progressive. To Me, it is the best song on the CD.
There is one song that differs musically from the rest, and that is
Who’s Got My Back?. The song is over 8 minutes long, and has an Indian chant, although the song relates nothing to that. The instruments work are great, but Scott’s lyrics just kill the song.
Signs is another example of how this album contains bad lyrics, but good instrumental work. The other songs, excluding
Hide are just bad, lyrically and musically and take away from the overall album. For example, the closing song
Lullaby is a terrible way to close the CD, as it features Scott singing to an acoustic guitar, and the lyrics are the same, so it doesn’t make it any better.
Freedom Fighters is a great example of a filler track, as nothing about it is listenable.
Pros:
Tremonti’s Guitar Work
Instrumentation
Intro was a great way to start CD, although it didn’t last long (second track [freedom fighters]was filler)
Cons
Scott’s Lyrics
Not enough solos
The good songs can’t make up for the bad ones, giving it a bad ratio
The closer was horrible
Despite the bad songs, this album is still listenable, yet you will have to skip a few tracks. Great guitar work makes up for the traditional, usually lame vocals. The rhythm section was alright. It did its job. I give this a 3/5.
