Back in 1997, before the time it ruled over rock radio and poor reception, Creed released its lesser known debut album, “My Own Prison”. A record which, besides all Creed’s (worthy) future bad reputation, stands out as one of the best Post-Grunge albums ever released.
Sure it has its flaws, like the horrible and filler tracks “Sister” and “In America” (the last one really doesn’t fit in the ambient set by the album), or the fact that songs like “My Own Prison” or “What’s This Life For” set a sort of formulaic mood, so recognizable on their (poor) later releases (even if those tracks aren’t bad at all).
But despite those negative points, this record is easily Creed's “magnum opus”.
Going through deep religious/existential turbulence, Scott Stapp sure exorcized all his devils here: in a heavy, dark and intense album, from start to fin*sh. His lyrics are ingeniously provoking, like if he were challenging and rebelling Satan and God at the same time; without the slightest idea of where to go, or what’s his purpose of life. Doubts reflected in his lyrics and also in his singing, which is as raged as never in his career.
The guitar playing is also top-notch. Tremonti displays effectively the deserved heaviness of the album; complemented with melancholic arpeggios or even also exciting guitar solos and bridges, able to increase the heaviness of the album and the adrenalin levels of the listener.
Drumming isn’t bad too. It isn’t anything extraordinary, but it fits very well in the rest of the instrumentation, tempos and overall complexity.
What to say about the bass guitar? It’s simply great. Brian Marshall really shines here, with memorable basslines in tracks like “One”, “Torn” or “Illusion”. He really shows in this record why “Weathered” (3rd album of the band, he left the group at that time) lacks a lot in bass playing (role taken by Tremonti).
And gathering all the music, the production makes it pretty radio-friendly and commercial. Increasing even more its catchiness, and preserving a proper level of rawness.
So, considering all the context that involves Creed’s career and Post-Grunge history, this album is quality music with a strong, well-managed concept (as I said before, religious faith crisis), and consequently a milestone of its genre.
