Posts tagged: Creed

Buy Human Clay

Human Clay is the 1999 second album by Creed, which built on the momentum of their fine 1997 debut to reach their climax of popularity. This #1 album was an instant success which surprisingly debuted at the top of the charts. The record rose to prominence by finding the right combination of post-grunge musical theatrics with anthem-laced pop melodies, laying a foundation that helped the group ride high as we entered into a new century and millennium.

The group’s self-financed debut, My Own Prison, became a surprise hit world wide and, at the time, was one of the Top 200 selling albums of all time. With the proceeds from that album, the group instantly began to compose and record music for a follow-up record, using the same formula of music by guitarist guitarist Mark Tremonti and lyrics by vocalist Scott Stapp.

Producer John Kurzweg also returned for this album. In recognition of what fans craved from the first album and not really being concerned with originality, Kurzweg built a continuation of the group’s successful sonic attack, which paralleled the thematic direction. According to Tremonti, this album’s theme (and cover art) is meant to represent our ability to lead our own path and make our own destiny. This, along with the theme of many songs, gives Human Clay a real spiritual feel throughout.

Human Clay by Creed
Released: September 28, 1999 (Wind-Up) Produced by: John Kurzweg Recorded: Winter 1998-1999
Track Listing	Primary Musicians
Are You Ready? What If Beautiful Say I Wrong Way Faceless Man Never Die With Arms Wide Open Higher Wash Away Those Years Inside Us All	Scott Stapp – Lead Vocals Mark Tremonti – Guitars, Vocals Brian Marshall – Bass Scott Phillips – Drums

The opening track “Are You Ready?” starts with an Eastern sounding intro before fully breaking into its rock verses, complete with some odd chord combos which at once make it a little clunky and a bit interesting. An issue with the early part of Human Clay is the formulaic song craft and this is almost immediately evident as “What If” sounds very similar to the opening track in sequence. However, this second song reached greater popularity as it was used in the film Scream 3 in 2000 and it’s accompanying video worked off that theme. “Beautiful” is another dramatic track with verses delicately picked in contrast to the sloshy rock choruses, while “Say I” is a choppy and thematic dark rocker.

Things start to get interesting with “Wrong Way”, a mini-suite with multiple forms and musical textures to make for a good overall listen. Here, Stapp exercises various levels of power and restraint vocally while Kurzweg adds B3 organ and guest Kirk Kelsey provides mandolin. “Faceless Man” is another good track, perhaps the best thus far on the album, with measured acoustic and electric combinations picked and strummed expertly by Tremonti along its compositional and some stand out bass by Brian Marshall. On the track “Never Die”, the band adopts some Alice-in-Chains-like simplicity with a grunge approach and hammered-on notes in the riff pattern. This track also features Scott Phillips providing his best drumming thus far.

The album finishes strong with its most indelible tracks late in the sequence. “With Arms Wide Open” starts with subtle guitar textures with melodic lead vocals, offering the clearest pop sheen on top of the group’s typical hard edge, including some string arrangements in the uplifting arrangement. This song earned Stapp and Tremonti a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 2001, along with several other awards. “Higher” is the group’s ultimate acoustic grunge anthem with a fantastic hook that made this a great hit. Like the previous song, this makes nice use of bridge/outtro to take the song to a “higher” level. “Wash Away Those Years” follows as a quiet and dark ballad, leading to one final anthemic track, “Inside Us All”, to close the album with a theme that speaks to the “peace inside your soul”.

Human Clay sold nearly 20 million copies worldwide and charted all around the world. The album’s success was a mixed blessing as the group’s meteoric rise made them subject to some subsequent derision and Marshall struggled with substance abuse and was out of the group before the group recorded their third album in 2001.
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Part of Classic Rock Review’s celebration of 1999 albums.

Buy My Own Prison

Over the course of 100+ weeks on the album charts, Creed’s 1997 debut album, My Own Prison steadily grew from a small independent release to a multi-platinum blockbuster which remains their most critically acclaimed work. The album’s sound hearkens back to the grunge classics released earlier in the decade, which stuck a chord with the angst of youth and the musical taste of fans like those of Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots.

Formed in Tallahassee, Florida in 1993, Creed was spawned by the songwriting team of guitarist Mark Tremonti and vocalist Scott Stapp, who had been classmates in both high school and college. After several writing sessions, the duo held auditions for a rhythm section to complete the band’s lineup. With several original songs already written, Creed began playing local gigs, one of which at a club run by Jeff Hanson, who was so impressed by their original material that he signed on to manage the band.

Hanson booked the group with producer John Kurzweg and self-funded their recording sessions starting in 1995. My Own Prison was released independently in 1997 and initially distributed to radio stations in Florida, resulting in about 6,000 copies sold. Later in 1997, the group was signed by Wind-Up Records and the album was remixed for further distribution.

My Own Prison by Creed
Released: August 26, 1997 (Wind Up) Produced by: John Kurzweg Recorded: The Kitchen Studio, Tallahassee, FL and Criteria Studios, Miami, FL, 1995
Track Listing	Group Musicians
Torn Ode My Own Prison Pity for a Dime In America Illusion Unforgiven Sister What’s This Life For One	Scott Stapp – Lead Vocals Mark Tremonti – Guitars, Vocals Brian Marshall – Bass Scott Phillips – Drums

The slow grunge of “Torn”, features gently picked electric and elongated vocal patterns before eventually building towards a strong rhythm and melody. Late in the song, the chorus melody is brought down to a very simple arrangement with clean guitar and untreated vocals, which provides the opportunity for one last dynamic blast. “Ode” has an interesting main riff and timing, with Stapp’s doubled vocals in the chorus section as well as some fine harmonies. Tremonti provides chromatic chord movements and harmonic licks. While repetitive, the title song “My Own Prison” is much clearer and easier to grasp than first two tracks. The lead single from the album, it reached the Top 10 of both the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

“Pity for a Dime” has a bright feel through its chording sequence, while “In America” is built on a cool drum roll by Scott Phillips along with socially conscious lyrics and some inventive effects through the melodic choruses. Bassist Brian Marshall commences “Illusion” with a doomy riff, soon joined by the sloshy guitars of Tremonti, while “Unforgiven” is a refreshing, upbeat, succinct jam with an effective verse and chorus.

The album wraps with its two most potent and indelible tunes. “What’s This Life For” was written about a friend who committed suicide with lyrics about the quest for meaning in the world. Musically, the track starts with delicate guitars and moves through some grunge progressions, with the highlight of song being an acoustic strummed coda which builds stronger and stronger through each iteration. The closing track “One” contains both the measured bass line of Marshall and the wild, effect driven guitar lead by Tremonti, with Stapp’s strong hook in between. This combo all resulted in “One” becoming a huge hit in 1999, two years after its release.

Once it caught on, My Own Prison became a charting hit world wide as well as being one of the top 200 selling albums of all time in the US. The group soon began developing material for their second album. Human Clay in 1999, which would bring Creed even more success.

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Part of Classic Rock Review’s celebration of 1997 albums.