================================================ Subject: billboard article part 1 From: "Lisa King" To: Date: Mon 5 Nov 2001 21:21:06 +0000 ================================================ Creed Has 'Weathered' Success By Larry Flick At a time when far too much current rock music is steeped in anger and darkness, Creed frontman Scott Stapp thinks that it's time for a little light. "I don't see the merit in wallowing in misery," Stapp says. "When I'm dealing with a heavy issue or something that stirs my anger, I don't want to stay there. I want to get out. I need to believe that there's eventual relief from the pain." That philosophy has been the fuel driving the act since its 1997 Wind-Up debut, "My Own Prison," through its 1999 mega-smash "Human Clay" and the forthcoming "Weathered" (due worldwide Nov. 20). Although Stapp asserts that he and guitarist/songwriting partner Mark Tremonti do not create music with the intention of directly affecting the thoughts and emotions of their fans, it's becoming an increasingly welcome by-product. "The words I write, I write for myself," Stapp says. "The idea of those words connecting with people who are also searching for light at the end of the tunnel is gratifying. This band has seen a whole lot of the country over the past few years, and it's been sad to feel the tension and anger among kids. If one of our songs can help break or relieve some of that tension, that's a staggering, truly humbling gift." As the overall demeanor of the U.S. evolves in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Stapp says he sees one potentially positive result being a palpable shift in attitude among young adults. "It's a little sad," he muses, "to think that something so huge and horrifying would have to happen in order to jolt people into reconsidering the way they view the world. But it's happening, and that's what counts. People -- kids, in particular -- want to have a good, positive future, and they're going to reach beyond the anger or whatever has been dogging them to get there." Whether or not Stapp, Tremonti, and drummer Scott Phillips are comfortable with the concept, Creed contributes to that emotional shift by offering music that seems to be extending a proverbial hand of hope to its audience. "My Sacrifice," the single that previews "Weathered," firmly proves that point with a pervading tone that is, by turns, intimate and warmly empathetic to the innate, almost primal need for human connection. It effectively ups the ante of plaintive hits of "Human Clay" -- "With Arms Wide Open" and "Higher" -- as Stapp's simple-yet-well-drawn prose is complemented by a grinding, funk-spiked groove and appropriately heavy guitars that will likely draw fond comparisons with Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir." "That song is driving people crazy," says James Lonten, manager of a Borders Books & Music in New York. "The second it hit radio, we started getting requests for it in our store. 'Weathered' is going to be the rock record to beat this quarter, without a doubt. The single has a recognizable sound, which is good, but it's also easily one of the band's strongest songs." The beauty of this project is that it's not limited to mainstream audiences: Indie-rock fans are also showing interest. "Creed will never be mistaken for an underground favorite, but they have a heavy sound in a lot of their material that draws the interest of kids who like their rock music to be extra-aggressive," says Marlon Creaton, manager of Record Kitchen, an indie retail outlet in San Francisco. "This new album has a nice bit of word-of-mouth building because of the single. It has a pop feel, but it's not too light. The guitars are hot." Radio is having an equally positive reaction to "My Sacrifice." Since its shipment to rock radio in early October, the track has become a runaway smash. It's Creed's ninth top-10 entry on the Billboard Airplay Monitor Active and Mainstream Rock Charts. It is the band's eighth top-10 hit on the Heritage Chart. Such positive initial response to the single is encouraging to Stapp, who believes that Creed has hit its creative stride with "Weathered." "Everything about this record is turned up a few extra notches," he says. "The uptempo songs rock harder than anything we've imagined doing, and the softer, chilled songs have more depth, more complexity. We went for broke on this album-no boundaries, no limits." Part of what makes the record work is the fact that the band waited until after their nearly two-year tour supporting "Human Clay" before writing or recording new material -- a move that Stapp believes allowed the band to "breathe and think and evaluate the lives [we've] been leading. I'm proud of the fact that we've previously been able to write good music while traveling from one city to the next. There's a very specific, special energy going into the songs when you do that. But I honestly prefer to be able to concentrate on nothing more than the ideas at hand without outside distraction." _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp To unsubscribe or change your preferences for the Creed-Discuss list, visit: http://www.winduplist.com/ls/discuss/form.asp