Here's a small article on Creed in the 12/07 issue of Time magazine
Jess
Rock at The Top
Creed's Weathered blows
past Britney on the charts
Culminating the progress that
rock has made against pop this year,
three dudes who write their own
songs and play their own instru-
ments are outselling Britney Spears
with their new CD. For many people
over 14 that sounds like an answer
to a fervent prayer. But it's unclear
whether the hard-rock band Creed's
new album Weathered (Wind-up),
which debuted at first place on the
Billboard 200 by selling 887,000
copies in its first week, is salvation
or the devil in disguise.
Creed is certainly better than
just about any teen-pop act.
Vocalist Scott Stapp, 28, has a
vibrato like a mounted assault rifle,
and guitarist Mark Tremonti, 27,
who doubles as bassist on this
record to replace ex-band mate
Brian Marshall, bangs out tried
and true arena-rock chord
progressions with precision.
But the canned mysticism of
the lyrics almost inspires
nostalgia for the professional,
if dispassionate, songwriting of
producer Max Martin and other
behind-the-scenes teen-pop
studio wizards. "Let's give
love to all," Stapp intones on
the final track, Lullaby. Lets
give thesauri to all songwriters
incapable of dreaming up, more
original ways to voice that sentiment.
Like it's chart-topping hard-rock
colleagues in Staind, Creed may
prove to be a lesson in Rock 101 for
the Britney generation, a bland Big
Mac to wean the kids off musical
Gerber. But after a few bites of
what this band serves up,
experienced buds will crave
more exotic fare-like Pearl Jam.