.....but, Mark has said that AB will be much harder than Creed ever was--- and without the spiritual aspect in the lyrics, I am a tad skeptical if AB will be my cup of tea.  Still, I do love Mark and the other guys, so I am keeping an open mind at this point. 

Of course, I do see Stapp's ego issue, but I believe that what truly ostracized him from the other guys was the same emotional instabilities that enabled him to write the lyrics he has written from the beginning. He just doesn't have the same motivation/discipline to keep himself focused as he had when Creed was lesser known. There are an inordinate number of "Creed-haters" for some reason, and when concerts began to start getting cancelled, there became a LOT of ammunition to shoot directly at Stapp.  From there, everything just kind of avalanched to the steroid situation.  He was dealing with Hilaree's drug problems, trying to keep his son safe FROM those same drug problems, Hilaree's arrest at his house and the humiliation of her statements at the time being made public, and on and on.  His ego took a MAJOR beating from public opinion when he gained so much weight from the steroids and cut his hair at the same time--add that to his personal problems and "love life" issues--he tried to deal with all of it by drinking (or WHATEVER) too much---which led to the embarrassments at the Chicago concert, the awards show(s) and the "NO SHOWS" at the awards shows. Re-enter Creed-haters.  People can be so cruel and when someone is just beat over the head with that cruelty over and over, it takes a really STRONG person, emotionally, not to take it personally.  I don't think Scott has EVER been strong emotionally---his wounds go deep and very far back to his father abandoning him and his family from the get-go.  I think Scott began "hiding" because of his own personal issues and embarrassments.   But Mark and Flip didn't need nor want to hide, so I think they decided to distance themselves from Stapp and his baggage.  But who can really blame them---he's an emotional mess---which really makes for some good lyrics, though, that a LOT of people in their own personal torments can relate to . It just seems that Scott is simply trying so hard to keep himself sane and keep life as sane as possible for Jagger that he cannot possibly devote the amount of time and attention to the band that would be necessary.  I think Mark and Flip, understandably, got tired of waiting around for him to get his "sh*t" together and finally just decided to move on.  I honestly believe they are all still friends and on good terms----the guys are really doing Stapp a favor, after all, not keeping the pressure up on him all the time. 

All that being said, I still LOOOVE Stappy and cannot wait for him to decide he's really to put himself out there for public consumption again.  Meanwhile, I look forward to giving "Alter Bridge" a listen and hope they are wonderful. 

 

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Joe Earles" <earles@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [ Creed Discuss ] shameless plug
Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 15:56:41 -0400

So you're going to keep up with Alter Bridge even though Ego Boy isn't going
to be part of it?

I still can't get over that... reminds me of that Ben Folds song, "Army" ...

(have I mentioned this before?)

"Grew a moustache and a mullet, got a job at Chik-Fil-A
Citing 'artistic differences' the band broke up in May
And in June reformed without me, and they got a different name
I nuked another grandma's apple pie and hung my head in shame..."