Creed Molds an Album of Pretentiousness and Cliches
Written: Aug 26 '00
Product Rating:
Pros: A couple of decent songs that show the band willing to TRY a couple of new things at least
Cons: The most pretentious album I've ever heard, Stapp's songwriting has gone downhill, the music seems recylced and vastly unoriginal, rather than challenge their fans, they give them a rehash of their first album
MattA75's Full Review: Human Clay by Creed (1~Post-Grunge)
Those of you who read my review of Creed's My Own Prison knew this review was coming. Despite my positive review of that disc, I honestly had trouble giving it that rating because of just how plain awful this disc is. OK, so it's actually not that bad, but it certainly is a disappointment to me after how good My Own Prison really was.
My first beef with this album is the cliche ridden songwriting. While some may excuse the job lead singer Scott Stapp did on With Arms Wide Open because it's about the birth of his child, I cannot. I honestly don't think I've ever heard a song that has so many musical cliches in it as this one. This song defines power ballad better than any cheesy 80s song. And truth be told, the song wouldn't be that bad if guitarist Mark Tremonti would play something other than power chords in the chorus. But then again, this is a Creed record, and their fans don't have to worry about experimentation or the band changing anything drastically.
The first single, Higher, which somehow is still getting incredible amounts of airplay after crossing over, is a song I don't quite know how to rate. Originally, I loved the song itself. And while it had cliches of it's own, I found myself to really like it. Then I watched the video and saw Stapp posing like Jesus Christ himself on stage while the other band members posed right on cue for every fill, crunch, and rumble. It was the worst video I had seen in at least 5 years, and it changed my opinion of the band and the song dramatically. Everything in that video seemed so fake, so pretentious, it quite honestly made me sick.
There is at least a couple of winners on this disc. Beautiful is just that, a delicate track that shows you just how good Creed could be if they weren't so concerned with selling albums like a good little corporate band. And Never Die, with it's Middle Eastern flavor, is another example of the band showing promise.
But in the end, Creed stays "true" to their fans who want and expect more of the same. (Rage Against the Machine falls into this category as well) Rather than really go into musical territory that most of their fans probably would not follow them into (see Pearl Jam's career), they make generic hard edged rock such as What If (perhaps the most god-awful song Stapp has ever written) and Are You Ready, the two opening tracks to the album.
I'm sure I'll get more than a few "NRs" for this review, since I quite frankly don't see what is so "amazing," "terrific," or "powerful" about this record. To me, it's Creed merely cashing in on the fanbase they built from the ground up with the same sound they used on the first record. And that does NOT deserve my recommendation.
This rock quartet from Tallahassee, Florida is made up of Scott Stapp, vocals; Mark Tremonti (guitar); Brian Marshall (Bass); Scott Phillips (drums). ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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