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Old 12-13-2004, 12:29 PM   #1
Gabriel
Mark's Brother
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Alter Bridge/Stapp Article From Metal Edge

This was written by Paul Gargano(Editor) in the Editor's Note section of this months Metal Edge Magazine. There is also a poster of Alter Bridge in this issue. Also, Alter Bridge made several of the top ten list of albums of the year in this issue as well. Enjoy.

Editors Note
By Paul Gargano
From Metal Edge Magazine

It was a Wednesday night, and Game Four of the 2004 World Series was in its waning innings as I drove to Anaheim for what would be an amazing night of metal with Anthrax and Dio. Being a New York Yankees fan, I lost interest after game three of the series, when Boston pretty-much locked up their first championship in 86 years—Hell, what are the chances of two teams coming from behind to win the last four games, after losing the first three? Hard feelings? I have none. The Yankees are still the greatest franchise in sports history, regardless of the fact that they've made a mockery of themselves in the past few post-seasons. "Hey, the sun's gotta shine on every monkey's ass someday," my brother said of the Red Sox well-deserved victory... So, I'm driving to Anaheim, and my phone starts ringing off the hook with calls and text messages, the first of which was my broth-er: "Are you watching this crap?" "No, I'm in my car... What crap?" "Scott Stapp is butchering 'God Bless America,'" he tells me. You see, since 9-11, it has become tradition in Major League Baseball to sing "God Bless America" during every seventh inning stretch. Apparently, some suit in the St. Louis Cardinals front office decided, "If we're going to go down, we might as well go down in flames— Someone track down that guy from Creed, who better to sing during one of the worst World Series performances in history?" While I didn't hear it sung live, I knew I was in trouble when we got back from the show, and my dog was cowering on her bed, her ears buried beneath her paws—I had left the television on when I left, taping the World Series. A couple of treats sped up her recovery, but it was-n't that easy for me.
A few days earlier, I heard Stapp make an on-air appearance on a local radio station. He's doing a promo tour to support his new single—his only apparent new song, "Relearn Love," from the Passion Of The Christ album—and has been performing that song on-air at Top 40 radio stations across America. So far, I've got no problems, other than the obvious hypocrisy of his portrayal as such a devout Christian who never curses, doesn't drink or do drugs, and lives the life of the average, everyday, holier-than-thou goody two shoes next door... But, that's not my point. I'm the first to admit, I've never been a Creed fan, but I'm objective, and I'll give anyone their fair shake. Scott Stapp got his when I interviewed him on Creed's first album, it was a cover story, and he then went on a national radio show and denied ever doing the interview, because some Christian called up and said he'd upset their community by saying "fuck" in the interview. "Metal Edge made that interview up," he said on the air for millions of listeners to hear. Funny, if he never did the interview, why do I have a tape of it? Gloves were off after that. I never liked the band anyway, but was softening up to them after the interview—Good interviews often make me appreciate bands more, and the Stapp interview was a good one. But, again, I digress...
Back to these radio appearances—He plays his one song, gets his ass kissed by the on-air staff, then proceeds to jump into acoustic Creed tracks. Now this, pisses me off. It's pretty common knowledge that it was predominantly Mark Tremonti who wrote Creed's music, and Stapp that wrote the lyrics. If you doubt that, just look at how prolific Tremonti's been as a songwriter, with an entire album of Alter Bridge material that puts Creed to shame, as opposed to Stapp's one song. Tremonti, former Creed bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips, and new frontman Myles Kennedy are out making a name for themselves apart from Creed, while Stapp is out there try-ing to keep a name for himself by clinging to Creed. Three quarters of Creed's original lineup have faith in their future, and their former frontman, he of so much faith, is clinging to his past—Alter Bridge are working their asses off across America, as a new band, distanc-ing themselves from Creed, and Stapp is floating through the late night television circuit, reaching millions of Americans via Top 40 radio, and doing it all on the strength of music that he needed a band to write. What's wrong with this picture?
What's my point? Well -inrr vou rend this for, I might as well 'fess up—I lost a bet. I I openly asserted that the Yankees would win the American League Championship Series in Game 5, and if they didn't, that I would write my Editor's Page in a Boston accent. Well, I couldn't bare to make anyone read a page where every R was replaced with an H, so I decided that, instead, I'd use another vocal 'evice common to the city's Red Sox fans—I'd whine. For years, they've whined inces-santly about the injustice of their team's cursed past, so now it's my turn... And what bet-ser to whine about, in a music magazine, than the injustice of a band working their asses off, while their former frontman coasts on their coattails? As for Boston? I do have to give them at least some credit—While the Cardinals went and got Scott Stapp to perform, the Red Sox handed the mic to Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyier to perform the Game One "Star-Spangled Banner." That just about says it all...
Psychobabble out of the way, thanks for another great year of Metal Edge—Hope you find this month's Year In Review as interesting to read, as we did to write. Until next month, when we'll begin celebrating Metal Edge's PO1" Anniversary—Happy holidays, and best wishes for the new year...
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