[NeedforCreed]

Check this out. I saw this when I picked up the paper this morning. Very nice tribute.


All right Creed fans, it's time to throw away that Kleenex and move on.
After years of tension, largely blamed on singer Scott Stapp, the band called it quits nearly a year ago, but guitarist Mark Tremonti was far from done, and now he's back.

Tremonti, largely responsible for Creed's sound on the hits "With Arms Wide Open," "My Sacrifice" and "Higher," is bringing his latest project, Alter Bridge, to Cattle Annie's on Feb. 19.

Tremonti continues his work with Creed drummer Scott Phillips and reunites with bassist Brian Marshall, who parted ways with Creed in 2000.

The trio has enlisted Myles Kennedy, formerly of the Mayfield Four, to be the band's singer.

Tremonti said he's happy to be out on the road with Alter Bridge after a yearlong hiatus from touring.

"Once you get used to playing every day, it's kind of hard to change that," Tremonti said.

Tremonti noted that he's not really bothered by having to start over, in a sense, by playing much smaller venues than the coliseums and amphitheaters Creed had grown accustomed to selling out.

"Playing smaller venues is much more personal," Tremonti said. "It's very fun. You might not have a lot of amenities, but the shows themselves are a blast."

Alter Bridge, named for a long-standing bridge near Tremonti's childhood home in Detroit, is out supporting its debut CD "One Day Remains," seen as a "step up musically" from Creed.

"It's more advanced musically," Tremonti said. "I think it's always been our goal to put out the most hard-rocking songs that still have melodies. It's much more fun (to play)."

According to USA Today, "The credible rock-metal quartet offers few original ideas but makes a clean break from the earlier incarnation's signature melodrama. The band shreds and grinds with gleeful energy while cleaving to stout melodies. The galloping rhythms and riffs in 'Watch Your Words,' 'Find the Real' and 'Metalingus' should come as a pleasant jolt not only to fans of Creed, but also to its detractors."

Tremonti said one of the problems with Creed, in addition to the internal strife, is that the band became more of a job. He said the purpose of Alter Bridge is to write and perform songs the band enjoys, and contends once the fun stops, so will the music.

"We've earned the amount of success to be able to do what we want these days," Tremonti said. "We're all on the same page. It works very well."

Tremonti said he's determined to keep Alter Bridge from traveling down the same destructive path as Creed, a highly successful rock band with numerous underlying problems.

"Success isn't what makes things not fun," Tremonti said. "It's the people that make things not fun ? being argumentative. We've learned our lessons from the past."

Tremonti says Alter Bridge is not a continuation of Creed, a comparison he sees as a "double-edged sword."

"A lot of people discredited Creed toward the end there," Tremonti said, adding a lot of people thought Alter Bridge would be delivering the same message.

"Now, we're just winning them over show by show," he said. "We're winning new fans every day."

Alter Bridge is out to show there is life after Creed.

"We wouldn't have broken up one of the most successful bands of the last decade if we didn't have something to prove," Tremonti said.



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