[titan9]

I just watched Scott's performance of Higher on the Nascar awards(I caught the tail end of it when it was on TV). It was very different not seeing Tremonti and Philips there, but I gotta say, Stapp sounded good vocally. The music on the other hand.....I wouldn't say they(his backing band) botched it but they sure as heck haven't mastered the song musically. They hit it at certain points, but missed at other points. Maybe they were nervous, maybe they just haven't practiced the song alot(considering they're probably busy working on their own stuff and Stapp's solo CD) In any event, I'd say Scott sounded much better in this performance than on the World Series one(since he had a sinus infection then, it's understandable) and I think Stapp still has a good voice. Not as great as before, but I'm still pumped about his solo career.

Moving on to the issue of him playing Creed songs, I'm not for him playing Creed songs but I'm not completely against it, either. He's made up his mind and he never said he wouldn't play the songs. So he's not lying about this. I know it's painful for some(and if he did this 5 months ago, it would've probably been painful for me) but we've just gotta move on and stop the bickering. I understand that some of you guys just don't think he should be performing these songs this quickly or ever. Understandable. One of my favorite bands(Big Dismal) broke up a month ago. I haven't listened to them since before the break up. It's just too painful for me to listen to them right now and I don't think I could enjoy the music if I tried. If the guy(Eric Durrance) who was the lead singer of the group(and ironically, he's going solo as well and BD's demo was produced by Stapp) starts performing the band's songs(though Eric did write the lyrics and a good amount of the music) I probably won't like it. So I relate to those of you who are definitely against it happening.

But it seems like that's not always the reason for you guys saying negative things about Stapp and his solo career to date. I think the bottom line is this for those who do not like Stapp: If you don't like Stapp, then you probably should just steer clear of Stapp's forum and whatever Stapp does solo wise. Same thing for people who don't like Alter Bridge. Personally I'm a equal fan of all three, so none of this really bothers me. But I know this has been the source for bickering on this forum in particular. A big division seems to have happened on here(this may be my first post, but I have been reading on here for months now) since the break up. That's a shame as it's led to certain members on here either leaving, or not posting very much because of some of the things being said. And it looks like the people who have left because of the hostility were Stapp supporters. It seems to be kinda hostile for the Stapp fans here, given the Stapp supporters(that dislike AB) are outnumbered by the AB supporters(who dislike Stapp) To make this more clear, I am not saying that all AB fans are like this. There are some who are like me, equal fans of Creed, AB and Stapp. Again, same thing with Stapp supporters, not all of them dislike AB. Some of them love AB as much as they loved Creed and as much as they love Stapp. We're talking musically, not personally. The real bickering seems to be going on between the AB supporters(or people who dislike Stapp) and the Stapp supporters(or the people who dislike AB) Because of this bickering, a thread like this thread has grown to three pages of disagreement and people questioning others opinions. Like others have said, Stapp has made a great number of mistakes in his personal life. I'm sure Mark, Philips and Marshall have also made some mistakes, maybe not as many as Stapp, maybe not any that have been in the public spotlight, but they definitely aren't saints. Lead Singers in bands seem to get the most public attention out of everyone in the band, both good and bad attention. This has happened to Stapp. If he gets in a fight at a bar, it'll be front page in the entertainment section. If he has a bad performance at a concert and gets sued, it'll be front page in the entertainment section. If he gets arrested for speeding, it'll be front page in the entertainment section. See my point? The media seems to dwell on the negative things. He was the lead singer of arguably the biggest Rock band on the planet from 1999-2002. So everything that happened to him, personally and professionally, was very well publicized. I feel kinda sorry for Stapp, because no matter what good he does, there will always be people who hate on him.

To close, I'd like to thank Steve for running such a great fan site and running some very good forums. The forum diplomats do a great job on here as well. Peace