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Quote: (Originally Posted by Hellboy)

My Own Prison is one of the best rock albums ever and they guys will never surpass it. Even people who didn't like most of Creed's stuff will acknowledge this was an amazing album. It should not even be up for debate. This IS their best album, and they would not be anywhere without it. Neither of their other albums alone would have garnered the attention or praise MOP received.

I won't disagree w/ you here... it is quite impressive that they had 4 #1 singles from a debut album. perhaps i slighted it a bit by placing it @ 1.5

Quote: (Originally Posted by Hellboy)

Weathered is one of the most heterogenous rock albums ever created, that certain people were disappointed in. Well, If you want an album to "flow" or have all the songs sound similar, don't listen to this album (listen to Human Clay LOL). This was a hell of accomplishment though (8 weeks at #1, HE-LLO!) and probably one of the best cross-genres rock albums ever. They made something for everyone to like, and many of you assholes wanted an album stricly to appeal to your EXACT, CERTAIN, PARTICULAR tastes. How selfish of you...

The album didn't necessarily spend that long @ #1 b/c it was good. I mean, if I remember correctly, it was either NSYNC or Britney Spears that was challenging them in album sales on the Billboard list @ the time. I generally don't go by album sales when considering whether an album's good or not. esp when people bought all those in the first few weeks for one main reason: the anticipation leftover from such a great album as Human Clay. I guarantee you, had HC not done as well as it did, Weathered would not have done as well. Its success was a result of that of HC, plain and simple. Plus, their hit singles from Weathered, OLB & My Sacrifice, continue in the mainstream post-grunge vein that worked so well for them on HC.

Quote: (Originally Posted by Hellboy)

Human Clay was a good album. Some of the songs were a little lackluster or sounded similar to a few others, but if you could get past that or even ENJOY it, the CD is a very good listen. I'm sad to say this is my least fave album by these guys, because this album has 2 of my favorites songs, Higher and What If, but this was the unavoidable "sophmore slump." Still very good though. I must say however, I still like every Creed song (except maybe "Sister" LOL). Could someone explain to me how "Wrong Way" and "Never Die" are all that different from each other musically?

Sophomore slump? I guess since you're so interested in album sales as an indicator of how good an album is (see Weathered remarks) you'll also notice that HC is 11x platinum in the US, according to the RIAA. And it's a good thing Wrong Way and Never Die are probably my least favorite songs on the album. And Weathered isn't quite as differentiated as you might think. Freedom Fighter and Bullets? Sure, they're different. But the theme of Bullets is quite similar to that of What If. Who's Got My Back? Only thing that makes it unique is that Indian dealywhopper at the beginning of the song. Otherwise, the rest is not that different from anything else. There's nothing particularly original about the lyrics in Weathered, just more or less your same-old-same-old post-grunge themes.

Quote: (Originally Posted by Hellboy)

To summarize, I think all of you who hate Weathered are crazy, not seeing it for what it was. Creed really matured musically with that album and were bound to piss some people off with a song called "Bullets" and a song called "Lullaby" on opposite ends of the same album. I'm sorry if some songs were too soft or too hard, but as a musician, you are trying to appeal to the most varied audience possible, not writing the music for yourself. Human Clay is a good album that is a little repetitive. One Day Remains is an awesome rock album, but certainly not "the savior of rock and roll"... My Own Prison was amazing and still is. I love Alter Bridge and think Myles Kennedy is a better singer than Stapp ever was or ever will be. However, it is sooooo hard to separate them from Creed, since they are 3/4 Creed and Stapp just had a very unique and cool voice. I like Brian Marshall, but re-hiring him for AB was a mistake. Selling AB as half of Creed but still detaching them from Creed would have been much easier than doing the same with 3/4 of Creed. I hope AB gets to make more music and is successful, but part of me wonders about the 4th Creed that never (?) will get made. I guess things weren't meant to turn out that way...

I believe you, my friend, are the crazy one, given that you place such high value in album sales, yet prefer Weathered over HC. And the names really don't do a whole lot as far as creating musical distinctions. Switchfoot has a song titled "Ammunition", and there's nothing particularly dark or brooding about that one. So just sit back, concentrate a little more on how formulated Weathered is, and remember how much Weathered owes its success to HC.