[Dark_Knight]

My review (excluding Overcome/Rain)

Bread of Shame: Awesome choice as the second track, amazing riff & when this song get's rolling it kicks you right in the face! My jaw dropped when first listening to it... of course when I heard this song live I have to admit I just couldn't get into it much, but the studio track is an amazing HEAVY Rock song & this shows that Mark & Scott are so talented they can even write melodically in G# which isn't the easiest thing to do. Flip's drumming on this song is also incredible!

A Thousand Faces: What else can you say about this song... it's another Creed EPIC. The only problem I had with it was Mark's vocal could have been a little louder & there was maybe a little overuse of auto-tune but overall we all know this is a special song with single potential.

Suddenly: Catchy riffs, kind of reminds me of Dream Theater...I don't know why lol great melodies & lyrics (amazing chorus) & in the bridge Scott freakin' owns, love the screams.

Away In Silence: Another Creed EPIC imo. love the Guitar part Mark chose from his instructional dvd, beautiful fingerpicking. Lyrics are incredible, I give a lot of credit to Scott because I'm pretty sure it's his song lyrically... plus his vocal is top notch... (also the bridge with Mark singing was a nice surprise.) anyway this is one of my favorites on the album.

Fear: Another one of my favorites & another incredible HEAVY riff with awesome drumming from Flip... the chorus is extremely catchy. The bridge of this song is almost the best part of it though, the breakdown riff Mark uses is very creative... also Scott SCREAMS his heart out! incredible stuff.

On My Sleeve: A great ballad (awesome lyrics), mainly acoustically driven with orchestral strings to back it... but when the chorus hits it goes from good to great! imo. another EPIC.

Full Circle: Like everyone else has said it's way out of left field for a Creed song but it's freakin' catchy... Brian really shines on this song with creative bass lines. It took awhile to grow on me but I'm lovin' it now.

Time: No joke it's some of Mark's best guitar work... the Blackbird comparison is a bit off though, it's not that dark (except maybe the bridge) & they're completely different musically imo. saying that it's a beautiful song with great lyrics.

Good Fight: This song took awhile to grow on me but the verses are very solid melodically & when the chorus hits it's very powerful... in the bridge Scott really shines with his vocal screams again. Also really liked Mark's solo in this song, nothing really technical but great stuff.

The Song You Sing: More great fingerpicking from Mark & another potential single, very catchy. Love the bridge...might be my favorite part of the song, it gave me goosebumps. Mark's solo at the end... is incredibly uplifting, it might be my favorite solo on the album.

Anyway those are a few thoughts...this album imo. is one of the best of 09 bar none and it blew me away from the first track to the last...saying that there we're a few gripes with overuse of auto-tune in spots but it didn't take away from any of the songs & I gotta give credit to Howard Benson for the production, it's very IN YOUR FACE & mixed well for the most part.

Welcome back CREED!