[Dogstar]

Well, I happen to like Sister a lot. I've always liked the lyrics. I don't find it a weak song at all. And Higher never has been one of my favorite Creed songs. It may have been a successful single, but it didn't do all that much for me as the others you cited, like Faceless Man. I don't think HC suffered from sameness at all. Look at What If and then look at Inside Us All or Never Die or Wash Away Those Years...There are a lot of different themes in those songs.

I never said Weathered should be more like the earlier albums. I said I didn't get the same cool vibe that I got with the other two. It didn't move me the way the other two did. It didn't take me on the cool trip the other two did. I think some of that is due to the lyrical content as well as the overall sound. It's lighter in sound to me and I like heavy. Look at Alice In Chains. And I know I'm biased because I really like them, but still, they evolved big time and IMO they moved forward. Listen to Facelift and then pop in the self-titled. Totally different sounds, but really good stuff. Their lyrics still kicked ass and the sound was still really cool. They experimented with even more vocal layering and other instruments (the strings on Jar Of Flies, for example) .

Weathered just went in a direction I didn't like. I don't think the title track is all that impressive lyrically along with DSD, Lullaby, SHWM (though the solo is awesome), Signs...It has its moments, but overall, it still is my least favorite of the Creed albums.