Creed's third album is fully in tune with its angst-ridden brand of philosophical ponderings. Singer Scott Stapp further solidifies himself as a restless poet screaming his stanzas amid guitar and drum explosions. Packaged with expectedly bizarre but brilliant artwork, Weathered soared to the top of the rock charts at its release and continues to hold steady with Creed's expanding base of fans. And despite the band's consistent downplaying of its individual members' faith in God, Creed's wrestling match with deeper issues and higher powers speaks poignantly to a post-modern culture that is as spiritually-laden as it is music-loving.
From the start, 'Bullets' echoes the cries of biblical writers with lines such as "Oh these thorns in my side," and "I know I have something free / I have something so alive." Anticipation for the album's remainder builds with this distorted and dramatic opening, hooking the listener immediately and comprehensively quenching the parching thirst for new Creed material.
'Freedom Fighter' offers allusions to Jesus' statement about the truth making us free, warning those who refuse to embrace the truth, "I feel sorry for your soul." Stapp describes himself as "raging on in holy war,"
and the additional distortion conveyed atop some of the vocals intensifies the digital madness. Stapp actually sounds like a holy warrior, if there exists such an auditory category.
On 'Who's Got My Back?,' Stapp laments how "the covenant has been broken by mankind / Leaving us with no shoulder." He then offers the hopeful message, "There's still time now / All that has been devastated / Can be recreated." It certainly sounds like the gospel wrapped in contemporary outfits, something with which the hopeless can relate.
The album's title track, which received significant airplay before the full CD released, easily could be interpreted as referring to God: "When you are with me / I'm free. I'm careless. I believe / Above all the others we'll fly / This brings tears to my eyes / My sacrifice." And on 'Stand Here With Me,' the singer reflects, "I'll give you everything I am and still fall short of / What you've done for me."
Numerous other interpretations are plausible, of course, namely romantic love or close friendship. And yet, these kind of relational dynamics are so inextricably linked with our spirits that it makes us give pause and wonder whether anyone can fully box in what a lyric is intending to communicate.
Stapp, whose background as a child and teen involved a force-feeding religious atmosphere that turned him off from the church, expresses the struggle of applying faith to daily life as succinctly as any official "Christian" recording artist. "To what do I owe this gift my friend?" he questions in the cut 'Hide,' admitting, "I've been dancing with the devil way too long / And it's making me grow old." And on 'Don't Stop Dancing,' Stapp conveys the image of a weary (perhaps weathered?) man who returns to his source of strength when frailty overtakes him: "I've been through everything / And I know I'm on my knees again." In the same song, Stapp expresses feelings that Christians often are afraid to admit to one another: "At times life's unfair and you know it's plain to me / Hey God I know I'm just a dot in this world / Have you forgot about me?"
Creed continues to reach millions with messages of hope, struggle and perseverance set amid a musical landscape that is as quality a rock offering of any found today. The band has something significant to say, and lending an ear takes the listener to new and reflective heights, regardless of the label identifying a person's spiritual journey.
Other coverage for this album
The Rebel Base 2002Reviewed by David MartinIt was about two years ago when I was first introduced to what looked like the happiest hard rock band in the world. I was up late watching David Letterman, and Creed was performing their still-breaking hit "Higher". All I had heard of the band up until then was the press for their first album, My Own Prison, which made them out to be a dark and depressing heavy metal act. That didn't gel with…The Phantom Tollbooth 2002Reviewed by Adam DuckworthI really hate writing this. Creed's a great band, but they can really get on your nerves. Take this new album, Weathered, for example. Here's a better name for it: Human Clay in My Own Prison. Creed seems to have taken the wrong road this time around by falling into the "predictable" category. Maybe the public at large doesn't see that as of right now (this album has been at the top of the charts…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Vik BansalI have to confess that I approached Creed's third album with an incongruous mixture of excitement and trepidation. Creed's last album, Human Clay, was one of the highlights of 1999, a collage of the best of 1990's heavy rock, underpinned by Scott Stapp's astonishing vocals and truly uplifting lyrics. But consider the multi-million selling, breakthrough rock albums of the last 10 years that have…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Dan SingletonCreed's new album, Weathered, struggles to stay true to their hard rock roots. It is the most diverse yet sonically coherent of their three discs. So much for the early Pearl Jam comparisons. The beginning of Weathered will remind the listener at times of everything from Alice in Chains to Bon Jovi to Dream Theater, all held together by the core Creed sound. "Bullets" leads off with dark vocal…Similar sounding releases
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