Originally published on March 14th, 2006
30 million albums ago a Florida-based rock band named Creed debuted on the American music scene with an album called "My Own Prison." Led by singer Scott Stapp, Creed peppered its records with religious phrases and tributes to God and even a condemnation of abortion. One reporter labeled the band "Bible thumping rockers," while another opined that the problem with Creed was that they lacked "the crucial hell-raising and devil-may care abandon that elevates rock to transcendent heights." These were just some of the many Creed-bashing reviews that would appear in print as the band reached the top of the rock world.
To be sure, Stapp gave his critics plenty of ammunition. After a particularly bad performance which Stapp later blamed on side effects of his having to take the prescription drug prednisone for vocal problem, his band was sued by angry fans Soon after, Creed disbanded and Stapp began solo work while the other members formed a new band, Alter Bridge.
More recently, Stapp has been in the news for several mishaps: the day after his marriage to Jaclyn Nesheiwat he was arrested for public intoxication. Later that week, a porn video distributor released excerpts of a video that it planned to sell which featured Stapp and fellow rocker Kid Rock receiving sexual favors from eager fans in 1999. The charges were later dropped and an injunction kept the video from being sold.
"The Great Divide" is Stapp's first full length solo effort and gives the listener a clear sense of the contribution he made to Creed. While Alter Bridge's lyrics are spiritually vague, Stapp fills his solo outing with clear and unambiguous references to his faith like this one on the title track, "The Great Divide:"
"I've been on heaven's doorstep with the door open, one foot inside/I cried out, 'God give me answers' 'Please hush child, I'll tell you why... You have loved me when you were weak. You have given unselfishly. I kept you from falling, falling, everywhere but your knees."
Creed fans who bought the album thinking it was going to be a collection of hook-laden choruses, may be in for a surprise. While there are traces of hit songs like "Higher" which made the band a household name, Stapp's solo material is surprisingly low key, even brooding in spots, revealing a complex side both to his songwriting and in his delivery. Stapp is at his best on the dark and foreboding "Justify," which he opens with two seduction scenes-one straight and one gay, that the singer resists:
"I met a man in New Orleans wore a half suit with dark blue jeans/Kicked his heals together winked at me real nice/…"Hey boy... have you seen the other side" Yeah...in this man I saw the devil's hand so I looked at him man to man said 'This time it's gonna be a fight.' I saw her from across the room with diamond eyes she's heaven's jewel/Dropped two aces smiled and threw my cards back."
Though Stapp isn't the first nor likely the last rock star to be torn between the spirit and the flesh, few have so succinctly captured the rock star lifestyle as poetically as he does in the bridge of "Justify"
"We fly around like we were superman live in another trance a different way to dance with dark romance you get another chance to do that dirty dance without consequence…..Yeah I've been that man who lives deceit, surrounds himself with worldly things."
By the end of the song, Stapp is ready to confess: "I guess you probably noticed /I've been living a double life"
It is the high point on an above average album that is filled with songs that are a gentler form of the kind of arena rock that Creed fans have come to expect, but it is still effective.
Though he stumbles briefly on the ho-hum "Sublime," Stapp recovers nicely on "You Will Soar," and closes the album off with a confessional number, "Broken."
Scott Stapp is unlikely to ever win the praise of most rock critics, but the fact that criticism of this record has been relatively muted is a sign that it was not the dud that many expected and/or hoped for. If he can continue to stay out of trouble, Creed's former lead singer may very well develop a solo career that will keep him busy for years to come.