| |  | | Although it was created quickly and spontaneously, Weathered doesn'tfeel rushed or incomplete. Rather, it's Creed's most diverse and developedrecord. "Bullets," the group's heaviest song yet, is full of rapidlychugging guitars and pummeling beats. "Who's Got My Back?," which startswith a Cherokee Indian chant by historian Bo Taylor, is an epic tale ofyearning that starts at a plaintive, atmospheric pace before erupting into acrunching, fist-raising rocker. The first single, "My Sacrifice," is aspiritual, melodic track fueled both by power and passion. And "Don't StopDancing" is an emotional cut that alternates between ruminative strummingand high-octane riffing plus features Stapp's sister Amy on backgroundvocals.
"The difference between this record and the first two is that this one ismuch more diverse," said Tremonti, who for the most part sat silently withhis arms crossed while Stapp gabbed. "We have such a different sound fromone song to the next. I think people will respect the fact that we can doone style and do it well and then switch gears and do something else just aswell. We've always tried to take everybody through a journey of differentemotions and different intensities, and I think we've done that the best yeton this album."
In addition to rhythmic variation, Weathered is packed with vocalnuances that range from weary to exultant. "I experimented a lot with theway my voice was from song to song," Stapp said. "I really pushed the limitsvocally from the style I would sing to how high or low. Mark as well reallyexperimented with the things that he was doing on guitar with tempos andspeeds and riffs and even more guitar solos, which you don't hear much thesedays. And Scott went in and knocked his whole drums out in one week. It justshows how much better he's become as a drummer, and the record just showsthe strength and talent of the band. It's really given us a lot ofconfidence to know we can pretty much do anything we want to do and be happywith the way it sounds amongst ourselves. Because we don't write records forthe public, we write records for us."
Sitting on a red barstool, his long hair hanging freely below his shouldersand wearing a black designer leather jacket, tight gold chain, black V-necksweater and casual black slacks, Stapp looked part gigolo, part JimMorrison. He spoke in a low-key tone and sometimes emphasized his pointswith hand gestures. The only thing that suggested he was less thancomfortable was his left leg, which gently vibrated against his stoolthroughout the conversation. Other than that, he was all confidence, boldlyasserting the strengths of his band and his faith in Weathered.Sometimes his self-assuredness even bordered on cockiness.
"We would love MTV's support in as big a capacity as they can give us, butMTV knows as well as we do that we don't need them," he boasted. "We sold 10million records on our last album, 7 million on our first, generally withoutany support from MTV. I don't think it's gonna make a difference either wayon this record at all. And that's just being honest."
Creed show Limp Bizkit how it's done ... NEXT 
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