On any normal release week, a new album by Pink, Sting, Creed or the latest installment of Now That's What I Call Music! could easily top the charts, but next week they'll all be battling for the same coveted #1 spot. Some expect a photo finish, but Creed vocalist Scott Stapp thinks his band can outpace the competition.
"It's important for us to be #1, and I'm not gonna say it's not," he said last week. "We've been the underdog since day one when our first album came out. People said we were a one-hit wonder, no one had any faith in our talents and our abilities. Then on the last album we debuted at #1 and it eventually went diamond. That's my last laugh. I don't have to say any more because the music and our fans speak for us. So if the album does debut at #1 that's just another way of saying, 'We showed you.' "
Many artists with such lofty goals strive long and hard to accomplish their dreams. They spend endless weeks, months and sometimes even years writing and fine-tuning their craft. Not Creed, who wrote their new album, Weathered, in a mere three weeks (see "Creed Weather Critical Storm And Return For More"). And unlike their 1999 disc, Human Clay, which sold over 10 million copies, the frameworks for the songs weren't crafted during soundchecks or on the tour bus.
"I think one of the reasons we were able to do it so quickly is because we didn't write it on the road," Stapp said. "I think we just wanted to live life. We wanted to experience everything that was going on around us so we'd have a basis to draw from later. We went two-and-a-half years almost without creating a new song, so when we got together in four-hour sessions for three weeks, everything just came together."
Even with such an efficient work regimen, Creed barely made the deadline for a 2001 release. While they did have to push themselves to get Weathered out for Christmas, their record label wasn't ever banking on the album coming out in time to maximize fiscal productivity for the year.
"We had no intention of creating this album in three weeks," Stapp said. "We only wrote 13 songs. And the thing about it is we liked them all and that's why we wanted to put an album out. We didn't have to write 30 songs and then choose what was gonna be on the record. We liked them all. And the only reason there aren't 13 songs on the record is because we ran out of time. We were literally mixing the last song within six hours of having to fly to go and master the record. And we mastered the record on the very last day possible. If we did not get the masters turned in the next day then the album would have been pushed to March."
Creating a full album in three weeks is a super-human feat for any group, but it's especially impressive coming from Creed, who currently lack a bass player. As a result, guitarist Mark Tremonti had to play all the guitar lines and bass parts on Weathered, making the time-saving process of tracking bass and guitar parts simultaneously — a common practice for rock bands — impossible. Originally, both Stapp and drummer Scott Phillips wanted to play bass on the record as well, but Tremonti prevailed.
"He stole our glory — all of it," Stapp said with a laugh. "We're just a little upset because Mark went in there and banged out all the bass tracks in like four days. We called him and went, 'What's up with the bass so we know when to come in?' And he said, 'Oh, it's done.' And we were like, 'What!?' But it's all good. The band is not about the individual, it's about the song and what makes the song sound best. And for me to sit here and say I can play bass better than Mark is laughable."
On the upcoming Creed tour, which is scheduled to start in January, the band will again perform with bassist Brett Hestla, who filled in on the road last year when the band fired its original bassist Brian Marshall (see "Creed Splits With Bass Player"). However, Hestla is not a member of Creed, and continues to work with his own group, Virgos, who have a record scheduled for release next year.
"[Michael] Jordan and [Mario] Lemieux said never, so I can't say never, but at this point, the three of us can agree that there will never be a new member of Creed," Stapp stated emphatically. "Creed is the three of us and if Brett is available, we'll tour with him. And if he's having to go out and work his own tour then we'll bring in someone else to play bass. We don't want to bring in any drama, stress or unnecessary negativity ever again."
Creed's latest video, "My Sacrifice," caused Stapp a bit of drama and stress when a Bengal tiger recruited for the shoot turned against the earnest singer. The animal was positioned on the hood of a car in a city submerged in water, and Stapp was supposed to glide by slowly and uneventfully in a rowboat. But the scene had to be repeatedly shot by director Dave Meyers because the beast refused to rest.
"The tiger got in the pounce position like he was going to leap at me," he said. "It was pretty weird to the point where the trainer was like, 'He's fixated on you. Speak to him.' So I was talking to him like you would a dog. It was a pretty tense moment. It was amazing to see how powerful he was. He was standing on top of the car and as he walked down the front just one paw hit the windshield and it shattered. I don't know why I wasn't scared or nervous. We just had to have the shot and I knew it was an important element in the video, so I just felt peace."
