 |
Creed
My Own Prison
label: BMG/Wind Up
released: 08.26.97
our score: 3.5 out of 5.0
|
My first experience with
this CD was at the camp I worked at this summer. The guys in dorm
would not stop playing it, and with most albums, this would become
a problem for me after a couple of days. However, this was not
the case with Creed. The more I listened to it, the more it sunk
into my brain, until it was playing in there all by itself.
Lyrically,
Tremonti and Stapp draw some pretty dark pictures. Over and over
again the themes of judgement and guilt come up to haunt you,
while driving beats and crunching guitars stomp the message into
your ears. Songs like Unforgiven and the title track hold a ton
of religious imagery, due mainly to the songwriters' upbringings.
In My Own Prison, you get to taste the singer's dispair
as he's basically being told to go to Hell, literally. The only
encouraging song on the whole disc is the last, "One".
Musically,
if you enjoy a constant wall of sound, crashing cymbals, decent
grooves and a standard issue rock singer's case of gravel voice,
this album is for you. Great bass lines allow the guitars to go
all over the place and not sound like they're just trying to fill
space. The drumming is pretty standard, even average in places,
but it really shines in others, especially when you can tell that
the producer has told him that "Less is more". The places
where the songs slow down are extremely tight, where they could
have gotten very sloppy very easily. The guitar work is pretty
much what you would expect from the guy who wrote the songs. Tremonti
plays these songs as if they were his children, the only thing
is that they aren't terribly bright children. The solos are average
at best, tired at worst. Generally, the guitars are the low point
of the disc. The only exceptional pieces come when he puts the
electric guitar and distortion aside and plays it clean or acoustic.
Overall, an excellent first album, and I look forward to their
next.
If you
liked My Own Prison...
|
Tracklist:
1. Torn
2. Ode
3. My Own Prison
4. Pity For A Dime
5. In America
6. Illusion
7. Unforgiven
8. Sister
9. What's Life For
10. One
|
|
