Creed comes Full Circle on latest

A few weeks ago, I penned an article about the reunion of a band that many in the music world love to hate: Creed. Its comeback album, Full Circle, is the band’s first since 2001, and many fans wondered what form the album would take after the members spent five years apart.

Creed was never a critic’s band, as many reviewers mostly complained about the fact that the band never seemed to change its sound. It was always a rock band with a grunge-y heaviness to its songs (“What If,” “Bullets”), or an anthemic, 10-feet-tall sound (“My Sacrifice,” “Higher,” “With Arms Wide Open”). Full Circle, however, seeks to respond to this criticism, as the band seems much more willing to mix it up. For instance, “Bread of Shame,” the album’s second track, features an interesting stop-start feel to it, which almost always feels forced in other songs but works here somehow. The song also features unconventional guitar tuning, giving it a different feel from anything Creed has done previously.

Creed also breaks out the acoustic guitar on this album frequently, something it almost never did on its first three releases. This is most apparent on “Rain,” one of Creed’s softest songs to date. Lead singer Scott Stapp pulls off the vocals with a simple sincerity that makes the song enjoyable. Another interesting moment occurs during the intro to “Full Circle,” which includes a funny mix of bass and acoustic guitar that gives the song an almost Southwestern-ish feel.

Religious themes, which Creed used frequently in the past, are not really found here, which is probably a good thing. There’s also no real big anthemic song either, which is somewhat disappointing, because that is what endeared Creed to many of its fans. Only “The Song You Sing,” and “Time” show flashes of that style.

Lyrically, Stapp does a decent job. He lapses into clichés at times and overuses certain phrases — like the word, “suddenly,” in the song, “Suddenly”. Particularly interesting are turns of phrase such as, “I’m entitled to overcome,” on “Overcome,” and, “Promise me fame and I’ll survive on the bread of shame,” on “Bread of Shame.”

Mark Tremonti’s guitar work is as solid as ever on Full Circle and shows that he is never satisfied with being just good enough. He contributes some fantastic solos that are typical Tremonti in “Overcome” and “The Song You Sing,” but some of his better solos on this record are the more understated ones, such as in the outro of “Rain.” Full Circle also showcases the talents of drummer Scott Phillips more than any other album, especially on the faster songs, where he breaks out the double bass drum.

After hearing the first two singles (“Overcome” and “Rain”), I was afraid that producer Howard Benson would auto-tune away Stapp’s characteristic growl, making his vocals merely average. That does unfortunately happen in a few songs and is made necessary thanks to the abuse his voice has taken from drugs, alcohol and poor vocal technique. But his voice still has a lot left in the tank, as we see on emotional songs like “Away in Silence.” Stapp’s biggest vocal gaffe occurs at the end of “Good Fight,” when he tries to scream and hit staccato eighth notes, singing, “Fight the good fight, fight on!” His voice was not built to do that, leaving a strange impression on the listener at the end of the song.

Overall, this is a solid album and should earn Creed the best critical reviews it has seen. There are no awesome, hit-you-over-the-head songs, but there are few forgettable songs, as well. While its other albums had stronger singles, Full Circle is likely the most consistent, cohesive and sonically interesting album the group has made. I would characterize it as a blend of some of the band’s earlier styles, with the rawness of My Own Prison combined with the slick production of Weathered that shows everyone Creed is back on the music scene to stay.