Creed returns with Tour and New Album

Hello All, 🙂

Well I’m not actually a huge fan of the band Creed, although I’ve always thought that Mark Tremonti was a very good player with excellent “post-grunge-pop-rock” writing skills. All in all, I think they got quite over-exposed (at least here in the States!) and I was far from distraught to see them go away (if only for a while!) I always figured they’d get back together though. After all, the money must be tempting. Of course they’ll never admit that though, will they?!? :rolleyes:

After reading the June 2009 Guitar World, I was impressed with Mark Tremonti! 😉 I thought: “Hey, here’s a guy who is probably loaded with money, and he’s still pursuing music for all the right reasons and really working on his playing (as seen in that new instructional DVD he has out with all those “shred-type” guest stars like Rusty Cooley and MAB, etc!!!) However, the last question the interviewer asked was:

GW: “There’s a lot of internet chatter about a Creed reunion. Is there anything to that?”

MT: “I will never say never, but there’s nothing concrete at the moment. No matter what happens, the next year will be for the benefit of Alter Bridge. Myles [singer] came down to my house recently and we put together 3 or 4 songs and we’re getting ready for some acoustic shows. Then we’ll get back to writing and hopefully have a new CD out next spring [2010].”

Hmmm….That seems a bit disingenous to me in light of this Creed news??? You mean to tell me that an interview done for a June 2009 Guitar World (I’ll bet it was done in late-February or early March!) was so long ago that Tremonti had NO IDEA about these Creed plans. Furthermore, what if Alter Bridge is your favorite band of all-time (although that would probably make you pretty big Creed fan in all probability!) and your hero promised you a commitment to your favorite band and a new CD imminent all the while knowing that he was re-forming his old band?!? I don’t know… In his defense, I know that these press releases are generally well-guarded secrets and that there are reasons for that. However, that whole “…this year is for Alter Bridge” crap was un-necessary. I believe that was just MT’s way of covering his bases (band/career-wise) in case the Creed thing fell through at the last minute! Disingenuous indeed!!! :rolleyes:

~Bill Meehan~ 😀

@Mandz 7159 wrote:

I was never really aware of Creed. they weren’t that big over this side of the pond. I a very big fan of Alter Bridge though so I hope its not negatively impacted as a result. I’ve seen them live twice and they were fantastic. Myles Kennedy has an unbelievably good voice.

Mandz,

That’s exactly what I meant about being a big fan of Alter Bridge. If you had read the interview in Guitar World, you probably would’ve been psyched in thinking that they were in pre-production for their new album, and out of the other side of Mark Tremonti’s mouth comes the news that it is 2009 and the immediate future will be for the benefit of Creed NOT Alter Bridge!!! My whole point is that I don’t blame Mark Tremonti for NOT leaking the news about the Creed reunion, because those announcements need to be well-timed and coordinated around other marketing and promotional efforts. I get that! However, for Tremonti to knowingly mislead fans of Alter Bridge merely in an effort to cover his own professional arse or to add hype by increasing the surprise/WOW-factor of the Creed announcement seems weak to me! 😮 😡 :confused:

I am happy for those fans of Creed (like Sean) who will be really excited about this reunion! Ya know, here in the States, A.O.R. (Album-Oriented Rock) music is so diluted and non-descript right now that a talented and commercially appealing band like Creed should do very well in their reunion! As long as they write some solid material, their new CD/Downloads should be big-sellers. The tour/shows will be a no-brainer with their back-catalogue of HUGE hits, and I’m sure merchandising will bring some decent bank as well (LOL!) 😉 It’ll probably be one of the year’s biggest-grossing tours….but it will NOT be for the benefit of the band Alter Bridge! :rolleyes:

Sorry!!! :p

~Bill Meehan~

@Sean Conklin 7199 wrote:

Yeah Alter Bridge is excellent. Both Creed and Alter Bridge have written some really great material.

I guess it’s hard to see what the true motivation for the Creed reunion is. Like I said, I hope it’s because the guys truly want to do it, and not just because they know it’ll make them a pretty penny. If they truly want to, then I’m all for it.

One thing I do hope though is that Scott Stapp has changed as a person. He’s been through some pretty questionable and hypocritical phases in his life. I would imagine that he must have matured quite a bit in order for the other band members to consider reuniting with him.

Also Bill, I wouldn’t say this reunion would hurt Alter Bridge as long as it’s just a temporary reunion. I think it would actually help (which might actually be why they’re doing it, who knows). Getting Creed back into the limelight would almost certainly get Alter Bridge a lot more fans once the Creed phase ends and Alter Bridge starts again. Creed has a much larger fanbase than Alter Bridge, so I’m sure all this Creed hype would eventually get Alter Bridge more popularity.

It’s still hard to see what will happen though. If the reunion is a massive success, will the guys even want to go back to making less money and playing smaller venues with Alter Bridge? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Sean,

I agree that the Creed reunion should bring some attention to Alter Bridge, and hey, maybe that’s what Mark Tremonti meant when he said “There’s nothing concrete right now[about a Creed reunion right now – even though there clearly was!] but I can tell you that 2009 will be for the benefit of Alter Bridge. We hope to have a new album out by the end of the year or early next spring.” I dunno?!? I thought (and I’ll bet most people who read the GW article/interview) he meant that a Creed reunion would have to wait because he/they had solid plans for Alter Bridge that would/could NOT be comprimised!!!

Sean, you are corrrect about your assertion that Scott Stapp has shown some sketchy and extremely hypocritical beavior in the past. (Quick (true) story!: Before it had become public (several years ago) that Scott Stapp was NOT exactly living up to his public image regarding his supposed Christian beliefs/lifestyle and that his newborn baby had made him even more aware of the importance of that Christian way of life and how he was looking forward to sharing the rest of his life with his new family of wife/girlfriend [NOT sure if he was married at the time?] and newborn baby of course! A good (female) friend of mine met him at a party down in Florida, and needless to say, she was horrified at how messed up, (alcohol &/or drugs) obnoxious, rude, etc. he was! She told me he was literally grabbing girls physically and making extremely rude, innappropriate and suggestive comments toward the poor girls! She WAS a huge fan of Scott Stapp’s before this incident, but she came away from it MAD, betrayed, and far from a fan of Scott Stapp’s!)…..Unbelievable, huh?!! Oh well, some people don’t handle success very well!

In Scott Stapp’s defense, NO ONE is perfect, and everyone makes mistakes. I’d be willing to give him another shot with the band. He’s certainly talented enough, and the rest of Creed has obviously forgiven him for that now-famous drunken abbreviated concert/show (I believe it was in Chicago, but I could be wrong about that!?) That pretty much spelled the end of Creed back then. It’ll be interesting to see what happens. And maybe this year will be for the benefit of the band Alter Bridge!!! (LOL!)

~Bill Meehan~