a great day for music

Just learned that Scott Stapp, Creed's former frontman, has a solo debut album coming out later this month. Go preview it at his official site and tell me that's not the greatest stuff to come out in a long time. From what I've heard it could be even better than "My Own Prison," which would put it at the top of my all-time favorites list. I've been listening to those clips for about the last hour or so and they keep getting better. I'd say it most resembles "Human Clay" but so far sounds much better--and that's saying a lot. I'll be going well out of my way to pick this on the release date. Heck, I might even do the midnight thing if I can find a store open then.

As with Creed's songs, the lyrics certainly have Christian overtones while stopping short of reading like a praise and worship songbook. For those of us who love strong lyrics with plenty of depth and passion as opposed to the all-positive, touchy-feely type, they're just about perfect. Christians and unbelievers alike can get real meaning from this stuff. And the instrumental music is all there, too. Plenty heavy throughout with some nice softer pieces thrown in to keep it moving. Creed certainly has their own sound, and ever since first hearing it I've thought they had just the right combination of lyrics and pounding instruments. And that continues here. In fact, I may have to change the standard by which I measure other bands by.

It's awesome to see Stapp coming back on the scene. From this new music and the downgrade of Alter Bridge, it's clear that Stapp was the backbone of Creed. He himself is a curious case, having enough knowledge of Christianity to make the lyrics of "My Own Prison" resemble a Christian rock album and yet by his own confession not coming to Christ until late in his stint with Creed (or perhaps after Creed; I don't remember the exact details there). In fact, back in the summer of 2000 I read two cover stories on Creed, in Spin and Rolling Stone, and one feature claimed the band members were Christians while the other said that was a misconception people get from Stapp's lyrical themes. Given the way the band fell apart I'm inclined to believe the latter. But a feature I read in a World magazine a year or so ago made it seem that he had finally found his way after a hard childhood and a few years of wandering. And it's easy to hear the influence his faith had on his new album--at least what I've heard of it.

I've been out of the loop a bit recently with respect to music, and it sure is great to be anticipating an album so much it hurts terribly to have to wait 11 days for it. It reminds me of standing in front of a Wal-Mart CD sampler thing several years ago listening to Creed and not believing what I was hearing, and of course buying the CD on the spot (and listening to it every chance I had the rest of that Christmas break and into the next semester). Much the same experience here except that I have to wait too long to get the whole album.