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Human Clay

Artist: Creed
Genre: Alternative
Year: 1999
Rating: 6.5 / 10

Upon its release, Creed's sophomore musical effort, Human Clay, was greeted with the sort of industry-wide excitement usually reserved for only the giants of the music scene. The album shot right to the top of the Billboard Charts, knocking aside such titans as the Backstreet Boys and Garth Brooks on the way. Maybe the point to be made in all of this is that Creed might now be a giant in the music industry. After all, they did recently get tagged with producing the soundtrack for Scream 3, for which they will contribute a pair of songs. So is all of the hype warranted? Is Human Clay truly a grand achievement, or is it simply more of the same from a talented, if somewhat unoriginal, outfit?

Human Clay, while representing a significant form of musical growth from the band's My Own Prison album, nonetheless falls into the same trap, albeit to a lesser degree. The same unmistakable voices and guitar sequences that make Creed so likeable confer upon it a form of regulated conformance. I feel that My Own Prison, aside from its major radio releases, represents a rather repetitive collection of songs, and I think this is something about which most Creed fans are knowledgeable. Sometimes, it does not make sense to tamper with success, and Creed clearly seems to have found a winning formula.

To the band's credit, Creed appears to have offered a little more variety in their second effort, and, through so doing, have allowed it to develop into a noticeably better album as a whole. "What If," one of the songs that band is also offering towards the forthcoming film soundtrack, offers a sound that reminds me of the earliest grunge efforts, going back as far as Alice in Chains' Facelift and Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger. This is nothing new, as Creed has often been compared favorably to Seattle's grunge products. Most of their work, however, is more indicative of mid-1990s influences, rather than the earlier, harder works of alternative rock's pioneers.

Needless to say, though the band's music can at times be called derivative, it is without a doubt rather contagious. "Higher," following in the tradition of "Torn" and "My Own Prison," quickly achieved mainstream success, thanks to a catchy chorus and some energetic guitar riffs. "Can you take me higher / To a place where blind men see / Can you take me higher / To a place with golden streets" The album's highlight, however, may be "Inside Us All," the final track and easily the most powerful. With frontman Scott Stapp on top of his game and some wailing guitar solos which pick up mid-song, "Inside Us All" offers an excellent close to a fairly satisfying album. Although more of the same may seem to be in the offing for Creed (and the band cannot be faulted for giving its fans what they want), at least one critic hopes that the band follows a different path. I know where Creed's talent has taken them thus far, and I merely want to know how far this gifted quartet can really go.

Submitted 10/27/99.