MY OWN PRISON AND HUMAN CLAY WILL BE PERFORMED IN THEIR ENTIRETY
By Richard Bienstock
------------------------------------------------------------------
In Recent Years,It's become common practice for rock acts to perform a classic album from their catalog live onstage.Mötley Crüe, Megadeth, Slayer and The Stooges are among the bands that have done just that.
This spring, you can add Creed to that list. The hard rock act will take the concept one step further, though, by performing not one but two of their albums-the 1997 debut My Own Prison and 1999's blockbuster Human Clay in their entirety when they hit the road in the U.S. The band will vary which disc gets the live treatment at each stop on the trek, though select cities, including New York,Philadelphia and Chicago, will be treated to back-to-back gigs at the same venue, with a separate night devoted to each of the two albums.
"it's going to be very cool," says guitarist Mark Tremonti, who sees the benefits of the full-album performances as twofold. "It's a chance to give the fans all the old music they want to hear and also gives us time to work on new material without having to rush it out in time for a tour."
For Tremonti and the rest of the band-singer Scott Stapp, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips revisiting these albums has been a rejuvenating experience."We did My Own Prison when we where in our early twenties, and it seems like another life. But it was a special time."
And a successful one. Both albums sold in incredible numbers (six-times Platinum for My Own Prison;11-times Platinum for Human Clay) and launched Creed into the type of superstardom seemingly unattainable in today's rock landscape. Though Tremonti is grateful for all the band's past achievements, he's just as excited about looking about looking toward the future. "Back in the day we almost came to expect that each new single or album would take of immediately," he says. "Now we really have to earn it, which is good. I prefer to have to work harder and put out better material."
To that end, Creed have been busy writing music for the follow-up to their most recent effort, 2009's Full Circle. The guitarist says there is no firm release date for the new record, though Creed currently have "about nine or 10 ideas worked up." Regardless, Tremonti plans to be busy for the foreseeable future. He has a solo album-his first-scheduled for release in the upcoming months, and sometime in the future there will be a new album and tour with his group Alter Bridge. "But this year," he says, "is
without a doubt primarily about Creed. And it's gonna be fun."
