Creed Promises New Album This Summer, Plenty Of Pyro On Tour

Creed frontman Scott Stapp says the reunited group is about "a week and a half away" from pre-production for its new album, tentatively titled "Full Circle." And he promises that "we're gonna have an album mixed and mastered in the next five weeks" hopefully for an August release.




"We're excited to share (the new music) with our fans, and we really have a lot we want to prove" after a five-year hiatus, Stapp tells Billboard.com. He says Creed -- which hits the road Aug. 6 for a 10-week tour -- has "13, 14 songs that we would consider as album keepers" for the group's first set of new material since 2001's "Weathered." We've written more than that, but we've got this many that are fighting for a spot on the record. So we're in a good place." The group plans to record in Nashville with producer Howard Benson.



Stapp says Creed came up with the song "Full Circle" during its first session playing together and hope to release that track as the album's first single, perhaps by late June. Other pending song titles include "A Thousand Faces," "Slow Suicide" and "Don't Give Up," and the frontman says there's "a lot of reflection" in the new material, much of which focuses on the "resolution" Stapp and his bandmates have found between each other and in their own lives.



"It's not a hopeless, complaining record," Stapp says. "It's telling stories, but it's also rocking out, man. We're rocking harder now with some of the songs than we ever have. It's from a different place and a different type of reflection and a different level of maturity, but we're a rock band, so there's still that brashness. There's a confidence and a swagger that I think we only feel collectively. Our music is fresh and still very connected to who we are and the sound we have, but it's also taken a natural evolution."



While preparing to record, Creed has also been focusing on its tour, with a repertoire that will include "all the Creed songs people want to hear" as well as the new material, plus plenty of pyrotechnics.


"We're working on putting on the biggest rock show we've ever done," Stapp reports. "We're all better performers and entertainers now, and real confident in the songs. We're really excited to present where we are today and just be able to stand up and feel that we're relevant now as a band."

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/creed-promises-new-album-this-summer-plenty-1003975755.story

Band Creed Reunites for New Album And Tour

By Jessica Herndon

Originally posted Monday April 27, 2009 09:05 AM EDT

Creed Band Creed Reunites for New Album
After a six-year hiatus, multi-platinum selling Orlando-based rock band Creed have returned with a new record tentatively titled Full Circle.

"We never felt like we weren't together," says frontman Scott Stapp "We're not looking at this as a reunion. It's more of a rebirth."

Though they stayed in touch through holiday cards and the occasional phone call, the group refrained from recording together in order to, "explore other creative outlets and build the main priority in all of our lives, which is our family," says Stapp.

Indeed, the band has grown up quite a bit, as has Stapp's son Jagger, the muse behind their hit "With Arms Wide Open." "He's not a baby anymore," says the proud papa of the 10-year-old. Stapp now also has a 2-year-old named Milán.

Could another hit about his offspring be on the horizon? Quite possibly. He wrote a tune about his daughter as well, simply titled "Milan Song." "She's my twin soul, my light," he says of his little lady. "I do whatever she wants."

Stapp, who made the initial push for Creed to get back together, says it was awesome to see all the guys in one room again. "I said, 'I love you and if I've ever caused you any pain in your life forgive me.' And they said the same things right back."

With any bad blood dissolved, the guys got back to jamming and planning a summer tour. "We're not trying to stay in a certain place or conform to where we left off," says Stapp. "The music is fresh, edgy, raw, passionate, honest and it rocks."

"It's just the right time and we're all excited!"

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20274934,00.html