Scott Stapp - Justify

[pen]

Goes for adds May 29th. The choice of single is delicious in relation to his current state of affairs. I almost feel sorry for the drunken loser.

[crash46]

I find it hilarious and mildly entertaining.

(The 'state of affairs', not the music...)

[jdmasta289]

So is it pretty much universal consensus now that his devout, God-fearing image that made Creed so big just a farce? I guess VH1 Behind The Music and all those old Creed articles (pre-2003) were just lies on top of lies.

It seems to me that, being an alcoholic loser as penance mentioned, that he is either turned against religion or he is simply a poser. I'll vote for option (b), but does anyone have any say here? (Please note, I am not at all religious myself...)

[Chato]

Maybe he's just southern-style religious , just like Toby Keith and his country cohorts... Raising hell on saturday night and then go to church on sunday morning...

[singingsparrow]

Scott Stapp believing he can make it back on Alternative and Active Rock radio is one thing, but his record label even thinking of pushing it here is another thing.

What happened to "Surround Me" being planned as a second single release? That's no contest his best shot at a hit from the record, even while I believe his laundry list of scandals will keep programmers from taking him seriously, thus any single Stapp releases will get Hootie & The Blowfish-syndrome no matter what.

My Prediction: Will Not Chart Either Format

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[Rumors]

INXS is touring the US this summer. Guess who the opener is for at least one show....Scott Stapp. That's just too funny.

[Nicholas2.0]

Scott Stapp is no longer relevant. It's throwing money away for his label to push another song to any format but Hot AC at this point. I never thought any Creed song was anything great, but I kinda feel sorry for him. I mean, everyone deserves another chance, but he's fallen off the wagon in the public eye so much now that the damage to his career is irreparable.

[Matt4319]

gorillamask.net/stappdouche.shtml

[crash46]

"Unfortunately, Scott Stapp has reproduced".

.

[jdmasta289]

I have to admit, his antics are pretty entertaining. Ummm....has he been in rehab? If so, when, and is it the same place Scott Weiland and Robert Downey Jr. were attending?

[friday]

Well, are we all in agreement that his next move will be his appearance on a VH1 reality show? I mean, I don't see how it's avoidable at this point.

[pen]

www.thebucketheadshow.com/cc-common/feeds/view.php?feed_id=511&feed=/audio_feed.html&instance=1&article_id=63443

Yesterday I listened to this interview with Stapp given by WJRR's Buckethead. That's RealRock 101 for those not in the know. I found it to be very interesting, because it really paints Stapp as a quite honest and affable guy, who knows full well all the errors in judgement he's made lately, and it seems like he really has his head on straight about where to go from here.

Case in point. The best part of the broadcast is where Buckethead asks him about the 311 brawl and for Stapp to tell him something he hasn't already read in the news. Stapp thinks for a few seconds and responds: "I was an idiot." He says that 311 and himself have actually sent messages back and forth since then to clear up the issue and he takes full responsibility. In fact, he takes responsibility for a lot of things, which is interesting for a guy that supposedly has a huge ego, although he admits that too, and admits it was one of the main reasons why Creed broke up.

Now Buckethead is making it his mission to get Alter Bridge, Scott Stapp (with band), and possibly 311 in a big powwow together, in the hopes of getting all personal issues out of the way and possibly getting Creed back together. Pray for Buckethead. He's on his way to become the most loved and hated man in America.

[jdmasta289]

Well, at least Stapp is trying.  The problem is the reason I got a laugh out of him was because he was an assclown on top of being untalented.  So, assuming he makes amends with 311, or even Durst, the crew of Celebrity Poker, or enters rehab or whatever - he'll just become untalented.  Didn't we all want him to be at least entertaining with his antics, on top of being untalented?

Oh, and the last thing I was going to say was that I was a huge Creed fan pre-2002. There. I admitted it.

[pen]

That's not really something to "admit". Maybe if you were on a metal forum and wanted to commit internet suicide, but I'm sure a lot of alternative and active listeners liked Creed at least back in the day if not now. I've always been fond of the first two albums especially, although Weathered really strikes me as having too many "With Arms Wide Open" type songs and that turns me off a bit, although it does have moments. It's a shame that was the album they closed out on.

I don't know if Stapp is untalented precisely, and that's only because I happen to like his solo album. It reminds me of early Creed, although you wouldn't know it from "The Great Divide". I can look past the person behind the music and just enjoy the album for what it is, and I know not everyone can do that. But back to the point, maybe limited is more the proper term here. It's obvious that he can't escape Creed's style of music because he's not moving away from it, just trying to recreate it on his own, which shows how narrow he is in terms of musicianship that he has to reinvent the wheel rather than move onward as his ex-bandmates have tried to do with Alter Bridge. But I wouldn't say he's untalented. He has a talent for writing Creed songs, for example.

[pen]

I don't see why people have trouble admitting that they liked Creed either. They were a huge band. They sold millions of albums. Obviously some people had to have liked them to buy those copies. Just because the singer's a dumbfuck doesn't mean people have to be embarassed to enjoy the music. It's like mentioning Linkin Park or Nickelback. For some reason, people treat those bands like grim death.

[crash46]

I didn't follow Alternative until 2000 so I missed out on the whole One album. I came around in 2000 (while still following Pop just as much), and I really liked "Higher" and was pulling for it the whole way. Never got into "With Arms Wide Open", but the One singles all came around just fine. But after that I just totally lost interest in post-grunge. Their next albums just came off boring as f***, although I did like "Bullets" just fine, because every dog has its day. The off-stage antics were just a sideshow; that didn't affect the music at all. I'm not ashamed of anything; the music just isn't up my alley, despite kind of being up there before.

[pen]

crash46 said:

I didn't follow Alternative until 2000 so I missed out on the whole One album. I came around in 2000 (while still following Pop just as much), and I really liked "Higher" and was pulling for it the whole way. Never got into "With Arms Wide Open", but the One singles all came around just fine. But after that I just totally lost interest in post-grunge. Their next albums just came off boring as f***, although I did like "Bullets" just fine, because every dog has its day. The off-stage antics were just a sideshow; that didn't affect the music at all. I'm not ashamed of anything; the music just isn't up my alley, despite kind of being up there before.

Well, at least you can say freely that you did at one point like them, so that's great. I just think it's stupid how a lot of people treat certain bands like they're an albatross around their neck. That just shows how pathetically typical our musical society has become to where nobody can even talk about the bands they like anymore for fear of unleashing the wrath of some dark rock god. Probably Scott Ian.

[Matt4319]

Oh yeah, Creed were one of my favorite bands when they were out. Four top-5 hits on my chart, I saw them in concert once, etc. There wasn't a song of theirs I disliked until I heard "Don't Stop Dancing" (from Weathered), which was atrocious.

crash46 said:

I didn't follow Alternative until 2000 so I missed out on the whole One album. I came around in 2000 (while still following Pop just as much), and I really liked "Higher" and was pulling for it the whole way. Never got into "With Arms Wide Open", but the One singles all came around just fine.

That'd be My Own Prison.

[pen]

Don't Stop Dancing was a mistake. I always wished they had released Signs or Stand Here With Me instead.

[Matt4319]

penance said:

Don't Stop Dancing was a mistake. I always wished they had released Signs or Stand Here With Me instead.

Well, "Weathered" was released to the rock formats at the same time "DSD" was sent to pop formats. But "SHWM" was probably my favorite song on the album.

[jdmasta289]

Well, I guarantee that the vast majority of people who openly criticize alt/rock bands that aren't as critically acclaimed (I won't mention them) as other bands, actually listen to those bands.  The rock music albatross is quite common among many people, but I can honestly say that I listen to whatever I feel like, and I will tell other people exactly what I do listen to.  Part of that is that I listen to a lot of popular music, period, whether I like it or not.  No, I won't purposely download a song if I like it, but I'll hear or read about it here, Billboard, or R&R, be curious about it, and listen to it as they play it on the radio.  I know almost every Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync single; not that I necessarily like it.

I don't mind most post-grunge bands.  I'm not ready to go buy their records now, but I won't shun them if they release new music, and I will probably listen to it many times.

That said, I own the Weathered album and enjoyed it while it was out.  While I don't disagree with any singles choices pre-Weathered, I also think "My Sacrifice" was a good radio-friendly single that could appeal to the pop and rock audience, a la "Photograph" today.  However, I would have released "Freedom Fighter" second and then "Weathered" as a third single, and maybe follow up the album with another hard track.  "Signs", if I remember correctly, was too long and not radio-friendly enough.  "Don't Stop Dancing" and "One Last Breath" catered too much in the pop direction.  In fact, I see a real parallel in what Nickelback are doing now - "Savin' Me" is essentially their "One Last Breath".

*Edit* In fact (I'll add more), it troubles me to see these supposed indie fans, especially those who post on the message board at KRBZ, my local alt-radio station. They often go out of their way to criticize these bands, and make entire posts, for example, claiming that what is appearing on their "recently downloaded" list isn't actually what they like... And it troubles me to see these same people criticize emo, when emo essentially grew out of indie, and much of the emo they criticize is even more critically acclaimed than their Strokes copies. I think most indie fans I've encountered are quite arrogant in their taste in music, and, quite frankly, are full of s**t.

[pen]

Hard to believe that Signs would be too long since it was shorter than My Sacrifice, Don't Stop Dancing, and Weathered. You might be thinking of Who's Got My Back which was the eight-minute track of the album.

And on the subject of emo.....as far as I know there are three emo movements: the one inspired by hardcore in the late 80s, the one inspired by the first movement and indie rock in the early 90s, and the one inspired by mainstream bands like Jimmy Eat World and Dashboard Confessional in the early 00s. It is my experience that the latter recieves the most criticism because it is felt to be a misappropriation of the genre by major labels in order to draw attention to their marketable acts, which is why I assume that indie fans would have a major problem with "emo" acts at this point in time. That's just my take on things.

I know what you mean about arrogance though. I've definitely had to deal with my fair share of that on other forums and in general. It seems like it almost comes with the territory. If you're "underground" then it's some kind of moral responsibility to be a huge asshole.

[Nicholas2.0]

Personally, I never liked Creed as a band, but I took them on a song-by-song basis.  They were beating a dead horse when they came in, and it was kind of frustrating to see them become as popular as they did.

Here's how I'd rank their singles:
My Own Prison: C+
Torn: B
What's This Life For?: C
One: C+
Higher: B+
What If: B
With Arms Wide Open: B- (but the Pop remix was overblown)
Are You Ready: B-
My Sacrifice: B-
Bullets: C
One Last Breath: C+
Weathered: C
Don't Stop Dancing: F

Anyway, people always use Creed and Limp Bizkit, especially, as rock and roll punching bags, specifically hating Stapp and Durst way more than necessary.  Although both grew outrageous egos in their heydays, there's no excuse for the tossed-off, blind hatred of their names and careers.  Stapp and Durst both seem like reasonable guys who want to do right, but keep making poor choices.  With Stapp, lately, I just want him to get his act together and put his personal life in order, since I know he can't musically please me.  With Fred, since I liked the first two Bizkit albums, I like to give him the benefit of the doubt.  I know he's capable of making good music, potentially better than anything he's done before, but while I'm interested in hearing The Unquestionable Truth, because the song I heard a couple of times sounded promising, it seems as if for their next project, I'm gonna be waiting for something that's never gonna come, i.e., it'll come too late if it comes at all, musically redeeming or not.

[pen]

I used to really hate Limp Bizkit because of his whole personality, and the stupidity of some of their singles, and then I listened to The Unquestionable Truth, Pt. 1 and the Greatest Hitz, and I've come to a different conclusion. I think that Limp Bizkit's main problem is the fact that through every song they take time out to promote themselves, and they resort to very idiotic slang to get their points across, but when they stop doing either of those things, they are actually not that bad. At least not any better or worse than any other nu-metal group. And I stand by that opinion. But I still hate Nookie and I think it's the worst nu-metal song in existence.

I've heard that The Unquestionable Truth, Pt. 2 is going to come out this year, and that it will not sound like Pt. 1, which is kind of a shame, because I really thought they were heading in the right direction on that album, although even Durst recognizes that they were pretty much apeing Rage Against The Machine. Durst says the new one will be a full-length album and not an "EP", and he wants it to go back to the sound of their early albums, which I assume means Three Dollar Bill, which might not be so bad, but then again.

On the subject of Creed, although I like most of the singles, I always thought the better songs were on the actual albums. Ode, Pity For A Dime, Illusion, Say I, Faceless Man, Wash Away Those Years, Stand Here With Me, Who's Got My Back, Signs, and Hide as examples from each album.