Scott Stapp - The Great Divide
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CD Details
Artist: Scott StappBrand: *
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2005-11-22
Music Label: Wind-Up Records
Soundtracks:
- Reach Out
- Fight Song
- Hard Way
- Justify
- Let Me Go
- Surround Me
- The Great Divide
- Sublime
- You Will Soar
- Broken
Music reviews of The Great Divide
Music Review: The Biggest Fraud in Music Today Unleashes First Solo Record
Rating: 2 Stars
For his first solo album, Scott Stapp took the easy route.
The former lead singer of Creed, a band that was arguably the most popular rock band in America from 1998-2002, Stapp recently released The Great Divide. Unsurprisingly, the album stays close to the formula that helped Creed sell millions of records to rock fans everywhere. The loud/soft dynamic is in full effect on many of the songs, and elsewhere, the band rocks pretty hard. In the middle of it all is Stapp's voice, singing songs about how tortured and beaten his soul is. I guess it's hard to argue with what gave you success previously, but as an artist I would think I'd want to advance past the same ole subject matter. But I guess Stapp and me are different animals.
To Stapp's credit, he has formed an impressive backing band. Aristedes Rincon and John Curry's create heavy, headbanging riffs while also coming up with pretty melodies in spots (as on Sublime). Drummer Mark Archer does his best impression of Scott Phillips (the drummer for Creed), unafraid to use his cymbals to excess. Bassist Mitch Burman is lost in the shuffle more often than not, but then again, that was the story with Creed once Brian Marshall left anyways.
The disc opens with an impressive riff from Rincon, sounding very similar to the darker riffs guitarist Mark Tremonti drew up for Creed's first record, My Own Prison. It doesn't take long for the listener to be drawn in, though it does take on a "heard it all before" feel before long. Soon, the guitars have regressed into power chord mashup mode, with Stapp at once apologizing to and demonizing his former Creed bandmates ("No victims, the choices were all mine, looking within, these scars will heal with time, there's no excuse for weakness, selfishness and compromise").
Another badass riff begins Fight Song, and I must say, thus far Rincon sounds very impressive. Stapp growls his way through the song, no doubt trying his damndest to sound tough or hardened or whatever, but it's merely more of the same topics he covered over and over again in Creed. "Now I'm left with a scare to reverse, yes another burden to fight, I guess I made it this far so I know things will be alright, I won't lie, I will survive," Stapp sings as his backing band trudges along behind him. On the bright side, the only image thus far of Stapp's Jesus obsession is the cover of the record, which features him in all his pretentious glory.
Not surprisingly, the first single (and title track) sounds the most like a Creed outtake. The Great Divide is no doubt aimed at his Creed bandmates, though the actual song seems to point to God as Stapp's inspiration to get through it. This song is a classic example of the loud/soft dynamic that Creed made it's career off of, and the impressive guitar playing of both Rincon and Curry has been reduced to simple chords and progressions. Quite frankly, you could easily sing "My Sacrifice" or "Can you take me higher?" on the chorus, but instead Stapp instead rewrites his own previous work, bellowing "You set me free, to live my life, you became my reason to survive the great divide, you set me free."
The My Own Prison hit Torn is recalled on Justify. The guitar sounds eerily similar to the quiet melody that begins that song, before slowly building into a similar, harder rocking release in the chorus. It also features an embarrassing spoken word passage from Stapp that reveals him to still be amongst the biggest frauds in music today (but only because Fat Freddy Durst no longer is relevant). The passage smacks of Stapp trying desparately to achive critical cred but it just comes off as pretentious as most everything else on the record.
For the most part, the rest of the record is watered down with the same old same old. Even when Stapp goes for something completely different musically, as on the album closer Broken, the lyrics are still talking about how broken and tortured Stapp is. It's a shame too, because the song has a lot going for it, starting with the soft piano melody and the church choir feel of the chorus. But with lines like "do you know, what it feels like to be broken and used, scared and confused, yes I know" you just feel like throwing your arms up in exhaustion and say "yes, Scott, we get it, you're so tortured and broken, I don't know how you ever got through it with your millions of dollars and fans." Dude, you have the biggest God complex this side of Bono and you wonder why people are sick of you? Come on!
The Great Divide isn't an altogether terrible album. If you can get past the lyrics on some of these tracks, there are some great hard rock songs here, and the guitars are extremely engaging. The backing band plays their a*ses off for the most part, and you can hear it. In addition, the production of John Kurzweg is a bit rawer than the previous two Creed records, lending a much needed edge to the album's sound.
With that being said, the lyrical subject matter has been traversed numerous times before by Stapp, and it's all getting old. In addition, too many tracks on the album sound like out and out re-writes of previous material from Creed. I'm sure diehard Creed fans will get what they want out of this record, but more discerning listeners, those who grew tired of Creed after My Own Prison (like myself) will find less and less to like about this record on repeated listens.
2 stars.
Description of The Great Divide
Former Creed Lead Singer Scott Stapp Returned in 2005 with his First Solo Studio Album, 'the Great Divide'. The First Single is the Album's Title-track, and Comes Complete with the Album Track 'you Will Soar' and 'the Great Divide' Video Clip.On his solo debut Creed vocalist Scott Stapp steps up with an album that delicately balances his past with his present but without apology for either. Songs such as "Reach Out" and "You Will Soar" appease longtime fans without serving as mere Creed retreads, but the material that breaks almost entirely from tradition (namely "Sublime") remains some of the most satisfying. With no fewer than three single-worthy tracks--"Let Me Go," "Surround Me," "You Will Soar," plus the already-released title cut--The Great Divide doesn't just find Stapp standing firmly on his own feet it also finds him, more often than not, reaching for new heights. --Jedd Beaudoin
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