Mega-selling post-grunge quartet Creed were one of rock music's biggest reunions this year, getting back together almost a decade after their last return to the scene. In a new interview with Metal Hammer, guitarist Mark Tremonti - who famously rebuilt his career following the end of the band in 2004 with anthemic arena rockers Alter Bridge - explains what he feels set Creed apart when they first blew up in the late 90s.
“When Creed first came out, all the bands of rock radio were kind of upbeat, more pop rock," he muses. "Bands like Third Eye Blind were really big at the time, and Marcy Playground and Semisonic, stuff like that. So, when we came out with [1997 debut album] My Own Prison, to me at the time, it was the only sombre song that was doing well on the rock charts. I think the seriousness of it grabbed people’s attention. The grunge scene had a lot of that moody stuff going on, but when we had come about, it had been years since the grunge thing really popped.”
Despite Creed's immense success, having sold tens of millions of albums and filled arenas the world over, Tremonti wasn't immune to the criticism that the band would often suffer online.
“You have to have thick skin," he admits. "Back when Creed were on the radio 24 hours a day, if a friend would call me and say,‘ Man, this person online said this or that about your band’, I’d be like, ‘Just let me enjoy myself.’ I’ve been able to live on both sides of that fence across my career; to have the very recognised commercial band that had a lot of success, but also had some backlash, and then to have Alter Bridge, who everybody’s always been very complimentary about, but we’ve never sold the millions and millions of records that Creed did.”
Creed released three albums in their original run together before breaking up as tensions within the band began to grow toxic. They reunited in 2009 and released a fourth album, Full Circle, later that year, though work on a follow-up stalled and the band went on another hiatus in 2013. It's unknown whether their latest comeback, which includes a huge US tour taking place next year, will include new music.
Read more from Mark Tremonti in the latest issue of Metal Hammer, out now.
