Finally the moment Rock fans had been waiting for, the new Creed album. The follow up to the mega selling Human Clay. Their third album for Wind-Up records and Sony Music. Last year Human Clay sales figures touched 20 million worldwide. Their brand of melodic hard rock with strong lyrics is why Creed is one of the best Rock band of the last 5 years.

Creed finds itself in a familiar position to start off the new year: At the No. 1 spot on The Billboard 200 for the sixth straight week. It has sold as many million copies as well. In December,2001, Creed won the Artist of the Year award at the Billboard Music Awards. The new album is nothing sort of extrodinary. Though the first album was bound to recieve more critical acclaim, due to its strip down piece of music. Human Clay started the heavy studio production and it is still present in Weathered. The album is produced by Creed and John Philip Kurzweg , the same team which produced their last album. Creed `s stars are the Vocals and guitar players who are also the song writers. Scot Strapp and Mark Tremonti respectively. This album is all about writing big and thinking big. A much more positive album than My Own Prison , Weathred however lacks the simplicity of that album.

That aside, this is a richly textured and has a complex production value. With keyboards, organ, electronic sounds and orchestral arrangements. The first track Bullet opens with a Radio frequency jab sound, leading into the powerful rhythm guitar riff. The man behind the Creed sound is the guitar player Mark Tremonti. He shifts gears since he plays both rhythm and lead parts with a perfect blend. This threesome lead the melodic rock genre quite easily. Weathered comes with a hit single track My Sacrifice. A song about relationships and coming together of old friends. The song is a No.1 selling single. Other tracks like, Freedom Fighter , Who`s Got My Back? and Hide are potential Top 10 singles. The title track however lacks the punch and sits uncomfortable with the rest.

The best track of the album is undoubtly Hide , it`s almost like a love song, Creed have really out done with a melodic opening and soft touches of the guitar.

The only criticism agianst the album is that this is not new ground. The progression from Human Clay has not happened. This could be easily called Human Clay Part 2. The band members were under tremendous pressure for this follow-up album and purposely played it safe. The hit singles and big production values have made sure it debuts on Top and sells a few million copies before the fans start getting critical.

Certainly a must buy for all Rock fans. This is a solid tight rock band at the height of it`s powers. Full of good lyrics and some great guitar playing. Rock is not Dead !!