My Own Prison

Creed

It took a few years, but the "Seattle sound" migrated south. In 1997 Creed emerged from the sunny state of Florida wielding dark and dulcet postgrunge tones. Their 10-cut debut, My Own Prison, has became a surprising success by filling a niche for needy teen gloom-rockers. Singer Scott Stapp has the soulful and rich Eddie Vedder inflections down pat, but despite Creed's slightly hackneyed approach, My Own Prison is full of strong, memorable, tuneful songs (and numerous solid singles) coupled with compelling and dark emotions. Titles such as "Illusion," "Unforgiven," "What's This Life For," and "Torn" clearly peg Creed as dour introverts. But despite lyrics such as "Their souls are lost / Because they could never find / What's this life for," Creed is musically tight and dynamic, drawing on melodies that are often moving and uplifting... in a depressing sort of way, of course. --Katherine Turman

My Own Prison Album: