It was written as its author’s career just teetering on the brink between “deeply religious but principled man who writes thought-provoking science fiction” and “raving xenophobic nutjob” and kind of feels like he started writing it in one camp and ended up writing it in the other (there’s a character storyline that just didn’t make sense to me until I was like, “Oh right, the author is an Islamophobe”). However, Human Clay does make it clear that there is an audience for post-grunge hard rock, as long as it's delivered without pretension and as long as it meets the audience's desire for straight-ahead, hard-hitting music.And the book that primed my interest for that kind of nerdery is a deeply problematic novel, Orson Scott Card’s Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus. It's hard to tell on the basis of these two records if Creed has staying power. Within that realm, the band does mix things up a bit - it's not all mid-tempo sludge, for there are also ballads and some high-octane, up-tempo rockers - and that makes Human Clay a stronger, better-paced record than its predecessor, which wasn't bad either.
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It may not be the kind of thing that knocks out critics or grunge purists, but it does deliver for anyone looking for direct, grunge-flavored hard rock. Creed has more class than that and they write relatively solid riffs and hooks. They might not have as strong an identity as their forefathers, but they're not faceless, especially in the late '90s, an era when most popular hard rock is either rap-rock, industrial-tinged, or plain out thuggish (at times, of course, it's all three). Creed is a straightforward grunge and hard rock band, embracing everything that goes along with that, and doing it pretty well. Their music may not be particularly joyous and they may even favor foreboding, heavy riffs, but they're not trying to stretch into political causes or worldbeat like Pearl Jam they're not reveling in dark psychedelia like Soundgarden nor are they attempting a glam Abbey Road like Stone Temple Pilots. Then, a realization sets in: Unlike their influences - from Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains to Stone Temple Pilots - Creed is happy to be a rock band. Listening to Human Clay doesn't really reveal any insights, either, since it is hard rock rooted firmly in the Seattle vein, complete with really big riffs and intensely introspective lyrics.
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After all, at the time, not only were post-grunge bands dying, but so were such grunge heavyweights as Pearl Jam and Soundgarden's Chris Cornell. Nobody could figure out why this group managed to not just survive, but thrive when such fellow travelers as Our Lady Peace fell by the wayside.
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So, when the group unleashed their second album, Human Clay, in 1999, the industry, critics, and record collectors alike were stunned, positively stunned, when it entered the charts at number one, then stayed in the upper reaches of the charts for months on end. At the time, they seemed like one of many heavy post-grunge guitar outfits - especially to the disinterested observers who tend to name genres and classify bands. Most critics and pop music trainspotters didn't give Creed's 1997 debut My Own Prison much credit upon its release, even though it wound up going multi-platinum.