SCOTT STAPP has left behind his stadium all-around-favorite band, surrounded himself with a bunch of A-class writers, resulting in an honest Hard Rock offering. One can feel his already peaceful mindset and an urgent straight-ahead message. Music-wise there are the wicked riff meaty tunes, yet some exciting introspect tracks.

"World I used to Know" - opening tune - displays his baritone range through the verses, with an arena "fists in the air" chorus, it rocks. There is some bombastic Metal detouring, which works correctly as the "Monkey Business" of the album (SKID ROW).

The sophomore track "Name" has that American FM flavor which serves as a connection gap between the stumping beginning to the third anthemic heavy hitter "Purpose for Pain" which has that KING´S X flavor ("Go Tell Somebody" from the "XV" record) that all Seattle bands know and love.

"Heaven in Me" starts with a keyboards note and an open chord riff, I´m starting to notice that this fading-in keynote is the connection between some themes (more likely to what DREAM THEATER did in the past on "As I am") giving a proper continuity to an omnipresent text. Scott is purging some demons here.

"Survivor" it's the most massive and better-crafted piece, reminds me OZZY´s sound on the "Scream" album. The drop B (or B standard tuning or seventh string guitars) it's placed for momentum sake, and hell it works. Back in the '90s, B tuning was quite a few cool things: CARCASS, seven-string guitar musos, SOUNDGARDEN´s "Badmotorfinger" and MANSON´s "Antichrist Superstar," the ironic thing is that I can help but think on the latter with this tune.

I hate sappy ballads with all my nineties heart, but the song "Red Clouds" left a satisfying aftertaste, no "I love you" crap, no "Why me" whining; instead, there is a sincere man´s shout it out to an intangible something. Recently I heard about Scott´s bipolar syndrome, and I can´t avoid pointing the verse "This is the world we live in Wasted, naked, hatred won't let the love get through" On this example, the mention of the pronoun "we" has more than aesthetic addressing, it resonates with facing mood shifting all day long in a poetic manner (lack of a better term). From a musicians perspective; the chord progression, the sustain vocal note at the top of the word "down" aims for your attention, kind.

I enjoyed this record, I was never a CREED fan by any means, but the "been there, done that" applies in more than a few hints, resulting in a reasonably robust package.