Import jQuery

Pickle-in-mouth singing of Scott Stapp

There isn't a whole lot of secular music I like nowadays. One of my old favorite bands was Creed. Creed broke up a few years back, and split into 2 groups: lead singer Scott Stapp broke off and is now a solo artist, the rest of the Creed guys teamed up with Mayflower Four lead singer Myles Kennedy to form a new band called Alter Bridge.

Alter Bridge released an album last year, you might recognize at least one of their hits: Open Your Eyes, Down To My Last, or Broken Wings.

Scott Stapp just released his first solo album and there is definitely some good songs on there.

<-- the always passionate Scott Stapp

Sounds like The Great Divide will be a hit. Great song. Even though Scott's not seen as a Christian artist, he is an open beliver in Christ, and his lyrics often reflect that:

"The Great Divide"
I have run to the ocean
 Through the Horizon
 Chased the sun
 I've waited for the light to come,
 And at times I would give up
 You have
 Wrapped your loving arms 'round me,
 And with your love I'll overcome.
 You have
 Loved me when I was weak,
 You have
 Given unselfishly,
 Kept me from Falling...Falling
 Everywhere but my Knees!
You set me free!
 To live my life
 You became my reason to survive the great divide
 You set me Free!
I've been on Heaven's doorstep,
 With the Door open,
 One foot inside
 I've cried out...God give me answers!
 Please hush child I'll tell you why
 You have
 Loved me when you were weak,
 You kept
 Giving unselfishly,
 Kept you from
 Falling...Falling
 Everywhere but your Knees!
You set me free!
 To live my life
 You became my reason to survive the great divide
 You set me free!
Oh...our love is beautiful
 Oh...oo...oh...Isn't it beautiful?
 Times have changed
 But you remain
 My everything
 Our Love is Beautiful
 Stood by my side
 Helped me survive
 My great Divide
 Isn't this is beautiful.
You set me free!
 To live my life
 You became my reason to survive the great divide
 You set me free!

Two others I've been taking a liking to are Surround Me and Justify. "Surround Me" has some great lyrics as well as the signature, passionate sound of Scott's singing. If you're into melodic rock, I recommend grabbing this one as well as Alter Bridge's One Day Remains.

6 comments:

  1. AnonymousThursday, December 15, 2005 9:39:00 AM

    Hi Judah, cool site.

    Creed is and always will be one of my favorite bands. The music was fabulous, but Scott's voice made all the difference. When they broke up, America lost a great band.

    Alter Bridge pales in comparison to Creed, and lead singer Miles Kennedy's vocals aren't very good, either. I've listened to their music, but I couldn't get into it, not with Miles in there.

    Scott Stapp's solo album, on the other hand, sounds like a decent album, although there are no especially catchy, memorable riffs as there were in Creed's music (think My Sacrifice, One Last Breath, Don't Stop Dancing from their Weathered album). That is probably what is missing the most in Scott's album.

    Let me take a second to say that, while Scott has always had a God-centric ideology in his lyrics, there have been mixed opinions as to his religious orientation. In fact, some claim he has openly stated that he was not a Christian, and others say he has a drinking problem which a Christian should not have (and apparently that is the reason why Creed broke up in the first place -- because he was drunk at a concert). Even so, Scott apparently did a musical piece for a collaborative album of songs written by various arists inspired by The Passion, Mel Gibson's excellent movie about Christ's death. If you go back and listen to "What's This Life For?" from Creed's debut album, the song's lyrics refer to reign under "one king" (presumably God), yet he clearly states in the chorus that we don't have to "settle no God-d*mn score" repeatedly. In the official lyrics on Creed's web site, however, no such words exist (it simply says "settle the score"). It always seemed that Scott's lyrics and his music were somehow loosely related to a Christian background of some kind, or at least morally sound (as opposed to a lot of the secular music that is available today).

    ReplyDelete
  2. Judah Gabriel HimangoThursday, December 15, 2005 10:46:00 AM

    Alter Bridge isn't quiet as good as Creed was, I agree. Myles doesn't have the same passionate sound Scott has, and Mark's lyrics, while interesting, are rather shallow, and IMO fall short of Scott's words. However, Myles has a better vocal range than Scott and is a much better live performer as well. I like Alter Bridge. Mark Tremonti's guitar totally rocks, nothing like it, there were several times on Scott's album where I consciously noticed the absence of a strong guitar.

    Scott has definitely struggled in his life. His lyrics don't always reflect traditional conservative Christianity (including his "God-damned score" lyrics), but Scott has nevertheless continued on in his rocky journey. I think his music often reflects that with such lyrics as "I'm down on my knees, begging you to rescue me!" or "We've seen our share of ups and downs, how quickly life can turn around..." or "If I had just 2 words to say, to explain my life away, I would say, 'ups' and 'downs' because they always get my defense down". It has been ups and downs for Scott. He's made mistakes including alcohol problems and probably drug problems too. But any real believer in Christ knows that walking a godly life is no easy thing, and by all means everyone has fallen short at times. Paul mentioned in the New Testament, "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."

    In the end, I think that's why I like Scott's music. His lyrics reflect his real experience in trying to live a godly life in a materialistic, worldly arena.

    ReplyDelete
  3. JasonHFriday, December 16, 2005 11:44:00 PM

    Jonathan,
    No person is perfect, and that goes double for Christians.

    The Apostle Paul said it best in Romans 7 when speaking of himself, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

    In Revelation 3, the Lord said, "You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent."

    Many people have this belief that Christians are wonderful, perfect citizens who never do anything wrong. And a lot of Christians seem to believe that too, or at least try to hold other Christians up to that higher standard and refuse to examine themselves. If we think we're perfect, we're all the more wretched and completely blind. Until we can see the darkness in ourselves, we're putting up a big roadblock to the transforming power that Christ can have in our lives. But its a constant battle.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Judah Gabriel HimangoSunday, December 18, 2005 7:43:00 PM

    Well said H.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Adnan SiddiqiSunday, December 25, 2005 11:05:00 PM

    HI Judah!

    sorry for OT post,just wanted to let you know that i have reactivated my Blogger account as well,so i have seprated my technical blog(http://weblogs.com.pk/kadnan) from other stuff and like you,i am gonan use blogger Account for posting religion stuff,regardless of its from Islam or from other religion.

    One thing i really appreciate aboout your blog that you dont sound a fanatic and offensive towards other religions,specially Islam,yes you reject it but dont go to extreem and this is wonderful,thatswhy i enjoyed having convo with you and i like your blogg stuff as well,which made your blog to be part of my blogroll

    -adnan

    ReplyDelete
  6. Judah Gabriel HimangoMonday, December 26, 2005 2:07:00 PM

    I’m glad you enjoy the blog, Adnan. Talk to you again soon.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Appending "You might like" to each post.