A few years have passed since Stapp's former band mates released their debut as "Alter Bridge" and now the wait is over as Scott now presents to his fan base The Great Divide. Right off the bat this album was a lot more Creed-like than Alter Bridge was and this is probably due to the unique vocal register of the bands former front man. He also manages to capture a lot of the guitar sound that Tremonti was known for on this album and my guess was this was done on purpose. This gives the long waiting Creed fans a close as possible solo album to the band they are all missing. Tremonti took a different approach with Alter Bridge by aiming for new musical directions and fans a little more and hoping Creed followers would take it as it was. Stapp has essentially delivered the final Creed album but in the solo sense. When a lead singer has such a signature voice and writing style it's very difficult to lose this comparison on new material and we have seen this before in the work of Jon Oliva (Savatage) and Vince Neil (Motley Crue). It takes some time of solo performance to change it naturally as drastic changes are often not accepted. Of the songs on the new solo album we find some solid numbers especially in "The Great Divide", "Justify" and "Let Me Go" with all of them sounding the most like the former hit maker. The title track is probably the best song on the album and was made the single as well when it was released. Stapp does know the formulas that work by this point and is clearly using as many of them as possible. I felt he went over the acceptable limits in "Sublime" since most of the song uses the same riff as "My Sacrifice". Come on Scott, did you think that would slip by?
I think this album will appeal most to the existing Creed fans as this serves the need for them. Stapp provides lyrics and photos on the enclosed booklet and that will go over well since so many people would sing Creed songs with them finding significant radio play. The songs on The Great Divide have already received more rotation than Alter Bridge but the question is will either of these solo endeavors prove as successful as Creed itself. Only time will tell on whether Scott Stapp solo artist will soar of find him broken.
Track Listing
1. Reach Out
2. Fight Song
3. Hard Way
4. Justify
5. Let Me Go
6. Surround Me
7. The Great Divide
8. Sublime
9. You Will Roar
10. Broken
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