Alter Bridge picks up where Creed left off By: Alan Sculley - For the North County Times It would be natural to think the success of Creed ---- 30 million albums sold ---- would have made it hard for the group members to break up, even if it had become readily apparent that things were not right within the group. But drummer Scott Phillips, one of three former Creed members who have formed the new group Alter Bridge, said success actually had an opposite effect when it came to disbanding Creed. "You know, I don't know if that hurt it as much as helped it," Phillips said. "Not to sound arrogant at all, I'm not trying to do that, but financially we all did really good with Creed. Everybody was pretty smart about the money that they made. It was kind of easier in a sense to feel like, 'I've got a little bit of a cushion. Let's go try this (new band).' I think it was mostly about our happiness factor than anything else." Phillips, who along with guitarist Mark Tremonti and bassist Brian Marshall went on to form Alter Bridge with former Mayfield Four vocalist Myles Kennedy, made it clear that life in the Tallahassee, Fla.-based Creed had grown stale by the time the band unraveled. The final realization came in 2003 when Creed began work on material for a follow-up to their third CD, the 2001 release "Weathered." "When we got in to start working on our fourth record, which never happened, we spent two or three weeks in a rehearsal space, out of which I think we actually managed to really rehearse two or three times," Phillips said. "It was just evident that our relationship had (deteriorated)." A variety of problems contributed to Creed's demise, Phillips said. One issue was communication among the band members. Phillips said as time went on, he and Tremonti remained close, while singer Scott Stapp seemed to grow a bit distant from the band (which also included bassist Brett Hestla, who replaced Marshall in 2000). "Always before and after shows we would spend time and hang out and converse, catch up on family life and all of that stuff," Phillips said. "And we never just saw a lot of that from Scott. I think we'd attempt as much as we could, and sometimes I think he (Stapp) would too, but it just sort of never really panned out to anything more than just a few minutes here and there." Growing musical differences also played a part in the Creed split, with Tremonti (who co-wrote Creed's songs with Stapp) and Phillips favoring a more rocking sound to what Phillips perceived as perhaps Stapp's poppier leanings. The stylistic differences in the music of Alter Bridge and Creed, though, may not be that readily apparent in listening to "One Day Remains," the debut CD from Alter Bridge. It's true that the vocals of Kennedy, who possesses a strong and rangy tenor, present a strong contrast to Stapp's baritone singing. But several songs on "One Day Remains" (including "Open Your Eyes," the brisk lead single that went top five at mainstream rock, the ballad "Broken Wings" and the expansive rocker "Down to My Last") sound like they could fit on a Creed record. Phillips, though, pointed to several other musical ingredients that might seem subtle to the listener but represent significant points of departure between Alter Bridge and Creed ---- beginning with a move to simplify Creed's music after that band enjoyed its commercial breakthrough with its 1997 debut CD, "My Own Prison." "I don't want to say this because Scott's gone that it was all his fault, but there was certainly sort of the opinion that the more easily digestible it is, the more it will be accepted on radio and the more people will be able to get into it," Phillips said. "That's been a big difference to me," he said. "I (also) think there are some songs on here ("One Day Remains") that are definitely more aggressive than stuff we had on previous (Creed) albums. I think the vibe is different too. There are some songs that have sort of that uplifting Creed-like feel, and there are some that never get there at all. They're sort of dark and moody." The more adventurous musicianship is particularly apparent on such songs as the propulsive rocker "Metalingus," the hard-edged "One Day Remains" and the epic rocker "The End Is Here." And while Alter Bridge's music retains Creed's emphasis on big vocal melodies, the "One Day Remains" CD overall has a more aggressive edge and its sound is a bit more raw, especially compared with Creed's "Human Clay" and "Weathered" albums. With "One Day Remains" in stores (and a second single, "Find the Real," poised to got top 10 at mainstream rock radio), the members of Alter Bridge seem clearly focused on the present and the future. Phillips said the band will not play any Creed songs in its live set. "I think all of us feel like it's not fair to Myles to have to sit there and do Creed songs when he's in Alter Bridge," Phillips said. "It's not fair for us to do Creed songs without Scott (Stapp) being part of the band because he was part of that. It's not fair to our fans to come see a Creed cover band basically."