For many bands, the pressure to follow up a successful debut album can be a killer. The annals of rock history are filled with hotly tipped artists who have struggled to live up to their opening statement of intent. For Floridian post-grunge band Creed, expectations were sky high after their 1997 debut, My Own Prison, sold more than 2.2 million copies in the US alone within a year of its release. Not that they were feeling the pressure…
“I can honestly tell you I didn’t even think about that,” says Creed vocalist Scott Stapp, thinking back. “A lot of people talk about, ‘Were you worried about the sophomore slump?’ I had such confidence – and maybe it was just ignorance or youthful naivety – in what we were doing and the music that we were creating. I was just excited about getting this music recorded and putting out a new record.”
