Weathered is the third studio album by American rock band Creed, released on November 20, 2001. It was the last Creed album to be released until Full Circle in October 2009, as Creed disbanded in June 2004. Weathered is the only Creed album to be recorded as a trio, as bassist Brian Marshall departed in August 2000, with guitarist Mark Tremonti taking over the bass guitar part during recording. Tremonti and vocalist Scott Stapp wrote most of the material for the album during a three-week period in late 2000, following their successful tour to support their second album, Human Clay. Manager Jeff Hanson once again paired the band with long-time producer John Kurzweg, who rented out a private residence/recording studio in Ocoee, Florida owned by Jay Stanley, where the band set up a studio inside to record the album. Recording sessions for the album began in July 2001 and took four months to complete.
Stapp described the album as "two records in one" and "a very extreme record", as it features some of Creed's heaviest and most aggressive songs, plus experimental tracks and many of the band's most popular ballads. The lyrics on Weathered tackle familiar topics often addressed by the band, including Christianity and faith, discrimination and unity, depression, loneliness, and friendship, as well as more current and personal issues such as criticism and persecution of the band by their critics and the press, substance abuse, dealing with the pressures of fame and the rock star lifestyle, feelings of invisibility and insignificance, and Stapp's deteriorating physical and mental health, which continued to worsen throughout their hectic tour in support of the album.
The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, the band's second consecutive studio album to top the chart, and remained at the top spot for eight consecutive weeks, the longest consecutive run since the Beatles's greatest hits album 1 (2000) the year prior. Weathered also spawned six singles, including two top 10 Billboard Hot 100 singles: "One Last Breath", which peaked at number 6, and "My Sacrifice", which peaked at number 4. It has since been certified 6× platinum by the RIAA for sales of over 6 million units in the US alone. Weathered received mixed reviews from critics, with some praising the band for their nuance, refined sound and unapologetic emotion, while others criticized the album for its lack of creativity and for being far too serious and pretentious. In 2025, Lauryn Schaffner of Loudwire named the album the best post-grunge release of 2001.
Background Following the massive success of Creed's second album Human Clay, the band began to experience turmoil during their tour in support of the album in the summer of 2000. Bassist Brian Marshall's problems with alcoholism and addiction were taking their toll on the band. Marshall physically threatened guitarist Mark Tremonti and even began attacking vocalist Scott Stapp verbally and online. After a band meeting Marshall was fired. The public initially thought Marshall was let go due to comments he made about Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder during a radio interview with KNDD in June, claiming that Stapp was a better songwriter and criticizing Pearl Jam's recent albums for not having hooks. Marshall was replaced for the remainder of the tour with Brett Hestla of Virgos Merlot.
Stapp's own struggles with alcoholism, addiction, and depression also began to worsen during this period. He began drinking heavily to cope with his depression as well as with the pressures of fame and the band's success. He also became involved in many violent altercations, including in April 2001 when he punched a badgering fan at a club in St. Augustine, Florida, after the man reportedly told him "You should’ve stuck with Pearl Jam." However, no charges were filed. When asked about the altercation, Stapp responded by saying "I was going to turn the other cheek, but Jesus never had to deal with this Pearl Jam crap."
As Stapp's drinking addiction became more severe, he also became addicted to Percocet shortly after the release of the album following a car accident in the spring of 2002, as well as a host of other medications including Xanax and throat steroids like Decadron. Stapp's deterioration continued until he reached a point where he was "drinking from the time I woke up ‘til the time I went to sleep, and under the influence of pills as well." These addictions eventually culminated in a notorious breakdown during a December 29, 2002, live show at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, which led to the band's eventual break-up.
Writing and recording Creed approached the writing process differently for Weathered than they did for their previous two albums. Prior to writing new material, the band made a rule that during the tour for Human Clay no new songs could be composed. Stapp says the reason for this was that he wanted the band to "live life and have experiences" before he and guitarist Mark Tremonti began writing new songs. Stapp and Tremonti also vowed not to listen to any music at all between the end of the Human Clay tour and the start of writing sessions for Weathered. Stapp said the reason for this was that he wanted to ensure that nothing would subconsciously influence the band's writing process, so that all the material would come from them. After finishing the final leg of their tour in December 2000, Stapp and Tremonti began writing new songs. In their attempt to avoid influences of popular contemporary music on their writing, Stapp and Tremonti would go out of their way to listen to either non-genre-specific music or classic rock, including artists such as the Eagles, 2Pac and Bob Marley, which Stapp admits was done with the intention of not having anything near to what they were doing affecting their creative process. Stapp recalls the writing process for the album, stating "I didn’t feel any particular pressure to write a particular kind of song. I don’t think we ever thought that way; we just wrote what we felt. We just got together and created whatever came out, and we put on a record if we liked it." The band would also use something they called "the goosebump test", where the song would have to give them literal goosebumps after the song was completely written, as they did not want to put any material on the record if it did not pass the test. After just three weeks, the songwriting duo had managed to write an entire album's worth of material. Following a short holiday break, the band decided to take a laid-back approach to the recording and release of the album, deciding to spend the first several months of 2001 refining the new material before entering the recording studio. Most of the writing for the album was done in Stapp's living room during four-hour sessions, four nights a week. During the final days of writing Tremonti and Stapp wrote while on Stapp's boat, a Sea Ray cruiser.
On July 20, 2001, Stapp, Tremonti, and Phillips entered J. Stanley Productions Inc., a private residence/recording studio in Ocoee, Florida, to begin recording. The home studio featured two in-home control rooms: Studio A, which was decked out with purple lights and purple lava lamps and which Jay Stanley claimed helped spark his creativity; and Studio B, where Creed held their recording sessions. The album was recorded and mixed in just four months using Pro Tools. The band also hired Full Sail University graduate Shilpa Patel, whom Jay Stanley referred to as the "Queen of Pro Tools", as a studio technician to help the band record and mix the album.
During recording sessions for the song "Who's Got My Back?", the band enlisted the services of Cherokee musician Bo Taylor, an avowed Creed fan who Stapp brought in personally from a reservation who was fluent in ancient Cherokee chants, to do an ancient sounding Cherokee Indian prayer for the intro of the song. The band played a demo of the song for Taylor, and after a lengthy conversation about its meaning Stapp had Taylor do four to five chants in the studio until settling on the first take. Stapp also brought in his sister Aimee to sing backing vocals on "Don't Stop Dancing", as well as the Tallahassee Boys' Choir. Jay Stanley, who was sporadically present during the recording sessions, recalls his initial impression of hearing early demo recordings of the songs, specifically the album's lead single "My Sacrifice", one of the earliest songs written for the album.
At the time, the group was halfway through recording its new album when the attacks of September 11, 2001, occurred. According to Producer John Kurzweg, the mood quickly changed and intensified following the attacks. Kurzweg said "We tried to go forward and do the best we could, but all the songs were written before. Not one lyric was changed." In response to the terrorist attacks, touring bassist Brett Hestla, along with his own band who were known simply as Virgos during this period, wrote a tribute song to those affected called "Brother of Mine", which was included on their only album, The Path of Least Resistance. The song featured Tremonti and Phillips on guitar and keyboards, respectively. Another version of the song also features Stapp sharing vocal duties with Hestla.
Music and lyrics Stapp describes the album as "two records in one" and "a very extreme record", as it features some of Creed's heaviest songs, such as the opening track and second single "Bullets", as well as some of the band's most uplifting numbers, including their hit lead single "My Sacrifice", and the album's closing track, "Lullaby". Manager Jeff Hanson described the album as Creed's version of The Joshua Tree, feeling it would be the record that would set the band apart and have the epic scope and impact of the classic U2 album. With bassist Brian Marshall no longer in the band, Tremonti played bass guitar for all the songs on the album in his absence. Tremonti and the band's approach to the album's musical style came with the intent of creating meaningful songs that would move people, rather than the more upbeat, popular rock music scene at the time. He credits the band's moody, somber, and darker sound, in contrast to other popular contemporary rock acts of the time such as Third Eye Blind, Semisonic, and Marcy Playground, with contributing to the band's success early in their careers.
The album opens with "Bullets", an anthemic heavy metal track that features some of Tremonti's fastest and most aggressive guitar work for Creed. Stapp wrote the lyrics about what he felt were unjust criticisms that Creed had received throughout their careers from critics and the press. "Bullets" is followed by "Freedom Fighter", at only 2 minutes and 36 seconds the band's shortest song ever recorded. In between the first and second verse of the song, a muffled voice can be heard reciting the lyrics from the bridge section of "Wash Away Those Years", from the Human Clay album.
The album's third track, the eight-minute epic "Who's Got My Back?", is the longest song the band ever recorded and one of their most experimental tracks. The song was written by Stapp, who was inspired to reconnect with his own Cherokee heritage. The song opens with a Cherokee Indian prayer by Bo Taylor that, according to Stapp, was "so moving to me. It literally brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it."
The band continues to explore dark themes on track five of the album with their hit single "One Last Breath", a song which Tremonti cited as one of his favourite guitar lines and musical compositions from Creed. According to Stapp, the song is about someone crying out for help, realizing the mistakes they've made in their past, and your friends being there for you to lean on. Stapp also expresses sentiments about how in the minds of "normal, well-adjusted" people, any thoughts of moving beyond this life are not real, and how these surreal thoughts are just flashes-in-the-pan and they would never act upon them.