Creed blows live ! I have always loved their studio albums, they sound great. But Scott Stapp sounds like s*&% live. A waste of money !!!!!

Honestly, Creed will never be the same band as they were in their prime in the early 2000′s, nor should they be expected to be. I saw them twice in that time frame for the Human Clay tour and the Weathered tour. They were indoubtedly the two best concerts I’ve seen – and I’ve seen a ton. I also saw them in August of this year, and they haven’t lost much. Their new music shows their growth and maturing as a band. This DVD is well produced and is well recorded, both visually and from an audio perspective. Scott Stapp will never sound quite as good as he did in his glory days, but he does give an honest and soulfull performance. The band still sounds excellent, and this DVD does capture the power, energy, and spiritual performance of Creed. If you are a longtime Creed fan, and have seen them in concert, this DVD will give you a chance to relive some of the awesome moments of their concerts. What’s This Life For alone is worth the price of this DVD. I picked this DVD up yesterday, along with some cold ones on the way home from work/turned up the bass and played it as loud as my system would allow, and it truly captured alot of what a Creed concert is. Yes it would have been nice to have a DVD of their Human Clay or Weathered tour, but this production is well done and effective. For Creed fans, it is definitely a must have.

Critic naysayers aside, Creed’s first live DVD is far more impressive than expected. First of all, Creed actually embraces it’s past by providing the hits and fan favorites rather the trite nitpicking of other artists like the Smashing Pumpkins who have disavowed everything that made them a great band. Putting forth an actual reunion album, tour and following DVD set of a bulk of the band’s best output with all four original members is oh, so satisfying (Billy Corgan, take note!). A minor criticism is that there are only 17 songs on the disc. As a band only in their 30s they should have performed more songs. If a 57-year old David Bowie can do 25 and a middle-aged Pearl Jam can do 35 to 40, Creed can do a least 21 with slightly more material from Full Circle as well as Weathered. Weathered is surprisingly under-represented here.

The editing of the film is not as others may have expected due to the world record of camera usage. It doesn’t fall into the MTV editing style that had plagued the live DVDs of Aerosmith’s You Gotta Move or Paul McCartney’s The Space Between Us. We are given a full glimpse of each member as they perform with no member overpowering another. However, what hurts much of the disc is Scott Stapp. Throughout the performance, he postures in fake wannabe “rock star” poses that seem exaggerated and have been done a thousand times before. He also speaks in a voice in which he tries to sound profound and heavy as the songs he sings. Instead he comes off as a pretenious amatuer preacher who misses the better route of talking earnestly to fans. His message is pretty basic particularly as the audience seems filled with Southern truck driving Bush-supporters. There is no need emasculating a basic message to fans. He’s not playing a character, he’s a singer. When Eddie Vedder or James Hetfield speak to their fans, it seems honest because they sound like themselves not something they are trying to portraying themselves to be. This is the most annoying aspect of the performance.

Musically, it goes off as planned with no major musical suprises. It’s Creed… what else can you expect. They do not possess the same musicality of Rush or Metallica but by playing reasonably well it becomes satisfactory. Stapp’s voice has deepened, which takes some of the range of his higher notes found in his earlier career. Brian Marshall’s bass is heavily present, even more so than the studio album My Own Prison or Human Clay. Mark Tremonti has more space as a guitarist with Alter Bridge as his solos are not extensive here even with the addition of touring guitarist Eric Friedman. Tremonti remains an unsung guitarist whose musical ability is better demostrated with Alter Bridge. However, I will say that the band has musically improved since 2001. The band minus Stapp has had the opportunity to musically grow with Alter Bridge while Stapp has allowed his own creativity to flurish with “Relearn Love” and The Great Divide.

The DVD also contains two bonus features of which one is worth taking a look at. First is the music video for the band’s single “Overcome,” the first single from their new album Full Circle and their first in about seven years. Although the song is rather blunt with little room for the ambiances that made the band’s original three albums interesting. The video is simply a lazy live video that is meant to be skipped. The more interestingly aspects are found in the documentary of the band’s reunion and resurgence is included to give extra sastifaction to fans who waited for a reunion for five years. It also provides insight to the making of the live concert. And for the price it is sold at, Creed’s Live is well worth the buy for any loyal fan. Naysayers, there is no need bother.