Creed: Human Clay (2LP) [CRAFT]

Why you'll love it

This Craft Recordings reissue spreads the album across two LPs, pressed in the EU. Human Clay spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and sold more than 11.5 million copies in the US alone.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Pressed in the EU

About the album

At the turn of the millennium you could not walk into a shopping mall, a hockey arena or a Tim Hortons drive-through without hearing Scott Stapp's baritone. Human Clay, the Florida band's second album, was the reason. Producer John Kurzweg gave Mark Tremonti's big, chiming riffs a polish that suited rock radio perfectly, and the record took off.

"Higher" climbed to No. 7 on the Hot 100, and "With Arms Wide Open," which Stapp wrote on learning he was going to be a father, went all the way to No. 1 and won the Grammy for Best Rock Song. "What If" brings the heavier side, "Are You Ready?" opens with a bang, and "Say I" holds the line that gave the album its name. The cover art, a figure of clay at a crossroads, came from Tremonti's brother Daniel, and "Wash Away Those Years" and "Inside Us All" close the album on a slower, reflective note.

With more than 20 million copies sold worldwide, it remains the band's best-selling record and a fixture of every rock bar jukebox from here to Tampa. The clay, we're happy to report, has held up nicely.

Also at Kops: more Creed on vinyl · browse Rock

Tracklist

Listen

On Wind-up / Craft Recordings (cat# CR00260), a reissue of the 1999 album.