The world rejoiced when Scott Stapp decided to leave Creed, but the remaining members couldn’t leave well enough alone. Mark Tremonti, Scott Phillips, and Brian Marshall decided to bring in ex-Mayfield Four singer Myles Kennedy to form Alter Bridge. One might expect the group would make a conscious effort to distance themselves from the sound of their former band, to create their own identity, but that idea is disproved with the very first note of their debut album One Day Remains when a grunge riff kicks in and announces that the dated Creed sound is indeed alive and well. The album’s first single, “Open Your Eyes,” is one of several songs that could have appeared on Weathered or Human Clay, but, to be fair, not all of the songs sound exactly like Creed. A few sound like Soundgarden instead. Still others sound more like Silverchair. Few are particularly engaging. With Stapp gone, Tremonti has a little more freedom to flaunt his guitar skills, which he does in the form of a nearly minute-long solo on “Open Your Eyes.” Tremonti wrote many of the melodies here, as he did with Creed, which is no doubt why these songs aren’t much of a departure. As for Kennedy, he’s a good vocalist and an adequate songwriter, and he thankfully doesn’t appear to have a Messiah complex, but there’s absolutely nothing exceptional about him or his band’s album. Kennedy’s best moment comes when he half-convincingly channels Chris Cornell on “Find The Real.” Incredibly, One Day Remains makes you wish Stapp were back in the band—if only to give the music some sort of personality.
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