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In addition to rhythmic variation, Weathered is packed with vocal nuances that range from weary to exultant. "I experimented a lot with the way my voice was from song to song," Stapp said. "I really pushed the limits vocally from the style I would sing to how high or low. Mark as well really experimented with the things that he was doing on guitar with tempos and speeds and riffs and even more guitar solos, which you don't hear much these days. And Scott went in and knocked his whole drums out in one week. It just shows how much better he's become as a drummer, and the record just shows the strength and talent of the band. It's really given us a lot of confidence to know we can pretty much do anything we want to do and be happy with the way it sounds amongst ourselves. Because we don't write records for the public, we write records for us."
Sitting on a red barstool, his long hair hanging freely below his shoulders and wearing a black designer leather jacket, tight gold chain, black V-neck sweater and casual black slacks, Stapp looked part gigolo, part Jim Morrison. He spoke in a low-key tone and sometimes emphasized his points with hand gestures. The only thing that suggested he was less than comfortable was his left leg, which gently vibrated against his stool throughout the conversation. Other than that, he was all confidence, boldly asserting the strengths of his band and his faith in Weathered. Sometimes his self-assuredness even bordered on cockiness.
"We would love MTV's support in as big a capacity as they can give us, but MTV knows as well as we do that we don't need them," he boasted. "We sold 10 million records on our last album, 7 million on our first, generally without any support from MTV. I don't think it's gonna make a difference either way on this record at all. And that's just being honest."
Creed has earned the right to be cocky. Since their first album, 1997's My Own Prison, they have been badmouthed by hostile critics and slighted by other bands. Onstage at the
June 2000 Dysfunctional Family Picnic concert in Holmdel, New Jersey, Limp Bizkit front man Fred Durst called Stapp an egomaniac and added that "he's a f---in' punk, and he's backstage right now acting like he's Michael Jackson."
Of course, Creed had the last laugh. Not only did Human Clay sell more than 10 million records, Weathered entered the Billboard 200 albums chart at #1, selling more than 887,000 copies, the second highest first-week figures for any artist this year. And the disc shows no signs of falling off the chart anytime soon.
"We've done it our way from the beginning," Stapp boasted. "We didn't have to lean on anybody. We accomplished everything on the strength of our music and on our live show,
and that's fulfilling in a great way, but it was a lot harder. There were a lot of long van rides with a trailer, taking shifts, going from town to town and playing in front of 10 people. But our mentality was if we could win those 10 people over that night then next time we came through the city maybe there would be 20, maybe there would be 30 and that's exactly what happened. We built a grassroots fan base." [Watch Clip]
Overcoming obstacles and thwarting expectations aren't just pleasures for Stapp, they're goals. Contrary to those who think he sits around listening to Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and the Doors all day, Stapp said he's recently been grooving to a heterogeneous array of acts including Tupac Shakur, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Radiohead. Tremonti, while not quite as eclectic, has put aside his metal discs in favor of blues records by artists such as Buddy Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Stapp likes to think of Creed as unpredictable underdogs who have risen up to bite the heads off their fellow canines.
"It fuels our fire and our passion just to keep proving people wrong," he said. "You can say what you want about this band, but it's undeniable, and it's kind of very similar to Led Zeppelin. The first three albums, no one gave them any credit. Rolling Stone bashed them in every single article. They got bashed basically from the entire media, and it wasn't until their fourth album that everybody got to accept the fact that Led Zeppelin was gonna be there and be around. We're kind of starting to feel that way
now." 
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