Human Clay

Human Clay is the second studio album by American rock band Creed, released on September 28, 1999 through Wind-up Records. Produced by John Kurzweg, it was the band's last album to feature Brian Marshall, who left the band in August 2000, until 2009's Full Circle.

Human Clay
Studio album by Creed
Released	September 28, 1999
Recorded	Late 1998–early 1999
Genre	Post-grunge
Length	56:28
Label	Wind-up
Producer	John Kurzweg
Creed chronology
My Own Prison (1997) Human Clay (1999) Weathered (2001)
Singles from Human Clay
"Higher" Released: August 24, 1999 "What If" Released: January 31, 2000 "With Arms Wide Open" Released: April 24, 2000 "Are You Ready?" Released: August 7, 2000

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	C[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	C–[4]
Los Angeles Times	[5]
Rolling Stone	[6]
Rock Hard (de)	9/10[7]

The album earned mixed to positive reviews from critics and was a massive commercial success, peaking at number one on the US Billboard 200 and staying there for two weeks. The album spawned two singles that peaked in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100: "Higher", which peaked at number 7, and "With Arms Wide Open", their only number one single. The album sold over 11.5 million copies in the US alone and over 20 million worldwide, making it the best selling album of Creed's career and one of the best-selling albums in the United States.

Overview

Human Clay is the only Creed album to not have a title track. According to Mark Tremonti, the album cover represents a crossroad which every man finds himself at in his life and the man of clay represented "our actions, that what we are is up to us, that we lead our own path and make our own destiny." The title of the album comes from a lyric in "Say I" ("The dust has finally settled on the field of human clay"), a song which carries the same message. The album had three music videos created for it: "Higher" and "What If" in 1999, and "With Arms Wide Open" in 2000.

During the summer of 2000, bassist Brian Marshall began a spiral into alcoholism and addiction. While under the influence, Marshall threatened to beat up Tremonti, began missing band obligations, and attacking Stapp both verbally and online. The band had a meeting with management to discuss Marshall's future. Stapp and Tremonti supported Marshall going to rehab and attempted to talk Marshall into going, but at that point, Marshall was too far gone to recognize he needed help. Brett Hestla of Virgos Merlot was initially contacted to "fill in" while Marshall went to rehab, but that never happened. Initially, the public thought Marshall was let go because he criticized Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder in a radio interview with KNDD in June 2000, claiming that Scott Stapp is a better songwriter, and criticized Pearl Jam's recent albums for "having songs without hooks."[8] Stapp later distanced the rest of the band from Marshall's comments and stated, "Yes, we get tired of the PJ question, but there is no excuse for the arrogance and stupidity [of Marshall]. I ask you all not to judge Creed as a band, because the statements made were not the band's feelings, they were Brian's. I'm sorry if Brian offended anyone, and he has already apologized for his comments."[9] Although it was reported Marshall left Creed "on friendly terms," he didn't. Tremonti and Stapp were concerned for Marshall and their collective friendships, but soon after the controversy, Marshall formed a new band called Grand Luxx with his old Mattox Creed band mates. Marshall was temporarily replaced by touring bassist Hestla.[10] Stapp stated Marshall's leaving was his choice and was unrelated to the Pearl Jam comments.[11] Mark Tremonti filled as the bassist on their third album, Weathered, while Brett Hestla became their touring bassist. Marshall later reunited with the band in 2009.

Critical reception

The album received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album 4 stars out of 5, concluding that "it may not be the kind of thing that knocks out critics or grunge purists, but it does deliver for anyone looking for direct, grunge-flavored hard rock."[12]

Commercial performance

The album was the band's first to hit number one in the US, where it debuted with first week sales of 315,000, and stayed on top for two weeks.[13] Human Clay has been certified 11× Platinum and Diamond by the RIAA, and is the 54th best-selling album of all time in the United States (as of February 2007).[14] It ranks as the eighth best selling album in the U.S. since the advent of Nielsen SoundScan in 1991.[15] It has also been certified 6 times platinum in Canada, 5 times in Australia, 7 times in New Zealand, and 4 times in Switzerland among others, selling an estimated 20 million copies worldwide.[16] The album has spent a record 104 weeks on the Billboard chart survey.[17] As of October 2014, it has sold 11,690,000 copies in the United States alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[15]

Legacy

The album's third single, "With Arms Wide Open", won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 2001.[18] Human Clay was ranked number 422 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time in 2005.[19] Human Clay was ranked number 5 on Billboard's 200 Albums of the Decade in 2009.[20] VH1 listed "Higher" as one of the greatest hard rock songs of all time in 2009. The music video for "With Arms Wide Open" was voted the 92nd best music video of all-time by VH1, who also ranked it number 4 on its "25 Greatest Power Ballads" list.[21]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Scott Stapp; all music is composed by Mark Tremonti.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Are You Ready?"	4:45
2.	"What If"	5:18
3.	"Beautiful"	4:20
4.	"Say I"	5:15
5.	"Wrong Way"	4:19
6.	"Faceless Man"	5:59
7.	"Never Die"	4:51
8.	"With Arms Wide Open"	4:38
9.	"Higher"	5:19
10.	"Wash Away Those Years"	6:04
11.	"Inside Us All"	5:39
Total length:		56:28

US edition[22]

No.	Title	Length
12.	"With Arms Wide Open" (strings version) (hidden track)	3:55
Total length:		60:23

European edition[23]

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Young Grow Old"	4:43
Total length:		61:11

Two-disc deluxe edition (With "Young Grow Old" on Disc 1)[24]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"To Whom It May Concern"	5:11
2.	"Roadhouse Blues" (live; featuring Robbie Krieger)	5:51
3.	"What's This Life For" (acoustic)	4:23
4.	"With Arms Wide Open" (acoustic)	3:56
5.	"Is This the End?"	6:15
Total length:		86:48

Personnel

Creed Scott Stapp – lead vocals Mark Tremonti – guitar, backing vocals Brian Marshall – bass Scott Phillips – drums Additional musicians John Kurzweg – B-3 organ on "Wrong Way" Kirk Kelsey – Mandolin on "Wrong Way"

Technical personnel Jeff Hanson – executive producer, management at Jeff Hanson Management & Promotions John Kurzweg – production, engineering, mixing Kirk Kelsey – mixing assistant, mixing on "Wrong Way" Barrett Miller, Mark Kiczula, Steve Bearsley – assistant mix engineering Dana Cornock – digital editing Ted Jensen – mastering at Sterling Sound, New York, NY Joel Mark – A&R Daniel Tremonti (Three Mountain Design) – art direction, design, cover, additional photography Sacha Waldman – cover photography, additional photography J. Seward Johnson Jr. – "Crack the Whip" artwork

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (1999–2000) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[25] 2 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[26] 1 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[27] 4 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[28] 9 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] 35 UK Albums (OCC)[30] 29 UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[31] 5 US Billboard 200[32] 1 Year-end charts Chart (2001) Position Australian Albums Chart[33] 3 Decade-end charts Chart (2000–2009) Position Australia Album (ARIA) [34] 88 US Billboard 200 5

Sales and certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales Australia (ARIA)[35] 4× Platinum 280,000^^ Austria (IFPI Austria)[36] Gold 25,000^* Canada (Music Canada)[37] 6× Platinum 600,000^^ Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[38] Gold 25,000^^ Germany (BVMI)[39] Gold 150,000^^ New Zealand (RMNZ)[40] 7× Platinum 105,000^^ Norway (IFPI Norway)[41] Platinum 50,000^* South Africa (RiSA)[42] 3× Platinum 150,000* Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[43] 4× Platinum 160,000^^ Sweden (GLF)[44] Gold 40,000^^ United Kingdom (BPI)[45] Gold 100,000^^ United States (RIAA)[46] 11× Platinum 11,000,000[15] ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1999	"Higher"	US Billboard Hot 100	7
		US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	1
2000	"What If"	US Bubbling Under Hot 100	2
		US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	3
	"With Arms Wide Open"	US Billboard Hot 100	1
		US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks
	"Are You Ready?"	US Billboard Hot 100	125
		US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	4

Appearances

• The song "Wrong Way" was featured on the soundtrack to the film End of Days in 1999.
• The song "What If" was featured in both the movie and on the official soundtrack for Scream 3 in 2000, while the song "Is This the End?" was only included on the album.
• The song "Higher" was featured in the films The Skulls in 2000, 22 Jump Street in 2014 and The Beach Bum in 2019, in trailers for the movie Titan A.E. in 2000, and as downloadable content for the video games Rocksmith 2014 in 2014 and Rock Band 2 in 2018.
• The song "Young Grow Old" was featured on the album WWF Forceable Entry in 2002.
• The song "To Whom It May Concern" was featured on the soundtrack to the film The Scorpion King in 2002.
• The song "Are You Ready?" was featured on the albums NASCAR: Full Throttle in 2001 and Harley-Davidson: Ride in 2005.
• The song "With Arms Wide Open" was featured in the movie Dark Waters in 2019; it was also included as downloadable content for the video games Rocksmith 2014 in 2014 and Rock Band 4 in 2020.

See also

• List of best-selling albums in the United States

References

1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (1999-09-28). "Human Clay Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
2. Christgau, Robert (2000-10-15). "Creed". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 9780312245603.
3. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958.
4. Morgan, Laura (1999-10-08). "Human Clay Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
5. WEINGARTEN, MARC (1999-09-25). "Record Rack". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
6. Powers, Ann (1999-10-28). "Creed: Human Clay : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-10-02. Retrieved 2012-05-02.
7. Schnädelbach, Buffo. "Rock Hard review". issue 149. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
8. David Basham (June 19, 2000). "Creed Bassist Disses Pearl Jam In Radio Interview". CMT.
9. Archived March 2, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
10. Steve Huey. "Creed". Allmusic.
11. Joe D'Angelo (August 9, 2004). "Scott Stapp Breaks His Silence". MTV. Archived from the original on August 14, 2004.
12. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Human Clay". AllMusic.
13. Mancini, Robert (1999-10-13). "News - Articles - 1427609". Mtv.com. Retrieved 2012-02-22.
14. "RIAA - Recording Industry Association of America". Riaa.com. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
15. Caulfield, Keith (2014-10-10). "Adele's '21' Surpasses 11 Million In U.S. Sales". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2014-10-11.
16. "Interview: Mark Tremonti on Creed's 2012 full albums tour". MusicRadar.com. 2012-04-04. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
17. "Human Clay - Creed". Billboard.com. 1999-10-16. Retrieved 2012-02-22.
18. Creed's Scott Stapp on his 2001 Grammy win. 19 January 2014 – via YouTube.
19. [...], Rock Hard (Hrsg.). [Red.: Michael Rensen. Mitarb.: Götz Kühnemund] (2005). Best of Rock & Metal die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Königswinter: Heel. p. 41. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
20. "Music Albums, Top 200 Albums & Music Album Charts". Billboard.com. 2009-12-31. Retrieved 2012-02-22.
21. "Creed: "With Arms Wide Open" (25 Greatest Power Ballads)". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-02-22.
22. "Amazon.com: Human Clay: Creed: MP3 Downloads".
23. "Creed - Human Clay - Amazon.com Music".
24. "Human Clay (Bonus Disc)".
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26. "Creed Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard.
27. "Charts.nz – Creed – Human Clay". Hung Medien.
28. "Swedishcharts.com – Creed – Human Clay". Hung Medien.
29. "Swisscharts.com – Creed – Human Clay". Hung Medien.
30. "{{{artist}}} | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
31. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
32. "Creed Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
33. ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 2001. Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
34. "2009 ARIA End of Decade Albums Chart". ARIA. January 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
35. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2001 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020.
36. "Austrian album certifications – Creed – Human Clay" (in German). IFPI Austria.
37. "Canadian album certifications – Creed – Human Clay". Music Canada.
38. "Danish album certifications – Creed – Human Clay". IFPI Denmark. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
39. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Creed; 'Human Clay')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
40. "New Zealand album certifications – Creed – Human Clay". Recorded Music NZ.
41. "IFPI Norsk platebransje Trofeer 1993–2011" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway.
42. "Mi2N: Music Divas & Rock Bands Top South African Certifications". Music Industry News Network. 2 May 2002.
43. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Creed; 'Human Clay')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
44. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2001" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
45. "British album certifications – Creed – Human Clay". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Human Clay in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
46. "American album certifications – Creed – Human Clay". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.