•
Rating: Summer 2004. President George Walker Bush is struggling with the Iraq War; from Cape Canaveral, the Messenger probe sets off for Mercury after a thirty-year absence of human devices from the planet. In Norway, two thieves steal Munch's The Scream from the Munch Museum in Oslo, and Pope Wojtyla watches, weary with ailments, over the ugliness of a world recently shaken by the events of September 11.
Amidst all this turmoil, music continues to follow its course, marking time and events.
In Tallahassee, Florida, after nine years of activity, three produced albums (with twenty-three million copies sold), and unparalleled success, Creed disband, leaving a deep mark on the post-grunge landscape of the last century. The reports tell of a breakup due to disagreements between frontman Scott Stapp and the rest of the band. It would be guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips who would finalize the split, due to recurrent behavioral issues from Stapp, who had become a shadow of himself.
Meanwhile, in Spokane, a talented young guitar teacher originally from Boston, Myles Kennedy, considers numerous offers as he turns the pages of the memory album of his Mayfield Four, who had disbanded less than two years earlier after a deserved fleeting success. Despite persistent courting by Slash (to which he would later succumb) and the Velvet Revolver, he decides to accept the offer from Mark Tremonti and the surviving ex-Creed members, with whom Kennedy and the Mayfield Four had collaborated years earlier as an opening band, during some live dates in Uncle Sam's land.
Alter Bridge is born, and on August 10 of the same year, the debut album of the Orlando band is released: “One Day Remains”.
The cover, resembling an oil painting and created (like subsequent ones) by Daniel Tremonti, Mark's brother, encapsulates the meaning of the band's moniker. The bridge (bridge) mentioned is located in Detroit, between Alter Road and Riverside Boulevard, where the Tremonti brothers lived as children.
The album title, which initially "risked" being the name of the band, comes from a phrase in the film “Donnie Darko” and is inspired by life, thinking of it as if it were enclosed in a single last day to be lived fully.
The riffs and sounds, typical of successful singles like “Open Your Eyes”, “Burn It Down”, and the closing song “The End Is Here”, immediately recall pure Creed-style solutions, so much so that industry critics labeled the new quartet as “Creed with a new singer”. Whether or not this observation can be considered, it is evident, as repeatedly specified by Tremonti, that Kennedy's tenor voice has nothing to do with Stapp's baritone one and that the composition presents much more elaborate arrangements than in the past, with solos almost entirely absent in Creed's discography. A clear example is "Down To My Last", where we can particularly appreciate the flair and vocal power of the frontman. Returning to the global vision of the album, to melodic, reflective, and emotional pieces like “Burn It Down”, “Shed My Skin”, “Broken Wings” and especially the moving “In Loving Memory” (dedicated to Mark Tremonti's mother, who died prematurely), contrasts the power of "Metalingus" (used by WWE for wrestler The Edge's entrance), the title track "One Day Remains” and “Watch Your Words”, which showcase powerful solos on the choruses and a metal-style bridge. The distorted guitar riffs, which become prominent as early as the opening“Find The Real”, are exclusively from Tremonti's six strings, as on this first album, Myles Kennedy does not play guitar but only focuses on the vocals. The decision is motivated by the fact that at the time of Kennedy's arrival, the composition was already completed, and the riffs assigned to a single guitar.
It is not difficult to notice this peculiarity during Alter Bridge's live performances, where in pieces like “Metalingus” in particular, Kennedy places the guitar behind the scenes.
“One Day Remains” marks the beginning of an artistic journey characterized by incredible compositional and vocal quality. In twenty years of activity, during which the Creed reunion and a new album, the birth of Tremonti and Kennedy's solo projects, as well as the latter's artistic partnership with Slash & The Conspirators, were not lacking, Alter Bridge has released seven studio albums and four live ones, consistently providing an innovative imprint, far from resting on their laurels, despite some occasional less memorable episodes.
We can certainly claim that Myles Kennedy, Mark Tremonti, Brian Marshall, and Scott Phillips have left a clear mark on the hard rock and post-grunge scene of the past twenty-five years. A scene too often accused of being flat or lacking flair but which, all things considered, is evidently quite the opposite, thanks also to bands like Alter Bridge.
The celebratory version of “One Day Remains”, enthusiastically released on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the album's release, involves a reissue on double vinyl (including colored) and includes the B-side “Save Me”, as well as four live tracks performed at Phase One Studios. An item that early fans cannot miss and an excellent opportunity to return to the origins and dust off the past of this genre, introducing newcomers to one of the most interesting bands around. With an entire unpublished discography, in this case, completely available.
Loading comments slowly
