Creed

The '90s are gone and grunge died several fads ago, but somebody forgot to tell the guys in Creed--and their millions of fans. Armed with an arsenal of Pearl Jam-esque, Alice In Chains-sounding Big Rock songs, this Tallahassee, Florida group proves, once again, that nothing can keep a good rock band down.

Questioning the lines between spirituality and religion--as a child, singer Scott Stapp was forced to transcribe sections of the Bible as punishment--the band's tormented lyrics (Stapp challenges organized religion in "In America" and actually says "Goddamn" in another song) are filled with enough angst-lite to walk the fine line between religious and secular fans, strangely attracting both in droves.

Creed's debut, My Own Prison, surfaced quietly in the summer of 1997, when ska and swing bands were coming off as too trendy, techno music too foreign, and modern rock too wimpy. The alternative musical landscape was left fragmented, and with most of the early-'90s grunge knockoffs dead and gone, a door was left wide open for some basic troubled rockers. Creed's deep-toned rock wailings crept onto radio stations, into clubs and straight into ears of millions of fans, but no one could tell you how or why. Hip radio stations joked as they spun the first single, the album's title track, which led to successful second ("Torn") and third ("What's This Life For") singles, all which had amazingly long tenures on the charts.

My Own Prison was eventually certified quadruple-platinum, and though its longevity kept the band on the road for a good long time, the follow-up album Human Clay finally arrived in 1999, and thanks to megahit singles like "With Arms Wide Open" and "Higher," it was an even bigger success, selling more than 10 million copies. In November 2001, Creed kept up this winning streak with album number three, Weathered, which enjoyed the biggest first-week sales for any rock band of that year. Who says grunge is dead?