August 10, 2004 - Alter Bridge and One Day Remains

Three weeks after my last release a new band joins my library when Alter Bridge released their debut album "One Day Remains" on August 10, 2004. But who is Alter Bridge? They are a four-piece alternative rock/metal band from Orlando, Florida and they are 3/4 of Creed! Creed recently broke up as singer Scott Stapp battled addiction and the relationship between him and the rest of the band deteriorated. The rest of Creed (guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips) formed a new band called Alter Bridge with new lead singer Myles Kennedy. Alter Bridge plays a similar style of rock as Creed, but they are definitely a bit heavier with some songs balancing the line between rock and metal. Let's see what Alter Bridge is all about!

The album kicks off with "Find The Real" and they dive right into a pretty heavy and cool main riff with Tremonti leading the way with some pretty sweet heavy guitar. We hear Kennedy for the first time and he has a pretty solid and epic singing voice and he can hit some pretty high notes at times as well! Marshall's bass is nice and heavy as well and with Phillips adding some solid drums everything sounds pretty cool! Tremont spices up the chorus with some nice shredding bits then after the next round they quiet things down briefly. This sets the stage nicely for solo time where Tremonti delivers some pretty awesome shredding! It seems we have Tremonti unleashed on this album and I'm all for lots of shredding, it's a fantastic solo! It bleeds into the final chorus as well and then they end things on a nice heavy note (with Kennedy REALLY holding that last note!) to complete this pretty wicked way to start things off! Up next is the title track "One Day Remains" and Phillips plays a cool drum beat right from the start while Tremonti eases into things, eventually coming to a super fast-paced main riff that is all over the place and sounds great! The guitar is quieter but still plenty fast as Kennedy starts to sing another epic verse and things move smoothly into a similarly fast and epic chorus. Tremonti delivers a wicked little solo before the next round begins and when it's actual solo time he delivers again with a super fast and shredding solo that fits the mood perfectly! Kennedy also sounds fantastic throughout this song, holding all kinds of long notes and sounding epic the whole way through! Another pretty sweet song with tons of energy and definitely more of a metal than a rock feel so far. That changes with track 3, the lead single "Open Your Eyes" as it's driven by a still loud and solid, but much more radio-friendly lead guitar riff. Things quiet down as Kennedy begins a soft but epic verse and they nail this light and epic mood and also do a great job of ramping things up as the verse progresses. The chorus is super catchy and easy to sing along to and Kennedy sounds pretty epic leading the way. It's definitely a lighter vibe, but they are doing a great job of it and Tremonti still mixes in lots of cool guitar. After a couple rounds they slow it down and Kennedy does some pretty epic oohing and ohhing that it's hard not to get into, I think it sounds really good! It leads perfectly into solo time and Tremonti seizes the moment with one hell of an epic and awesome guitar solo! They predictably but solidly jam out the rest of the song and for a single, I think they did quite an amazing job! The next track is "Burn It Down" and it starts with some light but epic guitar and some cool bass by Marshall as well and this is the first time where I'm reminded of a Creed song, which is a positive showing that Alter Bridge are mostly forming their own identity! Kennedy certainly has a different voice than Stapp and he sounds pretty epic singing overtop this smooth quiet main riff in a low voice and his (in my opinion) better higher voice. This is definitely the weakest song on the album so far for me with it's lighter mood, though Tremonti does spice up the ending with another pretty sweet guitar solo. Track 5 is "Metalingus" and since this became the entrance music for WWE wrestler Edge, this is one of Alter Bridge's most popular songs, despite not being a single (it's the first song I ever heard by them)! It has a really cool opening with some great drums by Phillips, then they slam into a pretty damn heavy main riff with Tremonti playing some fast and pretty sweet guitar. Kennedy sounds epic as always holding long notes overtop and I especially love those high notes he can hit! Things roll right into the heavy yet still solidly catchy chorus and Tremonti continues to be the highlight with all kinds of cool guitar. After the next round these slow things down a tad, then Kennedy erupts with a super high bit that he holds very nicely! After a final chorus they wrap things up on a nice heavy note and my head was banging pretty much the whole way through! Up next is "Broken Wings" and it's got a slower, sadder feel to it as Marshall plays some super low bass in the background while Tremonti leads the way with some light but decently epic guitar. The chorus is a bit louder but still fairly slow and Kennedy sings a pretty pop-y and sappy chorus to match the mood. This pretty much sums up this one: it's not bad by any means, but it's a lesser one off this album for me. Track 7 is "In Loving Memory" and as the name suggests it's a tribute to the mother of Tremonti, who passed away in 2002. Tremonti's guitar that leads the way is on the lighter side but it's plenty playful with some cool bits to it, then he settles into a similar but slower and smoother riff for the verse as Kennedy sings in a nice lower voice overtop. As they roll into the chorus things sound very sappy, but everything is really well done and it's all very smooth. Kennedy's high oohing sounds pretty good to me and while this is obviously not my preferred style for Alter Bridge, they do make things a little heavy at times! The next song is another single called "Down To My Last" and it starts off with another solid hard rock riff with some cool guitar by Tremonti, then when Kennedy comes in to sing the smooth verse things get quieter and lighter, but still led by some good guitar. Things ramp back up as they move into the chorus and Kennedy holds several long, high notes in this pretty catchy and accessible chorus. Tremonti plays a pretty epic guitar solo, but it's not as flashy as it could have been and then it's back to the chorus for a predictable finish. An easy choice for a single. Track 9 is "Watch Your Words" and it starts a little quiet, but quickly moves into a pretty sweet main riff that has some groove to it, but is also plenty heavy! Tremonti leads the way with some great guitar and Marshall plays some nice heavy bass behind him, and Kennedy eventually comes in to sing an epic verse to match the mood with some nice long-held notes. They slow things down in a more typically smooth little bridge, then slam nicely back into the heaviness for the chorus with some more cool guitar by Tremonti. This pretty much sums up this one, but I didn't mind if it was a little repetitive, it was still very good. Up next is "Shed My Skin" and it's driven by some light but decent guitar by Tremonti as Kennedy sings a light verse to match the mood, but he still sounds epic even in this more reserved style. They smoothly segue from here into a loud latter half of the verse that gets your head banging and this continues into the simple but loud and epic chorus with Kennedy sounding great holding some long, high notes. The last minute of the song has some bland "yeah yeah yeah" singing in the background, but Tremonti spices things up with some good guitar and Kennedy's lead vocals overtop still sound good. The final song on the album is "The End Is Here" and it starts very space-y and slow with Tremonti playing some epic and interesting lead guitar overtop and Kennedy adding some acoustic rhythm guitar! Kennedy sounds like his usual epic self in his great high voice in the verse and he leads a catchy chorus that is very smooth and perfectly flows back into the main riff. When they speed things up it turns into a full-blown metal jam with some wicked distorted guitar and this part is pretty awesome! They jam this out for the last little bit and it's a pretty good way to finish things off.

That is the end of "One Day Remains" and I thought it was a pretty sweet debut album by Alter Bridge! I daresay I like this album better than any of Creed's albums! We already knew Mark Tremonti was a good guitarist and songwriter, but he gets a new  heavier lease on life in Alter Bridge and I love the results! Myles Kennedy is also a pretty great singer and this album is full of tons of great hard rock/metal! I look forward to seeing where Alter Bridge go from here!