The Daily Swarm

Slate:
There’s no telling whether Creed will make good on its second chance, but the band deserves a second listen. If your impulse on hearing that it has reunited is to groan, stifle it long enough to locate a copy of Creed’s 2004 Greatest Hits collection. It’s a fantastic baker’s dozen of first-rate schlock-rock, courtesy of one of the most underrated and unfairly maligned groups in pop history.

NY Times:
“Full Circle” has some surprising moments: the title track’s swampy acoustic guitar line; the infectious, glistening chorus to “Rain.” But as Mr. Tremonti acknowledged, the members didn’t make wholesale changes to Creed’s signature sound; they just gave it a “face-lift.” Several new songs bear the muscular riffs, soaring choruses and booming, throaty baritone characteristic not only of past Creed hits but also those of bands that have populated rock radio in Creed’s absence, like Nickelback, Daughtry and 3 Doors Down.

Details:
At last check, world peace was not imminent, but the Worst Band in the World, according to Google’s search algorithms and music snobs alike, has nevertheless returned. Now in their mid-thirties, they’re not quite filling seats as they did in their heyday—tonight’s attendance is a modest 5,000, out of the venue’s capacity of 25,000. But there’s still a sizable audience for Creed’s unique alchemy: skillfully crafted grunge and metal riffs atop churning bass (Brian Marshall) and drums (Scott Phillips); melodies that unite working-class teens and their once-rowdy moms; and, most memorable of all, Stapp’s portentous, Christian-themed lyrics and back-of-the-throat, beefcake baritone delivery—routinely mocked by hipsters as the reductio ad absurdum of the mainstream rock phenomenon known as “man voice.”