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Human Clay

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This article is about the album. For the band, see Human Clay (band).

Human Clay
Studio album by
Creed
ReleasedSeptember 28, 1999 (1999-09-28)
RecordedLate 1998 – early 1999
Genre
Length56:28
LabelWind-up
ProducerJohn Kurzweg
Creed chronology
My Own Prison
(1997) 		Human Clay
(1999) 		Weathered
(2001)
Singles from Human Clay
  1. "Higher"
    Released: August 24, 1999
  2. "What If"
    Released: January 31, 2000
  3. "With Arms Wide Open"
    Released: April 24, 2000
  4. "Are You Ready?"
    Released: August 7, 2000
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Christgau's Consumer GuideC[5]
Cryptic Rock5/5[6]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[7]
Entertainment WeeklyC−[8]
Los Angeles Times[9]
Rolling Stone[10]
Rock Hard9/10[11]
The Phantom TollboothReview 1: [12]
Review 2: [13]

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.

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

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Human Clay is the only Creed album to not have a title track. The album had four music videos created for it: "Higher" and "What If" in 1999, "With Arms Wide Open" in 2000, and “Are You Ready?” in 2024.

Title and artwork

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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 cover artwork was designed by Mark Tremonti's brother Daniel, who had previously done the artwork and photography for Creed's debut album, My Own Prison (1997). 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."[citation needed]

Release and reception

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Commercial performance

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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.[14] Human Clay was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on July 16, 2001 for selling 10,000,000 copies, was later certified 11x platinum on January 29, 2004, and is the 54th best-selling album of all time in the United States (as of February 2007).[15][16] It ranks as the tenth best selling album in the U.S. since the advent of Nielsen SoundScan in 1991, and the ninth best-selling album in the U.S. in the 2000s.[17][18] 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.[19] The album has spent a record 104 weeks on the Billboard chart survey.[20] As of October 2014, it has sold 11,690,000 copies in the United States alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[17]

Critical reception

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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."[2]

Legacy

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The album's third single, "With Arms Wide Open", won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 2001.[21] At the 28th Annual American Music Awards, Human Clay won the American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Album.[22] At the 2002 Billboard Music Awards, the album won the award for Catalog Album of the Year.[23] Human Clay was ranked number 422 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time in 2005.[24] Human Clay was ranked number 5 on Billboard's 200 Albums of the Decade in 2009.[25] 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.[26]

Track listing

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Original release

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

No.TitleLength
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"5:16
10."Wash Away Those Years"6:04
11."Inside Us All"5:39
Total length:56:28
US edition[27]
No.TitleLength
12."With Arms Wide Open" (strings version) (hidden track)3:55
Total length:60:23
European edition[28]
No.TitleLength
12."Young Grow Old"4:43
Total length:61:11

Deluxe edition

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Two-disc deluxe edition (With "Young Grow Old" on Disc 1)[29]
No.TitleLength
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

25th Anniversary Edition

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Disc one
No.TitleLength
12."With Arms Wide Open (strings version)"03:56
13."Young Grow Old"04:47
14."To Whom It May Concern"05:12
15."Is This The End? (Scream Edit)"06:18
Disc two (Live At Freeman Coliseum 1999)
No.TitleLength
1."Are You Ready?"04:30
2."Ode"05:10
3."Torn"06:26
4."Beautiful"04:34
5."Illusion"05:53
6."Say I"06:02
7."My Own Prison"05:36
8."What If"05:08
9."With Arms Wide Open"05:23
10."Faceless Man"06:41
11."What's This Life For"06:53
12."One"05:27
13."Higher"06:04
Total length:73:54

Personnel

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Credits adapted from album liner notes.[30][31]

Charts

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Certifications

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Sales certifications for Human Clay
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[65] 4× Platinum 280,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[66] Gold 25,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[67] 6× Platinum 600,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[68] Gold 25,000^
Germany (BVMI)[69] Gold 150,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[70] 5× Platinum 75,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[71] Platinum 50,000*
South Africa (RISA)[43] 3× Platinum 150,000*
Sweden (GLF)[72] Gold 40,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[73] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[75] 11× Platinum 11,690,000[74]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Appearances

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Cailey Lindberg (September 28, 2015). "Scott Stapp Talks Creed Reunion, Guitarist Mark Tremonti Not Ready". Music Times. Retrieved May 15, 2021. Stapp's out of control behavior eventually led to a Creed break-up 10 years after the band released Human Clay, which sold a record 11.7 million copies with its blend of post-grunge musical aesthetics and Christian beliefs.
  2. ^ a b Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Human Clay". AllMusic.
  3. ^ Winkelmann, Marc. "Mehrheitlich solide Rocksongs, aber nur wenige echte Höhepunkte". Laut.de (in German).
  4. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (September 28, 1999). "Human Clay Review". AllMusic. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  5. ^ Christgau, Robert (October 15, 2000). "Creed". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 9780312245603.
  6. ^ "CREED – HUMAN CLAY (25TH ANNIVERSARY VINYL REVIEW)". Cryptic Rock. August 30, 2024. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  7. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958.
  8. ^ Morgan, Laura]] (October 8, 1999). "Human Clay". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  9. ^ Weingarten, Marc (September 25, 1999). "Record Rack". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  10. ^ Powers, Ann (October 28, 1999). "Creed: Human Clay: Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 2, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
  11. ^ Schnädelbach, Buffo. "Rock Hard review". issue 149 (in German). Retrieved May 20, 2013.
  12. ^ Spencer, Josh (1999). "A Review by the Phantom Tollbooth". The Phantom Tollbooth. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  13. ^ Duckworth, Adam (2000). "A Review by the Phantom Tollbooth". The Phantom Tollbooth. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
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