Human Clay

      Human Clay
      Studio album by Creed
      Released September 28, 1999
      Recorded Late 1998 - Early 1999
      Genre Hard rock, post-grunge
      Length

      56:22

      1:05:07 (with bonus tracks)
      Label Wind-up
      Producer John 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 2000
      3. "With Arms Wide Open"
        Released: April 24, 2000
      4. "Are You Ready?"
        Released: August 2000
      Professional ratings
      Review scores
      Source Rating
      Allmusic 4/5 stars[1]
      Robert Christgau (C)[2]
      Entertainment Weekly (C-)[3]
      Rolling Stone 2.5/5 stars[4]
      Rock Hard (de) 9/10[5]

      Human Clay is the second album by American rock band Creed, released on September 28, 1999 through Wind-Up Records. It was certified 11x platinum and Diamond by the RIAA, and is 54th on the top 100 selling albums of all time in the United States (as of February 2007).[6] It ranks as the #8 best selling album of the last 20 years in the US.[7] The album was the band's first to hit #1 in the U.S., where it debuted with first week sales of 315,000, and stayed on top for two weeks.[8] As of May 2012, it has sold 11,579,000 copies in the United States alone, according to Soundscan numbers.[9] It has also been certified 6 times platinum in Canada, 5 times in Australia[citation needed] and 7 times in New Zealand,[citation needed]and 4 times in Switzerland among others, selling an estimated 20 million copies worldwide.[10] The fourth single "With Arms Wide Open" won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. The album had three videos released from it: "Higher", "What If," and "With Arms Wide Open," the last of which was voted the 92nd best music video of all-time by VH1 who also ranked it #4 on the "25 Greatest Power Ballads".[11] VH1 listed "Higher" as one of the greatest hard rock songs of all time in 2009. Human Clay is the only Creed album without a title track.

      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." 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.

      This was the final album until 2009's Full Circle to feature Brian Marshall on bass guitar; he departed from the band shortly after the tour for the album in August 2000. Mark Tremonti filled as the bassist on their third album, Weathered, while Brett Hestla became their touring bassist. However, the band has since reunited with Marshall.

      Human Clay was ranked #5 on Billboard's 200 Albums of the Decade in 2009.[12] The album has sold over 11.5 million copies in the United States and a total of 20 million worldwide, making it the best selling album of Creed's career and one of the best-selling albums in the United States it spent a record 104 weeks on the chart survey.[13]

      The album was played in its entirety during Creed's April 2012 "2 NIGHTS" tour.[citation needed]

      Reception

      In 2005, Human Clay was ranked number 422 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[14]

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      Track listing

      All lyrics written by Scott Stapp, all music composed by Mark Tremonti.

      No. Title Length
      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"   5:19
      10. "Wash Away Those Years"   6:04
      11. "Inside Us All"   5:39
      Total length:
      		 56:27
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      Personnel

      • Travis McGehee - Engineer, Mixing Assistant

      Additional musicians

      • John Kurzweg - B-3 organ on "Wrong Way"
      • Kirk Kelsey - Mandolin on "Wrong Way"
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      Charts and certifications

      Charts

      Chart (1999–2000) Peak
      position
      Australian ARIA Albums Chart 2
      Canadian Albums Chart 1
      New Zealand RIANZ Albums Chart 4
      Swedish Albums Chart 9
      Swiss Albums Chart 35
      UK Albums Chart 29
      U.S. Billboard 200 1

      Sales and certifications

      Region Certification Sales/shipments
      Australia (ARIA)[15] 4× Platinum 280,000^
      Austria (IFPI Austria)[16] Gold 25,000x
      Canada (Music Canada)[17] 6× Platinum 600,000^
      Germany (BVMI)[18] Gold 150,000^
      New Zealand (RIANZ)[19] 5× Platinum 75,000^
      Norway (IFPI Norway)[20] Platinum 50,000*
      Sweden (GLF)[21] Gold 40,000^
      United States (RIAA)[22] 11× Platinum 11,579,000[9]

      *sales figures based on certification alone
      ^shipments figures based on certification alone
      xunspecified figures based on certification alone
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      Singles

      Year Single Chart Position
      1999 "Higher" U.S. Billboard Hot 100 7
      U.S. Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 1
      2000 "What If" U.S. Billboard Hot 100 102
      U.S. Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 3
      "With Arms Wide Open" U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1
      U.S. Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks
      "Are You Ready?" U.S. Billboard Hot 100 125
      U.S. Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 4
      Preceded by
      The Fragile by Nine Inch Nails      		 Billboard 200 number-one album
      October 16–29, 1999      		 Succeeded by
      Supernatural by Santana
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      See also

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      References

      1. ^ Thomas, Stephen (1999-09-28). "Allmusic review". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2012-08-07. 
      2. ^ "CG: Creed". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2012-02-22. 
      3. ^ Morgan, Laura (1999-10-08). "Human Clay Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-03-18. 
      4. ^ Powers, Ann (1999-10-28). "Creed: Human Clay : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-10-02. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
      5. ^ Schnädelbach, Buffo. "Rock Hard review". issue 149. Retrieved 20 May 2013. 
      6. ^ "RIAA - Recording Industry Association of America". Riaa.com. Retrieved 2012-08-07. 
      7. ^ Name (required) (2012-01-01). "METALLICA: ‘Black’ Album Remains Top-Selling LP Of SoundScan Era « HEAVY UNIONS". Fanoegerm.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2012-02-22. 
      8. ^ Mancini, Robert (1999-10-13). "News - Articles - 1427609". Mtv.com. Retrieved 2012-02-22. 
      9. ^ a b Grein, Paul (2012-05-16). "Chart Watch Extra: Following Up A Monster". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 2012-05-28. 
      10. ^ "Interview: Mark Tremonti on Creed's 2012 full albums tour". MusicRadar.com. 2012-04-04. Retrieved 2012-09-03. 
      11. ^ "Creed: "With Arms Wide Open" (25 Greatest Power Ballads)". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-02-22. 
      12. ^ "Music Albums, Top 200 Albums & Music Album Charts". Billboard.com. 2009-12-31. Retrieved 2012-02-22. 
      13. ^ "Human Clay - Creed". Billboard.com. 1999-10-16. Retrieved 2012-02-22. 
      14. ^ [...], Rock Hard (Hrsg.). [Red.: Michael Rensen. Mitarb.: Götz Kühnemund] (2005). Best of Rock & Metal die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Königswinter: Heel. p. 41. ISBN 3-89880-517-4. 
      15. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2001 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. 
      16. ^ "Austrian album certifications – Creed – Human Clay" (in German). IFPI Austria.  Enter Creed in the field Interpret. Enter Human Clay in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
      17. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Creed – Human Clay". Music Canada. 
      18. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Creed; 'Human Clay')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. 
      19. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Creed – Human Clay". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. 
      20. ^ "Norwegian album certifications – Creed – Human Clay" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. 
      21. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2001" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. 
      22. ^ "American album certifications – Creed – Human Clay". Recording Industry Association of America.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
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      Last modified on 7 June 2013, at 04:07