For all his Vedder-esque teeth-gnashing, strapping frontman Scott Stapp trembled with a God-fearing vulnerability-on the album’s harrowing title track, he uses a courtroom metaphor to depict a sinner nervously awaiting judgement from his creator. With My Own Prison, the Tallahassee quartet brought the brooding early-‘90s Seattle sound back to the top of the charts (to the tune of six million albums sold) by giving its angsty attitude a spiritual spin. So leave it to a band of Christians to make it feel born again. When Creed released their debut album, My Own Prison, in 1997, grunge was in its death throes: Nirvana and Soundgarden were gone, Pearl Jam were mellowing out, and Alice in Chains were AWOL.
