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List Price: $7.99 | | Label: Wind-Up
Salesrank: 8226
Released: August 26, 1997 |
| Our Price: $5.40 |
| Used Price: $0.50 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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My Own Prison Track Listing:
1. Torn
2. Ode
3. My Own Prison
4. Pity for a Dime
5. In America
6. Illusion
7. Unforgiven
8. Sister
9. What's This Life For
10. One
Editorial Review:
It took a few years, but the "Seattle sound" migrated south. In 1997 Creed emerged from the sunny state of Florida wielding dark and dulcet postgrunge tones. Their 10-cut debut, My Own Prison, has became a surprising success by filling a niche for needy teen gloom-rockers. Singer Scott Stapp has the soulful and rich Eddie Vedder inflections down pat, but despite Creed's slightly hackneyed approach, My Own Prison is full of strong, memorable, tuneful songs (and numerous solid singles) coupled with compelling and dark emotions. Titles such as "Illusion," "Unforgiven," "What's This Life For," and "Torn" clearly peg Creed as dour introverts. But despite lyrics such as "Their souls are lost / Because they could never find / What's this life for," Creed is musically tight and dynamic, drawing on melodies that are often moving and uplifting... in a depressing sort of way, of course. --Katherine Turman
My Own Prison Reviews:
Good old fashioned rock and roll... 
2009-12-11 - Creed is definitely one of those bands that, I don't care who you are, you've heard of. When they came onto the scene back in 1997 they were huge. Their debut album `My Own Prison' made a big impact, not only because of the music but because of the message. Boasting a `Christian Rock' label yet controversially throwing around explanatives (although it was later claimed they were forced upon lyrics by the studio). Creed made their mark. That mark was so well indented into society that even when they seemed to sell out and conform to a commercial band they still maintained legions of fans and made their money.
I have yet to hear their most recent `reunion' album, but of the three they released before their break-up, their debut is certainly the best. Before their vision got cloudy and Stapp's off stage persona began to overtake the band, Creed put out a very high quality debut album that really identifies well with the time (it encompasses all there is to know about post-Nirvana 90's alternative rock) and it actually holds up very well.
The albums only real sore spot for me is `In America', a track that is uninspiring, clichéd and boring. `Pity for a Dime' also runs the gamut of boring (if I'm to be honest), but its message and Scott's vocals place it above `In America'. `Pity for a Dime' is just too redundant in its musicality. It doesn't have enough fluctuation or range. It is beautifully composed, it just doesn't `pop'.
The album's opener `Torn' gets things started on the right foot, and while it isn't the best the band can offer it really sets a nice tone and shows us what the band is made of. `Sister' and `Illusion' are very good songs, `Illusion' being a real hard hitting and memorable track. All three of these are good, but the best is yet to come.
`Ode' really starts to album for me. It has such gritty fierceness to it, completely seething almost, and it gives the band so much edge (edge they lost over time). The rest of the album represents some of the best work this band has ever done, period, and is full of modern rock classics. I mean, `My Own Prison', `Unforgiven', `What's This Life For' and `One' are four of the best rock tracks of the 90's and are still fondly remembered today. The lyrical content found in `My Own Prison' alone is astonishing, moving, profound and highly intellectual; not to mention provocative in its own right. `One', for me, is the best on the album. I am still partial to `One Last Breath' (off their Weathered album) as their best song overall, but `One' is a very close second (and a drastically different sound).
In the end, this one gets a B+ from me (in fact, all of their albums receive B's from me, ranging from + to -) for it has a real grit and real promise and nice direction, despite a few hiccups. It is overall a very solid debut, and one that any band should be proud of.
I'm excited about checking out their new release. My adoration for this band dwindled after their sophomore album proved to be a letdown (after recent runs in my CD player I have grown to like it more) but I will always have a soft spot for Stapp and his band in my heart.
Pearl Jam probably wishes their first album sounded like this.
2009-08-15 - This is definitely the best sound-a-like for Pearl Jam. I know other groups tried their hands at imitating Vedder like Stone Temple Pilots, but this definitely wins hands down. This has the Seattle feel to it, and yet they all come from Sunny Orlando. I first heard "Torn", and I thought it was Pearl Jam singing and playing on this track. "Torn" is my favorite song from Creed, and for the most part these songs sound like the debut of Pearl Jam without the glossy sound of major record companies. I feel that other songs like "One", "Illusion", and "Sister" are pretty good also. The album does have it's weak points too like "What Is This Life For?", and "My Own Prison". The words of "My Own Prison" are all too real of a man who's demons have the better of him; which is good songwriting, but the tune is just too depressing. The same with "What Is This Life For?" This is a strong beginning, and they would follow up with only stronger material as the second album "Human Clay" would give them a #1 hit with the song: "With Arms Wide Open", but for those who want the raw Creed look no further than here. Seattle may have been the birthplace for grunge, but Orlando has it's reasons for grunge music to exist here too: The heat, noisy tourists, and the many theme parks. I know from living here for almost 16 years this place can become edgy, and where there's edgyness there's grunge right there too.
TORN 
2009-06-27 - good debut cd with 3 hit singles. but the rest of the cd is what makes it worth it
Good Start
2008-04-05 - Never was a big fan of christian metal as it's almost a contradiction in concepts. For spiritual uplift I'll just listen to Handel's 'Messiah' or just great standard christian rock like Kansas. Anyway, this was a good start for Creed: too bad they couldn't keep it up. I guess God isn't all that inspiring when it comes to hard rock or metal. 'My Own Prison' and 'Unforgiven' are the best songs on the album I think. One thing about Creed is that, despite having great vocals and bass, there is really no solo guitar work to speak of and that's pretty disappointing. Still a good album though and that's why I give it 4 stars for effort.
Creed What happen?
2008-01-09 - Now for starters I like all kinds of music. So I am not one those MTV TRL people, I know music! I like everything from Ozzy to Lamb of God to Alice In Chains to Slayer to Tool to NIN to Seether, to Pantera to Type O to etc etc etc. Now when I turned on my radio in my car and the song My Own Prison comes on for the 1st time. So I went out and picked up this cd and I was like wow this whole cd is good. I can pop it in and play it from the 1st track to the last. Now about the time their next cd comes out I picked it and played it and I had to take it out of my cd player and look to see if it's the same band. Sure info it was so I gave it away to my brother. After hearing that cd I have hated them ever sence then. All you need from these guys is this cd don't pick up anything else from these guys or you will having a $15.00 toy for your dog.
