Human Clay Explained

Human Clay
Type:	studio
Artist:	Creed
Cover:	Human Clay.jpg
Recorded:	Late 1998 – early 1999
Genre:	Post-grunge^[1] hard rock alternative metal^[2]
Length:	56:28
Label:	Wind-up
Producer:	John Kurzweg
Prev Title:	My Own Prison
Prev Year:	1997
Next Title:	Weathered
Next Year:	2001

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

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

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 My Own Prison. 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."

Release and reception

Commercial performance

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.^[3] 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).^{[4] [5]} 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.^{[6] [7]} 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.^[8] The album has spent a record 104 weeks on the Billboard chart survey.^[9] As of October 2014, it has sold 11,690,000 copies in the United States alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan.^[6]

Critical reception

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."^[10]

Legacy

The album's third single, "With Arms Wide Open", won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 2001.^[11] At the 28th Annual American Music Awards, Human Clay won the American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Album.^[12] At the 2002 Billboard Music Awards, the album won the award for Catalog Album of the Year.^[13] Human Clay was ranked number 422 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time in 2005.^[14] Human Clay was ranked number 5 on Billboard's 200 Albums of the Decade in 2009.^[15] 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.^[16]

Track listing

25th Anniversary Edition

Personnel

Creed

• Scott Stapp – lead vocals
• Mark Tremonti – guitar, backing vocals
• Brian Marshall – bass
• Scott Phillips – drums

Additional musicians

• John Kurzweg – B-3 organ on "Wrong Way"
• Kirk Kelsey – Mandolin on "Wrong Way"

Technical personnel

• Jeff Hanson – executive producer, management at Jeff Hanson Management & Promotions
• John Kurzweg – production, engineering, mixing
• Kirk Kelsey – mixing assistant, mixing on "Wrong Way"
• Barrett Miller, Mark Kiczula, Steve Bearsley – assistant mix engineering
• Dana Cornock – digital editing
• Ted Jensen – mastering at Sterling Sound, New York City
• Joel Mark – A&R
• Daniel Tremonti (Three Mountain Design) – art direction, design, cover, additional photography
• Sacha Waldman – cover photography, additional photography
• J. Seward Johnson Jr. – "Crack the Whip" artwork

Charts

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for Human Clay! Chart (1999)! Position

New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[18]	42
US Billboard 200^[19]	71

Chart (2000)	Position
Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)^[20]	10
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[21]	10
US Billboard 200^[22]	6

Chart (2001)	Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[23]	3
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[24]	38
Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)^[25]	72
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)^[26]	22
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[27]	68
US Billboard 200^[28]	11

Chart (2002)	Position
Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)^[29]	86
Canadian Metal Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)^[30]	39
US Top Pop Catalog Albums (Billboard)^[31]	1

Decade-end charts

Decade-end chart performance for Human Clay!Chart (2000–2009)!Position

Australian Albums (ARIA)^[32]	88
US Billboard 200^[33]	5

Appearances

• The song "Wrong Way" was featured on the soundtrack to the film End of Days in 1999.
• The song "What If" was featured in both the movie and on the official soundtrack for Scream 3 in 2000, while the song "Is This the End?" was only included on the album.
• The song "Higher" was featured in the films The Skulls in 2000, 22 Jump Street in 2014 and The Beach Bum in 2019, in trailers for the movie Titan A.E. in 2000, and as downloadable content for the video games Rocksmith 2014 in 2014 and Rock Band 2 in 2018.
• The song "Young Grow Old" was featured on the album WWF Forceable Entry in 2002.
• The song "To Whom It May Concern" was featured on the soundtrack to the film The Scorpion King in 2002.
• The song "Are You Ready?" was featured on the albums in 2001 and Harley-Davidson: Ride in 2005.
• The song "With Arms Wide Open" was featured in the movie Dark Waters in 2019; it was also included as downloadable content for the video games Rocksmith 2014 in 2014 and Rock Band 4 in 2020.

See also

• List of best-selling albums in the United States

Notes and References

1. Web site: Scott Stapp Talks Creed Reunion, Guitarist Mark Tremonti Not Ready. Cailey Lindberg. Music Times. September 28, 2015. 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. Web site: Mehrheitlich solide Rocksongs, aber nur wenige echte Höhepunkte. Laut.de. de. Marc. Winkelmann .
3. Web site: Mancini . Robert . News - Articles - 1427609 . https://archive.today/20120630061410/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1427609/19991013/creed_3_.jhtml . dead . June 30, 2012 . Mtv.com . October 13, 1999 . February 22, 2012.
4. Web site: Recording Industry Association of America . RIAA . July 1, 2024.
5. Web site: RIAA - Recording Industry Association of America . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924154231/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=tblTop100 . dead . September 24, 2015 . Riaa.com . August 7, 2012 .
6. Web site: 'Metallica' & The 9 Other Best-Selling Albums During the SoundScan Era. Banas. Erica. August 1, 2021. March 9, 2022.
7. Web site: Top Ten . People . December 28, 2009 . January 16, 2012.
8. Web site: Interview: Mark Tremonti on Creed's 2012 full albums tour . MusicRadar.com . April 4, 2012 . September 3, 2012.
9. [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=creed|chart=all}} Human Clay - Creed]. Billboard.com . October 16, 1999. February 22, 2012.
10. Web site: Human Clay. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. AllMusic.
11. Creed's Scott Stapp on his 2001 Grammy win. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/8S0xVfwQQoE . December 13, 2021 . live. January 19, 2014. YouTube.
12. Web site: 28th Annual American Music Awards. January 8, 2001. DigitalHit.com. November 2, 2021.
13. Ashanti, Nelly clean up at Billboard Music Awards. Susman. Gary. December 10, 2002. Entertainment Weekly. November 2, 2021.
14. Book: Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. 2005. Rock Hard. de. 3-89880-517-4. 41.
15. Music Albums, Top 200 Albums & Music Album Charts . Billboard.com . December 31, 2009 . February 22, 2012.
16. Web site: Creed: "With Arms Wide Open" (25 Greatest Power Ballads) . https://web.archive.org/web/20160110202443/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRR8AmPfbB0 . January 10, 2016 . dead. YouTube . February 22, 2012.
17. Web site: Mi2N: Music Divas & Rock Bands Top South African Certifications. https://web.archive.org/web/20140531184732/http://www.mi2n.com/print.php3?id=32544. May 31, 2014. dead. Music Industry News Network. May 2, 2002. March 28, 2021.
18. Web site: Top Selling Albums of 1999. Recorded Music NZ. November 16, 2021. December 3, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201203192115/https://nztop40.co.nz/chart/albums?chart=4049. live.
19. [{{Google books|9w0EAAAAMBAJ|pg=SL680-PA45|plainurl=yes}} 1999 The Year in Music – Top Billboard 200 Albums]. Billboard. December 25, 1999. 111. 52. YE-45. 0006-2510. May 31, 2022. Google Books.
20. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20040812032100/http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2000_1.html. August 12, 2004. Canada's Top 200 Albums of 2000. Jam!. March 24, 2022.
21. Web site: Top Selling Albums of 2000. RIANZ. November 14, 2021.
22. Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2000. Billboard. https://web.archive.org/web/20150110171552/http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2000/top-billboard-200-albums. January 10, 2015. May 31, 2022. dead.
23. http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-end-of-year-charts-top-100-albums-2001.htm ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 2001
24. Web site: Jahreshitparade Alben 2001. austriancharts.at. November 15, 2021. de.
25. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20031212202406/http://jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/200-1_2001.html. December 12, 2003. Canada's Top 200 Albums of 2001 (based on sales). Jam!. March 26, 2022.
26. Web site: Chart of the Year 2001. TOP20.dk. da. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110929032700/http://top20.dk/chart/2001. September 29, 2011. July 6, 2021.
27. Web site: Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts 2001. de. GfK Entertainment. offiziellecharts.de. June 5, 2020.
28. Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2001. Billboard. https://web.archive.org/web/20150103001526/http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2001/top-billboard-200-albums. January 3, 2015. May 31, 2022. dead.
29. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20031204012816/http://jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2002_alt.html. December 4, 2003. Canada's Top 200 Alternative albums of 2002. Jam!. March 26, 2022.
30. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20040812035533/http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2002_metal.html. August 12, 2004. Top 100 Metal Albums of 2002. Jam!. March 23, 2022.
31. Billboard. [{{Google books|RA0EAAAAMBAJ|pg=RA1-PA39-IA24|plainurl=yes}} The Year in Music 2002 – Top Pop Catalog Albums]. December 28, 2002. 114. 52. YE-86. 0006-2510. June 1, 2022. Google Books.
32. Web site: ARIA Top 100 Albums of the 00's. Australian Recording Industry Association. January 16, 2020.
33. The Decade in Music - Charts - Top Billboard 200 Albums. December 19, 2009. World Radio History. Billboard. 162. November 14, 2021. Digit page 166 on the PDF archive.