Creed’s Word Lacks Depth at the Palace

Prophecy isn’t easy. Behold the music of Creed, an earnest four-piece rock band from Tallahassee, Fla., whose desperate reach for profundity a la Vedder, Morrison and Bono is matched only by the monumentally pedestrian sound of its music. For all the loud guitar and vocal melodrama, Creed was more routine than transcendent at the Palace on Friday night.

Vocalist Scott Stapp sang of God and personal freedoms across the same moody rumble that has propelled the band’s debut album, “My Own Prison,” to sales of more than 2 million. But his Vedderish howling only underscored the band’s limitations, making a derivative brand of grunge lacking any of Pearl Jam’s sly melodic sense.

Creed is even further down the grunge food-chain than Bush. Not helping were Stapp’s attempts at spiritual healing. “You’ve got to push your spirit out,” he told fans. “Are you ready?”

But Stapp’s messiah pose connected deeply with the Palace crowd, which was moved to sing along to the album’s hit title song, a soulful mid-tempo rocker. Likewise, the band’s “One” presented Creed at its most musical. But too much of the show was limited to a monotonous roar led by guitarist Mark Tremonti.

Near the end of the 75-minute set, Stapp sang “With Arms Wide Open,” a new song dedicated to his unborn child. It was heartfelt, but unexceptional, and performed as if the gathering of fans on Friday was some kind of cosmic event. It wasn’t.