Creed Songs in Horror Movies
In the late 90’s and early 2000’s, Creed was the Nickelback of the music industry. They were successful, had catchy songs, but seemed to be universally hated by everyone. It didn’t help their case that rumors circulated that they were actually a Christian band pretending to be a mainstream rock band.
While most people didn’t advertise their fondness for Scott Stapp’s gravelly voice, the sales charts don’t lie. According to Wikipedia, Creed sold over 28 million records in the United States, and 53 million albums worldwide making them the ninth bestselling artist of the 2000’s. In 2001, they won a Grammy for Best Rock Song (With Arms Wide Open) and their first three albums went multi-platinum.
So, what does all this have to do with 90’s horror movies? Well, Creed made a few appearances on some of the soundtracks of the late 90’s/early 2000’s horror films. Back then, a lot of time and care was put into creating albums that would sell and so soliciting songs from top artists was a big deal. Sadly, the day of the soundtrack has pretty much gone away, but in the late 90’s things were still going strong. I thought it’d be fun to take a look at Creed’s contribution to the horror community since I tend to love the movies their songs were featured on.
What’s This Life For
Halloween H20
Halloween H20 was originally scored by John Ottman (House of Wax, Urban Legends Final Cut, Lake Placid) however, Harvey Weinstein was not happy with his score so he replaced pieces of it with Marco Beltrami’s scores from Scream, Scream 2, Mimic, as well as some new cues written by Beltrami. In addition to replacing pieces of the score, Weinstein also insisted that Creed’s What’s This Life For by featured in a party sequence and also during the end credits.
Halloween H20 did not have a soundtrack release, so the song was never released on an album for the movie. However, a special edit of the music video was released featuring scenes from the film.
I’m Eighteen
The Faculty
The Faculty soundtrack consisted of some classic rock songs covered by contemporary artists as well as some currents songs for 1998. Pink Floyd, David Bowie, and Alice Cooper were all covered, with Creed covering Cooper’s 1970 hit, I’m Eighteen.
In addition to I’m Eighteen being featured on The Faculty soundtrack, in 2015, Creed released the track on their With Arms Wide Open: A Retrospective album. It’s found on disc two Rarities & Demos.
Wrong Way
End of Days
I remember the End of Days soundtrack being a big deal since it featured a song by the new line-up of Guns N Roses, an Eminem song, along with other industrial metal and alternative bands. Creed also contributed a song to the soundtrack, Wrong Way which was also found on their Human Clay album.
As far as I can tell, no music video was ever released for the song and I’m guessing it was added just to bolster the lineup of known bands on the soundtrack. It wasn’t one of Creed’s better songs and is quite forgettable.
Is This the End
Scream 3
Scream 3
Creed was all over the Scream 3.
What If was the second single from Human Clay and also found its way onto the Scream 3 soundtrack, which Creed helped produce. In addition to being on the soundtrack, a music video was recorded featuring David Arquette as Dewey and Ghostface killing off the members of Creed.
Is this the End was recorded specifically for Scream 3 and was used over the end credits. It was featured on the soundtrack and can also be found on 2015’s With Arms Wide Open: A Retrospective album on the Rarities & Demos disc listed as the “Scream Edit.”
Higher
The Skulls
Higher was Creed’s lead single off their second album Human Clay and the first Creed song I remember hearing. Higher was featured in a scene in The Skulls, but was not included on the soundtrack which mostly consisted of the score.
