Editing Weathered (section)

==Writing and recording==
For the ''Weathered'' album, Creed approached the writing process differently than they did for their previous two albums. Prior to writing new material, the band made a rule that during the tour for ''Human Clay'' that no new songs could be composed. Scott Stapp says the reason for this was that he wanted the band to "live life and have experiences" before he and guitarist Mark Tremonti began writing new songs. Stapp and Tremonti also vowed not to listen to any music at all between the end of the ''Human Clay'' tour and the start of writing sessions for ''Weathered''. Stapp said the reason for this was that he wanted to ensure that nothing would subconsciously influence the band's writing process. This was so that all the material would come from them. After finishing the final leg of their tour in December 2000, Stapp and Tremonti began writing new songs. In their attempt to not allow popular contemporary music to influence their writing, Stapp and Tremonti would go out of their way to listen to either not genre-specific music or classic rock. Some of these artists included [[Eagles (band)|The Eagles]], [[Tupac Shakur|2Pac]] and [[Bob Marley]], which Stapp admits was done with the intent of not having anything near to what they were doing effecting their creative process.<ref name=Spin>{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2024/07/creeds-scott-stapp-and-mark-tremonti-on-the-goosebump-moment-of-writing-2001s-one-last-breath/|title=Creed's Scott Stapp and Mark Tremonti on the 'Goosebump Moment' of Writing 2001's 'One Last Breath'|website=www.spin.com/|last=Klopp|first=Bill|access-date=July 16, 2024}}</ref> Stapp recalls the writing process for the album, stating "I didn’t feel any particular pressure to write a particular kind of song. I don’t think we ever thought that way; we just wrote what we felt. We just got together and created whatever came out, and we put on a record if we liked it." The band would also use something they called "the [[Goose bumps|goosebump]] test", where the song would have to give them literal goosebumps after the song was completely written, as they did not want to put any material on the record if it did not pass the test.<ref name=Spin/> After just three weeks, the songwriting duo had managed to write an entire album's worth of material by the end of the year.<ref name=Eliscu>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/creed-take-you-higher-233044/|title=Creed Take You Higher|last=Eliscu|first=Jenny|date=November 2, 2001|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=March 15, 2021}}</ref><ref name=Vanhorn1>{{cite web|url=https://www.mtv.com/news/1375006/creed-taking-their-time-on-next-lp/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124040351/https://www.mtv.com/news/1375006/creed-taking-their-time-on-next-lp/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 24, 2022|title=Creed Taking Their Time On Next LP|last=Vanhorn|first=Teri|date=December 7, 2000|publisher=MTV|access-date=January 23, 2022}}</ref> Following a short holiday break, the band decided to take a laid-back approach to the recording and releasing of the album, deciding to spend the first several months of 2001 refining the new material before entering the recording studio.<ref name=Vanhorn1/><ref name=Vanhorn2>{{cite web|url=https://www.mtv.com/news/1438450/creed-resuming-work-on-human-clay-follow-up/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124040352/https://www.mtv.com/news/1438450/creed-resuming-work-on-human-clay-follow-up/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 24, 2022|title=Creed Resuming Work On Human Clay Follow-Up|last=Vanhorn|first=Teri|date=January 23, 2001|publisher=MTV|access-date=January 23, 2022}}</ref> Most of the writing for the album was done in Stapp's living room during four-hour sessions, four nights a week.<ref name=Eliscu/><ref name=Vanhorn2/> During the final days of writing material Tremonti and Stapp wrote while on Stapp's boat, a [[Sea Ray]] cruiser.<ref name=Eliscu/>

On July 20, 2001, Scott Stapp, Mark Tremonti, and Scott Phillips entered J. Stanley Productions Inc., a private residence/recording studio in [[Ocoee, Florida]], to begin the process of recording the album.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://creed.com/|title=Creednet - The official website of Creed - Human Clay, My Own Prison, Creed Audio, Creed Tour Dates and more|author=Wind-up Records|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010721225805/http://creed.com/|archive-date=July 21, 2001}}</ref> The home studio featured two in-home control rooms, Studio A, which was decked out with purple lights and purple [[lava lamp]]s, which Jay Stanley claimed helped spark his creativity; and Studio B, where Creed held their recording sessions. The album was recorded and mixed in just four months using [[Pro Tools]]. The band also hired [[Full Sail University]] graduate Shilpa Patel, whom Jay Stanley referred to as the "Queen of Pro Tools", as a studio technician to help the band record and mix the album.<ref name=Stanley>{{cite web|url=http://www.jstanleyproductions.com/clients|title=Clients|website=jstanleyproductions.com/|author=J. Stanley Productions Inc.|access-date=March 14, 2021}}</ref>

During recording sessions for the song "Who's Got My Back?", the band enlisted the services of Cherokee musician Bo Taylor, an avowed Creed fan who Stapp brought in personally from a reservation who was fluent in ancient Cherokee chants, to do an ancient sounding Cherokee Indian prayer for the intro of the song. The band played a demo of the song for Taylor, and after a lengthy conversation about its meaning Stapp had Taylor do four to five chants in the studio until settling on the first take.<ref name=Eliscu/><ref name=Billboardstaff>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/77854/creed-go-for-broke-on-weathered/|title=Creed 'Go For Broke' On 'Weathered'|date=November 2, 2001|magazine=Billboard|access-date=March 16, 2021}}</ref> Stapp also brought in his sister Aimee to sing backing vocals on "Don't Stop Dancing", as well as the Tallahassee Boys' Choir. Jay Stanley, who was sporadically present during the recording sessions, recalls his initial impression of hearing early demo recordings of the songs, specifically the album's lead single "[[My Sacrifice]]", one of the earliest songs written for the album.<ref name=Stanley/><ref name=Spin/>

{{Blockquote|"I came and went [during the four months] checking on equipment, and troubleshooting gear…as I heard the demos coming together, I was impressed. The first time I heard "My Sacrifice" I knew it was going to be huge." — Stanley<ref name=Stanley/>}}

At the time, the group was halfway through recording its new album when the attacks of [[September 11 attacks|September 11, 2001]], occurred. According to Producer [[John Kurzweg]], the mood quickly changed and intensified following the attacks. Kurzweg said "We tried to go forward and do the best we could, but all the songs were written before. Not one lyric was changed."<ref name=Eliscu/> In response to the [[Terrorism|terrorist attacks]], touring bassist Brett Hestla, along with his band who were known simply as Virgos during this period, wrote a tribute song to those affected and involved in the massacre called "Brother of Mine", which they included on their only album, ''The Path of Least Resistance''. The song featured Tremonti and Philips on guitar and keyboards respectively. Another version of the song also featured Stapp sharing vocal duties with Hestla.