11. They Bought Themselves Out Of Two Record Contracts
Want to know why you've not heard a whole lot about Alter Bridge until recently? Well, being misrepresented by your record companies twice in a row will do that. Despite what you think of them, Creed's 90's success made them a household name - especially across America - and so when the former members of such a hugely successful band were once again on tour, company Wind-Up sought to 'cash-in' on this success. By picking the most 'Creed-like' song they could - Broken Wings - it was a pretty bad representation of the far heavier and more complex direction the majority of the album went in, leading to the members of AB using their own personal funds to buy out of their own contract. This took them to Universal Republic, who looked at the far heavier-still Blackbird and - after a brief push with the anthemic Rise Today and a UK-only release for Ties That Bind - chose Watch Over You as a followup; the most balladic on the entire album. Once again AB were furious that their newer image was intentionally being marketed wrongly, and so again they dove into their respective coffers to reclaim some direction. It wasn't until third album AB III that they signed with Roadrunner who picked the mighty Isolation as their first release, which instantly led to appearances on Jimmy Kimmel, number one spots on the rock charts, upgrades to arena tours and festival slots under guys like Aerosmith. The fact that AB got back in the saddle when they did is testament to the drive of the band overall, and we couldn't be more glad they did.
