Wind-Up Entertainment struck gold with Creed, and the label has made post-grunge rock its signature sound ever since. The trend continues with this eponymous debut from 12 Stones. The New Orleans natives perfectly combine the melodic intervention of Three Doors Down with a sense of dramatic dynamics right out of Nickelback's bag of tricks. It's all held together by soaring vocals -- akin to a more polished version of (four more stones) Gavin Rossdale -- that will sound oh so perfect coming out of a radio speaker, along with more technical axe-work, particularly in the soloing, than the more commercial fare usually has. When you throw in a solid mix courtesy of producer Jay Baumgardner (Drowning Pool, Papa Roach) that accentuates all of the hit-making potential of tracks such as "Open Your Eyes," lead single "Broken," and the tribal "Soulfire," 12 Stones seems to be a can't-miss prospect from start to finish. ~ Brian O'Neill, All Music Guide
Dave Fortman (Producer), Ed Sherman (Artwork), Dan Certa (Assistant Engineer), James Murray (Engineer), Eric Weaver (Guitar), Tom Baker (Mastering), Sean Murphy (Photography), Victor Murgatroyd (A&R), Paul McCoy (Group Member), Aaron Gainer (Group Member), Kevin Dorr (Bass), Kevin Dorr (Group Member), Jeremy Parker (Assistant Engineer), Jay Baumgardner (Mixing), James Murray (Engineer), Diana Meltzer (A&R), Eric Weaver (Group Member), Aaron Gainer (Drums), Edwards Sherman (Artwork), James Murray (Engineer), Jay Baumgardner (Producer)
World Wrestling Entertainment used some of the songs for promotional purposes. "Home" was the song for the WWE Desire video for Kurt Angle. "Broken" was used for the WWE Judgment Day pay-per-view in May 2002. Songs "Running out of Pain" and "Back Up" were used on Cheating Death, Stealing Life - The Eddie Guerrero Story. The song "Back Up" was originally written to be used as an entrance song for The Rock, but was not used as it was too different from what he had been using. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at Number 147.
