History Music / AlterBridge

->''Now with 25% less Music/{{Creed}}.''

The swan song to the classic rock bands of the 1970s, Alter Bridge comprises three of four former members of Music/{{Creed}}. [[{{Workaholic}} Mark Tremonti]] spent some time [[TookALevelInBadass practicing guitar]] after Creed split up and once he was sure he could [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siId0ykNui0#t=29s melt faces]], he [[PuttingTheBandBackTogether called up]] his former bandmates, found [[TenorBoy Myles Kennedy]], and formed one of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5jKMjLDpWw: rockinest]] rock bands this side of the pond.

* TheBandMinusTheFace: Music/{{Creed}}, minus Scott Stapp. Although this made Myles Kennedy the new face.

** Compared to Music/{{Creed}}, quite a bit.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''One Day Remains'' is much heavier on the PostGrunge and oftentimes considered the only album they obviously sound like Music/{{Creed}} on. A couple of songs, like the title track and "Metalingus" had hints of what they'd become. Those types of songs tend to dominate albums released after it.

* TheBandMinusTheFace: Music/{{Creed}}, minus Scott Stapp. Although this made Myles Kennedy the new FaceOfTheBand.

* CoolOldGuy: Myles Kennedy, who was 3-4 years older than his bandmates when he joined, and is on his way to becoming this (having turned 50 in November 2019), as he has not lost any of his power as a vocalist and is still as energetic a performer as ever.

** While not quite to ''Fortress'''s heaviness, ''Pawns and Kings'' contains what may be their darkest imagery, though not without counter.

* StepUpToTheMic: Tremonti sometimes does this live, and did this on the tracks "Waters Rising" on ''Fortress'' and "Forever Falling" on ''Walk the Sky''.
* TitleTrack: On every album released up to 2019 except ''AB III''.

* EpicRocking: "Blackbird" along with "Fortress" are just shy of 8 minutes.

* NonAppearingTitle: "[[Wrestling/{{Edge}} Metalingus]]", "White Knuckles" and "Words Darker Than Their Wings".

* SpiritualSuccessor:
** They've been called "The young Music/LedZeppelin" while Blackbird has been described as "The next Stairway."
** If only "Blackbird" the song got actual radio play while the album was being promoted.

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: Myles' voice is essentially hard rock wailing ala [[Music/LedZeppelin Robert Plant]], grunge breathiness with a hint of soul, and his playing combines that of virtuosic {{Jazz}} with {{Blues}}. Mark's playing is basically {{prog|ressiveRock}}gy {{Alternative|Metal}} SpeedMetal with just a bit of blues, Spanish guitar and southern twang making surprise appearances. The rhythm section can have some progressive tendencies as well.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Their radio friendly tunes are usually a 5 or 6, but their faster works like "Metalingus", "Ties That Bind" and certain guitar solos tread into a 7. The "hard" 7's (borderline 8's) have only gotten more common later into their discography, with the bulk of ''Fortress'' containing songs around that category.

* AscendedFanboy: Myles's previous band, The Mayfield Four, once opened for {{Music/Creed}}.

* WeaksauceWeakness: Myles Kennedy: excellent guitarist; incredible vocal range; incapable of whistling.

While they're popular in America, they're [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff huge in Europe]] and actually produced a live DVD in [[FreestateAmsterdam Amsterdam]] [[note]], although it's possible they did this [[Film/PulpFiction for other reasons]][[/note]] and another in London (Wembley Arena). By every account, the band is composed of some of the [[NiceGuy nicest guys]] you could ever hope to meet.

* LongestSongGoesLast: They have done this twice as of 2019, with ''Fortress'' closing with the 7:36 TitleTrack and ''Walk the Sky'' closing with the 5:47 "Dying Light".