I'm glad to read Tim has said AB won't be gone long-term. That would be a shame. And I didn't think they would be.
Let's call this as it is.
Artistically, Alter Bridge is far and beyond Creed or Slash and the Conspirators, in terms of complexity of music -- AB is the musicians band, where the AB guys can get a little muso and do things. The AB guys do Creed for the $$$, and Myles does Slash because Appetite is one of his favorite all-time records, and Slash pays him REALLY well. They also get to play places in the U.S. AB hasn't been able to consistently headline. For example, back on the Fortress tour, AB finally played the Warfield Theatre in SF, after playing at the smaller Regency Ballroom before that, and has played the Regency Ballroom on every tour AFTER that. But with Slash, they play the Warfield EVERY time.
It's a numbers game. They make money with Creed and with Slash. A lot more money, particularly in the U.S., than they do with AB.
BUUUUTTTT...AB is absolutely huge in the UK and Europe, where they play arenas. So every so often, after AB does their run, they trot out Creed and Myles goes and does something with Slash. I GET IT.
As a fan, I get a little frustrated though. Because all these different ventures ultimately rob Alter Bridge of time to write like an old school band. For Blackbird, they sat together and wrote that record, together. After that, because they individually got busier with other projects, they started just compiling pieces of songs, and then getting together to arrange together. NOW, because they are very much in-demand with the other projects, they don't write together at all. They write songs separately, choose the ones everyone likes, and then do some minor arranging to fit what their producer thinks is necessary to check the AB boxes, and voila, that's AB.
That's my frustration as a fan of ALTER BRIDGE. That band suffers creatively to a degree because their primary songwriters are out doing other things. To this day, I feel like AB's masterpiece is yet to be written, because they just don't have the right time to do it. You hear it in the little comments both Myles and Mark make about "needing a single," or "checking a box" with something style-wise that AB is known for. As a fan, I really get mad about that. It is what it is, but what I would give for Mark and Myles to come into an AB project, and have them together sort of outline a direction and write together like they did for Blackbird, and forget all the BS that their producer Elvis Baskette says, and just write what they want to write. It sounds like they do just that on their solo albums -- do that for AB!!!!
But it is what it is. Maybe one day, from front to back, we'll have that Alter Bridge record that is absolutely flawless. Their Operation: Mindcrime, or Images and Words, or Master of Puppets, etc. It's in there, I know it is. They just need to get TOGETHER, and create TOGETHER. Just my .02.