The band wrote several songs, trying to discover their own identity, and in their early days, the members had jobs, while bassist Brian Marshall got a degree.

At the time of My Own Prison's publication, Creed were compared to several bands, including Soundgarden (especially the Badmotorfinger era), Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Hootie & the Blowfish, Tool, and Metallica.

Its lyrics include topics like emerging adulthood, self-identity, Christianity and faith, sinning, suicide, unity, struggling to prosper in life, pro-life, and race relations in America.

Vocalist Scott Stapp and guitarist Mark Tremonti said their early adulthood inspired lyrics to songs like the title track and "Torn".

My Own Prison was eventually certified sextuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and, as of 2009, sold over 6,000,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The album received reviews ranging from positive to negative, complimenting its guitar riffs and music but criticizing its similarity to 1990s grunge bands.

For the band's debut release, manager Jeff Hanson matched them up with John Kurzweg, a producer friend who, with his unobtrusive production style and talents as a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, he felt was a great fit.

[6] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote that "Creed don't have an original or distinctive sound—they basically fall into the category of post-Seattle bands who temper their grunge with a dose of Live earnestness".

[8] In 1997, when My Own Prison first brought the band attention from the mainstream, Bradley Bambarger of Billboard wrote in December that Creed sound "disconcertingly reminiscent of Alice in Chains".

[12] Justin Seremet of the Hartford Courant wrote in 1998 that Creed "is essentially Alice in Chains without the bite", comparing singer Stapp's vocals to that of the deceased AIC vocalist, Layne Staley.

[7] He described the album as "scrunge", which he defined as "the adopted name for groups that rode the Seattle wave with a couple of hits and subsequently vanished—bands like Silverchair, Sponge, Candlebox, and so on.

[10] The New Rolling Stone Album Guide described the record as being influenced by 1970s stadium rock and wrote that it includes "thundering metallic tracks and sweeping ballads".

[13] In August 2017, Phil Freeman of Stereogum wrote: "The music on My Own Prison took ideas from grunge, which had mostly come and gone by that point, and filtered them through more mainstream hard rock and arena metal.

Creed weren't interested in the punk rock energy of Mudhoney or Nirvana, but they were borrowing heavily from Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains, whose lugubrious style was a natural fit for Scott Stapp's baritone roar.

Prior to Creed's success, the guitarist held various jobs to pay for college, including washing cars and working as a cook.

[17][14] Prior to releasing the album on their own independent label, Creed recruited Daniel Tremonti, Mark's brother, to become their creative director.

The image was of a man named Justin Brown, a friend of the band, depicting him kneeling shirtless in a corner with his hands on top of his head.

Looking to have a professional-looking final product, the band acquired a loan from bassist Brian Marshall's father and went to a one-stop company to package and manufacture the record.

The Wind-up version featured an updated band wordmark logo in a Mason Serif Regular font, now situated on the top left, with the album title just below that, to the right.

AllMusic wrote: "Creed don't have an original or distinctive sound—they basically fall into the category of post-Seattle bands who temper their grunge with a dose of Live earnestness—but they work well within their boundaries.

[36] Jon Pareles of The New York Times, with an article entitled "Grunge Gets Religion, and It's Not Pretty", criticized My Own Prison and wrote: "Convictions aside, Creed's weakness is its music.

"[10] Justin Seremet of the Hartford Courant panned My Own Prison, stating: "Just as the Warrants and Slaughters of the world hung around long after their brand of music had gone to the grave, so will Creed.