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Full Review | User Ratings (57) |
| Summary: A very enjoyable but mediocre hard rock / alternative metal album. |
5 of 6 thought this review was well written
John Cooper – Vocals, Bass
Korey Cooper – Keyboards, Rhythm guitar
Ben Kasica – Lead Guitar
Lori Peters - Drums
Anyone following the progression of Skillet’s music would probably have seen Collide coming. Their music was mostly electronic early on, but the rock elements grew more and more prominent as time went by. The album before this, Alien Youth, sounded a little like early Rammstein: meaty guitars along with synthesizers and other electronic elements. Here, the electronic elements are all but gone, and aside from a little bit of piano and strings, the music is almost entirely hard-hitting alternative metal songs.
Skillet’s music has never been great to begin with, however the albums before and after this were good because of the band’s take on industrial (Alien Youth) as well as meshing quite a bit of piano and strings into rock (Comatose). But between those two is Collide, an album that is almost entirely solid hard rock, yet fails because it does absolutely nothing new and nearly every song has a poorly executed bridge or “breakdown”.
Guitarist Ben Kasica’s riffs are without doubt the highlight of this album, and save for two tracks the stronger moments of each song are based around them. While fairly simple and somewhat uncreative, there are only a couple of boring riffs on the whole album. Despite this, they’re still painfully average and no great display of talent (Comatose would mark the first appearance of proper solos). The same can be said of the rhythm section – Lori Peters, while never bad, plays nothing impressive at any point. What’s more, the bass is almost always unheard.
Vocalist John Cooper is quite strong, possessing a raw, throaty shout that adds quite well to the aggressive nature of the album. The major problem, however, is that nearly every song features dragged out nonsensical shouts of “oh!” that fill places where lyrics should have gone. Perhaps having only 10 songs, (“Open Wounds” was part of a re-release) the band felt they needed to make each song longer than average. Therefore, the average track length is about 4 minutes, and the album as a whole suffers because of it.
So while Skillet has never been that great, it’s probably safe to say they’ve never released the same album twice, a couple better than average. Too bad they didn’t realize how painfully average their first mainstream successful album was. While an enjoyable listen for this reviewer, the potential for a great album is not mirrored in the music.
Standout tracks:
Savior
Open Wounds
Collide
Cycle Down
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| Recent reviews by this author | | |
Album Rating: 2.5
It's been a while since I reviewed anything, and I know it's not great, but hopefully people feel it's good. I'm just hoping this doesn't get negged (especially because of the rating).
Digging: John Mayer - Continuum | | |
Yeah, this is a pretty average album.
Digging: Sigur Ros - g?s Byrjun
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Good to see you reviewing again. Band dosen't appeal to me at all but the review was swell enough.
Digging: Dismember - Dismember
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Good review, you summed it up well. I really enjoy Comatose and think it's their best album far and away, and I'd prob rate that a 3.5.
And I see Squirtle has evolved.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Thanks to both of you. I certainly agree Comatose is their best.
Weird....it appears my approval hasn't moved at all after two positive votes...oh well it's high enough I guess.
This Message Edited On 01.14.08
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I know what you mean man, that S Club 7 review killed me. Comatose did have some catchy songs that i'm aware of.
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Band annoys me to no end, mainly for the obnoxious overtones.
Digging: Animal Collective - Spirit They've Gone, Spirit They've Vanished
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Quote:
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I know what you mean man, that S Club 7 review killed me. Comatose did have some catchy songs that i'm aware of.
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Well it's not the negs - I only have like 3 or so. Maybe just so many votes that a couple pos's doesn't move the approval? still weird.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Pretty good review, but your first two sentences aren't really true. Their first two albums (s/t and Hey You, I Love Your Soul) were straight-up hard rock albums with little to no electronic influence; Invincible and Alien Youth sort of came out of nowhere with the synthesizers and what-not.
Digging: Underoath - Lost In The Sound Of Separation | | | Album Rating: 2.5
Hmm....well I always knew the first album was grunge-ish, but thought HYILYS was electronic. Guess I'll have to edit that later.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I love Cycle Down. I don't have Comatose, but I have most of their other albums. Maybe I should check it out.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
its a good album, it just wears off over time, but savior is still a good song to throw on anytime
Digging: Underoath - Lost In The Sound Of Separation | | | Album Rating: 4.5
Personally I thought this album was amazing. Great everything, especially vocals. THey didn't let Kory sing, which was mainly the cause for the amazing vocals. But I really enjoy the breakdowns...just a hard hitting, hard rock feel...I love it.
Digging: The Dresden Dolls - Yes Virginia | | | Album Rating: 2.5
tchitch, don't neg reviews just because you don't agree with them. Hopefully you see this.
This Message Edited On 03.12.08
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skillet is really inconsistent but at least they're always trying to reinvent themselves. good review tho
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Nice review but god this band sucks. Used to like them in my CCM days. Then I discovered better music.
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I love this band. My best friend just got me listening to it. She says it's Christian Rock, but it doesn't sound Christian to me at all. It just sounds... rock-ish. Really good. Love it.
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