Review Summary: I don't like making anybody feel uncomfortable, that's why I'd like to talk to you all about Jesus.
I don't know about Skillet. I heard the single, "Awake and Alive" on the radio at work one day and thought it was a pretty good radio ditty. The Castlevania violin, backing female vocal harmony, and a meat-and-potatoes songwriting approach put the song on my must-check list, and after careful examination I can conclude that there are probably few worse things than a combination of every modern rock cliche, Three Days Grace-lite song stylings, and all the awkwardness of a Jehova's Witness visit.
In fact, with the prevalence of Christian reviews about secular media, how about we have an atheistic review on a Christian album?
First of all, I understand the idea behind Christian rock. You're supposed to include your faith and praise within the music, otherwise it's just rock. With Skillet, however, all subtlety and hope for metaphor are lost to the wind, aside from full-on ascribing to the Eric Cartman method of Christian music (For the uninitiated, all he did was replace "baby" with "Jesus" in love songs, to hilarious results). I think there may be a few songs on here that are about personal experiences, and how their faith has shaped and added coloration to those experiences, but the rest are just bald-faced scriptures set to some of the shlockiest rock compositions this side of Papa Roach. It makes Creed look like a multifaceted, deep study in Christian doctrine.
But if this doesn't bother you, then hold on to your horses:
Awake is a kiddie roller coaster at the Rock Park, full to the brim of no surprises, twists you can see a mile away, and a singer that has a problem saying the word "you". In the song "It's Not Me It's You", I swear it sounds like this:
It's not me achoo
Look it up.
Complimenting "Awake and Live", arguably the only good track on the damn thing, is one of their other singles "Monster", which stands tall amongst the rest of the album (Which is filler). "Don't Wake Me" is a bastardized attempt at your typical "intense" ballad and... you know what, just f-ck it. I don't even think I can manage to metaphor or convey the utter blandness of the music located here, song by song. The entire album is a manila folder containing some feel-good verses from the New Testament. There's your f-cking metaphor.
This album sucks.
