Review Summary: Lucid dreams.
Learning from past mistakes is very important, especially in the music industry. Bands will make mistakes and let down some fans, but what’s important is how they bounce back. RED’s
Release The Panic is their weakest effort to date (though it’s still pretty impressive) but they followed it up with the knockout of a record
Of Beauty and Rage. U2 followed up the relatively disliked
Zoorupa and
Pop with the strong
All That You Can’t Leave Behind. On the other hand, there’s not bouncing back from your mistakes. Papa Roach haven’t quite been the same since
The Paramour Sessions. Nickelback just got worse as the years went on. Korn had a pretty nasty spell as well. The point is, there’s two ways for a band to take a hit (excluding calling it quits completely). After Skillet’s strong effort in
Collide, they had a bit of a sophomore slump(again, here I’m only counting their heavy efforts) with
Comatose.
Comatose wasn’t necessarily bad, but it had a cringey middle portion and didn’t hit near as hard as
Collide. Skillet took three years for the
Comatose tour cycle and played with more matured groups such as Thousand Foot Krutch, Stone Sour, and Decyfer Down, having plenty of positive influence and plenty of room to correct mistakes with the next effort
Awake. So did Skillet arise from their half-dead state on their second album for a knockout or at least improved third? A little, but just not enough.
Opener “Hero” shows promise, at least musically. One of the problems that really plagued
Comatose was the uninteresting rhythm guitar work. Right off the bat, Korey and Ben both shove some semi-technical and just plain fun riffs in the verses of the opener. Other songs like “Monster” and “Sometimes” seriously benefit from said progression and are given a much needed dark edge. John Cooper does sound a little more strained this time around and it’s apparent from the get-go, though not quite as glaring as it would later grow to be. Speaking of voices, this album saw the replacement of longtime drummer Lori Peters with young newcomer Jen Ledger. Yes, she’s gorgeous and many fans have acknowledged that, but honestly, her voice just doesn’t feel near as poignant as Korey’s did. It just feels like it’s there, not detracting, but not near adding either. Nevertheless, “Hero” and “Monster” start off the album well, both rocking hard (maybe even as hard as some of the material on
Collide) and showing a lot of promise. And then comes “Don’t Wake Me”. This is where the band really starts to hit problems: it’s just a cliched, boring rock ballad that bleeds of Nickelback or Daughtry. It’s lazy and John’s again pushing himself far beyond his range to hit notes he has no business hitting. “It’s Not Me It’s You” tries to be an angsty, dark “broken relationship” rocker but it is so repetitive and predictable that it just grows very grating, though the guitar riff in the first half of the bridge serves to break the monotony a little, but ultimately not enough. Remember how awkward “Those Nights” was? Just add in about thirty times the cheese and pop rock and that’s “Should’ve When You Could’ve”. Yes, it is that bad. “Sometimes” is the only song tuned to Drop B the entire album and for the love of God, it is needed. This spices up the end of the record majorly: it’s dark, it’s brooding, it makes you a little uncomfortable when you realize just how relatable the lyrics can be, and it shows a hint of promise similar to the beginning of the record. It’s also one of the only, if not the only, moments on the record that Jen really gets to show off her chops: she may not be playing crazy fills and solos, but the drums just seem much more prominent on this track. Even the programmed, industrial ending is a nice touch. “Never Surrender” follows and is actually a fantastic mid-tempo track that bleeds of “Collide” or maybe even “Perfect Life” from RED. John brings a decent performance, the drumming stands out a little more, the guitar riffs are simple yet elegant, and the programming fits just right. “Lucy” tries to be a heartfelt ballad, and while the band’s intentions are great, it just doesn’t work.
There’s so much filler. So much filler and it just hurts. Lyrically, this is probably the lowest this band has fallen at times. “Monster” is a blaring hard rock tune, and it’s musically enjoyable and fun live, but the constant repetition of “I feel like a monster” gets old. “It’s Not Me It’s You” repeats “It’s not me it’s you” over, and over. The rock ballads (of which there are many) are cliched tropes that try to tackle love and loss seriously. On the lyrical flipside, though, Skillet do explore some themes well. “Hero” expresses a desire for some sort of light in the darkness, “Sometimes” laments a self-loathing cycle, and “Never Surrender” is a no-holds-barred take on the vulnerability all humans have. Still, oftentimes the problems overshadow the positives, as even better tracks suffer after repeated listens.
Well, I tried to go into this with a fairly positive outlook, but this ultimately was very disappointing. The band claims to be
Awake from their
Comatose state, but I think they’re still sleeping throughout most of this effort, only occasionally controlling lucid dreams that contain hope for awakening.
