John L. Cooper – vocals, bass, sampling, programming
Korey Cooper – keyboards, backing vocals, sampling, programming
Lori Peters – drums
Kevin Haaland – guitars (except "Earth Invasion")
Ben Kasica – guitars (on "Earth Invasion")
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We're Taking Over The World!| Posted May 14, 2010
Skillet returned to a harder rock sound with Alien Youth, and little did listeners know then that it would be Skillet's last album before storming through the musical gates of mainstream and into the household name of Christian rock they are today. They were always popular, but back when this released, the fame wasn't quite as strong as it would later become.
The album begins uniquely with the phrase, "It's beenm confirmed that the aliens have landed," and then the intense rock track kicks off.
Skillet slams into the fierce "Vapor," next before going to "Earth Invasion," which is very similar in theme to the title track.
"You Are My Hope," is Skillet's first slower song on the album and was a CCM radio gem that still gets a lot of airplay.
Intense rockers "Eating Me Away," and fan-favorite "Kill Me, Heal Me" follow. "The Thirst is Taking Over" serves as a slowbuilding track that eventually bursts into an epic finish. It's musically stunning but way too repetitive and overlong. Then, another slower track, "One Real Thing," which is the most rocky of the slower tracks.
I must admit, I am not a big fan of "Stronger" at all so me at least, it was a big miss for Skillet on this album. "Rippin Me Off" is great lyrically with it's militant stand against atheists, but musically it leaves me a little flat.
The album ends with two quiet and worshipful tracks in the form of "Will You Be There" and "Come My Way."
All in all, Skillet did a great job with this release. It isn't nearly as good as their later albums, and a major flaw in many songs is that they are overlong. But this is a great album for Skillet fans to see what Skillet sounded like right before they released the famous Collide and showed the industry what they were really made of. But even without that factor, this album still stands as very good on it's own merits.
4/5| Posted October 19, 2011
Alien Youth marks a nit of a return to form for Skillet. The industrial rock sound heard on the past two albums gets diminished significantly and the hard rock is brought into the forefront. This makes Alien Youth a highly enjoyable album from start to finish. This album is also significant in that it features the debut of former guitarist Ben Kasica on one song. If the industrial sound of Invincible and Hey You, I Love Your Soul turned you off from Skillet, Alien Youth could bring you back.
Song by song review by JD92| Posted December 03, 2009
The Alien Youth alblum is definetly album worth getting. This album is a little different then the other albums, it had a different kind of "taste" to it. It seems to have more affects. I absolutely love the drums in this album, I think that this album has some of the best drum playing.
1. Alien Youth, the first song, proudly admits that christians do not belong in this world, that they are the minority, that they are the freaks. It confidently states we are going to impact this world. Altogether a great opening song.
2. Vapor has got to be my favorite song on the album. I LOVE the drum work in it. I love the fact that it makes you aknowledge the fact that we are in this world only temporarily.
3. You Are My Hope is a quieter song then the first two. It praises God by recognizing that He is our hope and strength.
4. Eating Me Away is one of those songs that has a kind of desperation to it. To me it seems like a song of questions and futilities.
5.Kill Me Heal Me is another song that I really like on the instrument work. It gives me the impression that it's about craving a release from hurt no matter how hard it is to reach the relief.
6. The Thirst Is Taking Over makes me think of a person who has gone without God too long and begins to feel the affects of it and realizes he needs God back to water his hurt, and calloused soul.
7. One Real Thing explains that the only real thing you can caount on in life and in the future is God.
8. Stronger proclaims that with God with us, we are stronger then the devil.
9. Rippin' Me Off, another song which I love the drums! This song answers the worlds various views of God in a catch song filled with fun affects.
10.Will You Be There seems to me like a plea for help. This softer song pleads rescue when the pain and darkness in life becomes too much.
11. Come My Way. This song seems like a Skillet version of Kumbaya. Just asking God to come and help.A plead to be noticed and helped among a sea of sorrowful faces.
Skillet Invasion| Posted July 25, 2008
After less than 1 year of waiting, I'm sure everyone was thinking "No way that's going to be a good album" I know I was. Well, now we look like idiots. Suffice it to say, it is marginally better than "Invincible" (Thank God)
As the album opens with Alien Youth, you can tell exactly where the album is going with lyrics like "World Wide Jesus Domination, Love Conquers All".
The Next song, Vapor, is reminiscent of their previous album, but not as....bad.(I hated Invincible). It does get pretty repetitive in the chorus, though.
Earth Invasion is easily one of the best songs on the album. It talks of Gods plan to save us, but how we are all resisting...however these are very cryptic, ambiguous lyrics, that can be misinterpreted.
The next song, You Are My Hope, is the first ballad on the album, and is nicely executed. Not much more to say.
As the ballad fades and gives way to Eating Me Away, you can tell that the middle of this album is more than just the Power Ballads and Pop-Rock songs that have plagued the radio as of late. It talks of how anger can change a person, and make them into something they do not want to be.
As Eating Me Away fades....wait a second, it doesn't fade at all. It transitions perfectly into Kill Me, Heal Me. This hard rocker is simply amazing, and cries out to God asking for repairment, with lyrics like "Pick up the cross, cuz it's killing me".
The Thirst is Taking Over is a creepy song to say the least. It talks of being possessed (Hold me down, drip it on my tongue, and my convulsion stops), and how Jesus is the only hope for the world(I'm in urgent need, you know the thirst is taking over). It is slow at first, repetitive in the middle, and harder and louder in the end.
One Real Thing was written and composed completely by Korey. It is a decent ballad, but does not show Skillet's true potential with these kind of songs.
Stronger is a bit repetitive, but the lyrics are straightforward (I'm stronger, yeah, than the devil, yeah).
Rippin' Me Off is a bit more repetitive, but with weird sounds in the beginning. It talks of how, by saying God and Jesus aren't real, your ripping us off from our eternal life.
Will You Be There?(Falling Down) is the best ballad I've heard in years, this truly shows Skillet's potential for hard rockers and slow songs. I actually Regard this song as one of my favorites.
Come my way is a bad choice for a closer, especially after Will You Be There?. It is slow, and not as good.
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