Darker and Different
Posted September 11, 2009
By SarahFine_NRT, Staff Reviewer
I'm a rather newer fan of Skillet, so I may not be as 'up' on thier music as most of thier more hardcore Panhead fans. But I DO know that afer the succsess of thier 2006 album 'Comatose', that Skillet was going to have some big expectations to meet with thier next album...so I guess the real question here is: Does 'Awake' meet the hype it was lived up to?
It starts off with the first single 'Hero', the biggest change on this album is the addition of the female vocals from new drummer Jen Ledger (she took over after Lori Peters left the band in early 2008). Jen's vocals add something extra to his album, although much of Korey Coopers background vocals are missed on this album--it's one of the reasons 'Comatose' had so much musical depth. 'Monster' is one of the heavier songs on this album with lyrics that standout right away. The 'monster' symbolicaly being the ugliness of self.
A running theme through this album seams to be 'living in the flesh VS living by the Spirit'. This is found in 'Hero', 'Monster', 'Could've When You Should've', 'Awake and Alive' (my favorite track on the album) and the lyrically moving 'Lucy'. Lyrically there seams to also be a lot of anger in this album, maybe not forth right, but songs like 'Believe' and the darkest track on the abum 'Sometimes' have this way of hitting you with raw honosty.
Overall this is a great rock album. Skillet fans won't be dissapointed--but this may not be everyone's cup of tea. It's very heavy both lyrically and musically and although it has it's lighter moments, the tone of the album stays the same throughout. Newer fans who want to get into this bands music might want to start off with 'Collide' and 'Comatose' (this album, being almost a perfect mesh of these two albums).
So, the answer to the question before? Yes. This album does meet the hype. But i'll leave the rest to you to hear for yourself... View All Music And Book Reviews By SarahFine_NRT | View SarahFine_NRT's Profile
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