Skillet: Awake
Posted: November 10th, 2009 | Author: Alastair | Filed under: Skillet | Tags: alastair vance, atlantic records, Cd review, conner byrd, INO records, joel klampert, mike mahoney, rock, Skillet | 2 Comments »
Purchase Skillet: Awake - 
Artist official site
| SYNOPSIS | |
| JOEL: I used to be a huge fan of skillet. I have been listening to them since they stared and have seen them in concert a few times. So I guess you can consider me a fan of them to a certain degree. I remember their worship CD Ardent Worship and it was great. It came at a time when rock in church was just starting to really take off so I ate it up. The band made some changes in its format and sound through the years. Some I liked and some I didn’t. Comatose was a pretty good CD, but I started to have issues with one thing. Lead vocals went back and forth awkwardly with male/female. And the thing that I just can’t get past is the once smooth sounding skillet vocals were now replaced with liquid sandpaper vocals. It’s not that I don’t like that sound it’s just that I find it odd it is same guy. So that aside I tried to get into this CD, but I just could not. It was missing much of what makes this band good in songwriting and production. On top of it all I had a hard time taking it seriously with the oddly childish sound effects on Monster. I listened to it one more time this evening…I really like the female vocals by themselves. Has a plumb meets flyleaf kinda feel that I think could really carry skillet. I would just love for lead male to go back to his old voice. |
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| CONNER: Skillet’s been a staple in my playlist before Youth activities for quite some time. Comatose just freaked me out and probably got overplayed (as did previous CDs.) So, I’m not sure if it’s the success of previous works or if Awake is truly just that flat. The more I listen to it, the more I come around to it but I keep going back to older releases and digging them way more. It sounds like this CD is just a few years too late. It’s got a Linkin Park meets Flyleaf feel to it with the ballads of Nickelback and that’s just not a great combination for me at the moment. | |
| MIKE: I was really looking forward to this record. I’m a fan of Skillet, having seen them several times live, and having had one decent conversation with John Cooper about the impact of his music backstage at the Hammerstein. And, being a head-banger from back in the day, I loved Comatose. I thought it was refreshing that a band could take that approach to music and faith. There are few things as face-melting good as a Skillet concert.That said, this record confused me more than anything else. For one, I can’t really understand why John Cooper was using this scratchy, raw, bad voice throughout most of the record. I mean, the man is no Ronan Tynan, but he sings better than this. Some of the softer tracks showcase what he can do, but there’s not enough of it. And I don’t know if they’re trying to be “edgy” with some of their lyrics, but I was turned off a bit.Musically, this is very 80′s, big rock, power chords and double kicks – typical Skillet. And there’s some good stuff here, mainly the power ballads like “Forgiven,” “Believe,” or “Lucy.” But overall, I have to say Comatose is a far better record than Awake. | |
ALASTAIR: I have nothing against the rock genre. For example, I love the recent albums from RED (which I’m listening to while writing this review). I also (unashamedly) have given fair airplay to Daughry and David Cook. I just couldn’t get into this album. I don’t like it.The ping-pong exchange between the male and female vocal parts just got irritating. It’s also hard to tell if they were being serious with some of these songs – is “Monster” some kind of a joke? It’s like a rock album for kiddies, but then he uses “pissed off”* repeatedly in one of the songs. I don’t want my kids repeating that. They learn enough bad language from me as it is.When they mellow a little at times, the album suddenly gets 10 times better. But remember, 10 times better than naff is still naff.
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| BOTTOM LINE | |
JOEL: There may be a few tracks in here you will want to purchase separately, but overall this comes off as one of the bands in the 90′s that didn’t make it. A dated sound with very little substance Rating:    |
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| CONNER: There are a few tracks here that are great additions to the Skillet portfolio but overall it feels a bit dated. Rating: |
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| MIKE: Buy some singles off this, then put ‘em in a mix with Comatose. Rating: |
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| ALASTAIR: Poo. Rating: |
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| MUST HAVE SONGS | |
JOEL:
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CONNER:
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MIKE:
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| ALASTAIR:The best song for me is the last song, “Lucy”. Because I know that after the last song I can listen to something else. | |
| SONGS FOR CHURCH | |
| JOEL: Not every CD we review will have stuff for a person to use in church and not every CD we review will be worship oriented. I can’t see using the songs in this CD. | |
| CONNER: The “Must Have” songs are the songs I’d use before or after service for Youth. That’s as close as “Songs for Church” that I could get for this CD. I think you could strip some of the ballady songs down and use them for Specials, Preludes, etc. if they fit thematically. But if you’re at a church where monster rock ballads and full on rock songs work in your congregation then hit me up b/c I’d love to attempt to pull some of this stuff off “as is.” | |
| MIKE: Skillet songs in church? That’s a tough one. And I can’t really see much here, except maybe a reworked, acoustic version of “Forgiven” or “Believe.” |
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| ALASTAIR: There’s nothing here for church – unless you want to use one for a special occasion – like clearing the room. |
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The Joint gives Skillet: Awake Overall Rating:
is it typical for the review to be more epic than the CD?
We try Adam, we try.