Skillet

REBIRTHING NOW!!!


I dont know how else to introduce Skillet, and I wish I could make it seem more like John Cooper's voice, but hey, what can you do but blog on....


Skillet, man I have been following this band this their conception. The only bad thing about this band is its small following. Although it has gotten bigger over time they still are not as popular as they should be simply because of the money behind the project. Still, they have improved with every project, and I dont think many artists can say this.

In their early years they were known for songs like Locked in a Cage and I Can. These songs define their sound and still to this day you might hear one of them at their concerts. What has changed is the band members over time and they truly didnt get who they have now until Alien Youth. Still, even if this cd wasnt bad, it wasnt Collide either.
When Collide came out Skillet's hard side really shined through. With songs like Saviour and Forsaken one just wanted to rise to their feet and mosh. These songs even were able to combine lyrical ability with the hard edge, talking from Jesus point of view to the lost and walking through the valleys of this life perspectively.
Then came Comatose. This cd blew me away combining elements from nearly every cd to date. Beyond this though, they did it flawlessly. Rebirthing is an awesome testament of coming from who you were to who we become in knowing Christ. Where other tracks on the cd deal with every day horrors raging from suicide to famine. They incorporate orchestral movements with hard guitar rifts in the up beat songs and then are able to slow down and talk about specificaly Cooper's experiences growing up with acoustic ballads like the Older I get.
The cd is good, but their live shows are amazing. Cooper plays bass and can swing that massive thing around his neck. The two females in the group are amazing, as they claim to have the best chick drummer of all time. These three are good, but their feature guitarist is amazing. Every featured guitar movement throughout their Alien youth to Comatose is done by one guy, and he is this good-Just watch them live.

The only bad thing is that they lost their Chick Drummer, but do not fear, they found another and apperantly the former drummer was able to train the new one. So, she wont be the best chick drummer, but she may be the second best.

Skillet is one of my favorites and I hope they keep making music for at least a couple more cds. But if I had it my way, they would sit at my porch and play when I wanted them to.

Comatose: A
Collide: B
Alien Youth: C

The Flame in All of Us

After seeing these guys in a concert where they had sound difficulties and simply was a horrible concert, I had little expectations for their new project. But from the first down beat into the last chord, I found this cd to be worth the time and effort.
Although I never got into TFK's first cd, every project since has been solid and worth any hard rock fan's time. I find myself coming back to The Flame time and time again. The only noteable problems with the cd is how repetitive their songs can get. But, I dont think we can expect much more out of a Xgames type of sounding artist.

With this being said, I want to highlight some of the best songs through out the cd. The title track is one to put in the cd and crank up. This song leads into another song of the same nature of Everything Falls Apart. Track four slows down a bit, but shows a new side of TFK that has been explored on previous cds but never done with much care. What do We know shows signs of more acoustic talent and give TFK to go a little more in depth with their lyrics.
The rest of the cd has pretty good intervals in the songs giving them a much needed diversity and for the most part is a cd to put in the car when you want to head bang.

The gem on this cd though and best song by far is Wish you Well. The only bad thing is that most people listening to this cd wont appreicate this song as much. But if one is to evaluate the musical ability of an artist that person has a responsibility to point out these types of songs. For this cd it is Wish you Well. Evaluating the journey that is known as life we follow TFK through experiences of life that help define who we are. As the cd begins I thought it would be another failed attempt at slowing down their music, but as the song progresses you find that this is not the case. When it comes to the bridge of the song TFK is able to use their rapping ability and combine it with a slowed down acoustic/piano/orchestral movement(depending on which version you are talking about). The only thing missing from this track is a bit more depth, once again falling into the reality of repetition found in every TFK song.

Overall: B-
Recommended for the devoted fans of up beat rock and anyone who wants to rock.