If you’re into Christian rock and you’ve listened to any of Skillet’s albums over the five years that the band has existed, you’ve probably noticed that they’ve grown and changed quite a bit since their debut in 1996. Back in those days, they were a simple, three-man grunge-rock act, one of the first bands on the newly formed Ardent Records, arriving a bit late to the Nirvana-inspired alternative scene, but definitely making their mark on Christian rock radio with dissonant but catchy songs such as “I Can”, “Gasoline”, “My Beautiful Robe”, and the lovely ballad “Saturn”, all featuring the extremely raspy vocals of lead singer John Cooper. Not long after that came the group’s first evolution – from grunge rock into electronic rock, and it was almost hard to believe that the same three minds were at work on the group’s brilliant sophomore set, Hey You, I Love Your Soul. But even more changes were in store for the band as the original guitarist and drummer left, John’s wife Korey Cooper joined on the keyboards, and the band began to inject even more electronica into their music, quickly turning into a shiny power pop band in glam rockers’ clothing. They also began to show a passion for worship music, as was hinted at by a few songs on their 2000 Invincible album with songs like “Rest” and “Angels Fall Down”, and fully explored on their live worship album released later that year. After the complete metamorphosis and another lineup change (the band is now on guitarist #3, leaving John Cooper as the only original member), the band is set to release their latest album, Alien Youth, on Tuesday, August 28th. It’s always a delight when I can find albums ahead of time via search engines such as AudioGalaxy, and I can tell you with confidence that though I expected more of the same, Skillet has upped the ante on this one, drawing together elements of each of their albums, rocking harder than ever on several songs, exploring their passion for God with increased urgency, and ultimately amazing me enough to ensure that I run out and grab this CD when it releases.

If there’s one downside to Skillet’s increasing popularity in the world of Christian music, it can be largely blamed on the worship trend that has swept the industry lately. Skillet was probably the first prominent band from the harder end of the rock spectrum to put out a credible worship album (even though I didn’t enjoy that one enough to buy it), and now they are in a similar conundrum to what Third Day is going through – they have a bunch of new fans who want more worship songs, and who are going to be really thrown off by the harder, more extreme stuff, and the often violent imagery that Skillet wields when describing the relationship between God and man. It’s not like Skillet has been forced to record softer songs just to meet a demand – they have a passion for worship music, and they don’t necessary believe it all has to be soft and cuddly. Still, Skillet has two disparate crowds gathering before them these days, and while some simply want to “Rest” in the knowledge that God is “More Faithful”, others would rather be “Locked in a Cage” and doused in “Gasoline” as “The Fire Breathes”. The new songs on Alien Youth provide plenty for both audiences to enjoy, but the two styles often don’t mix together seamlessly. While fans in the middle (like me) can appreciate and enjoy pretty much all of it, I can bet that this album will be even harder to swallow for some fans than Invincible was. Nonetheless, a good 9 of these 12 tracks are superb, and the others certainly try their best, so without further ado, here’s your track-by-track preview of the new album…

Alien Youth
Do you believe that the aliens have landed
We’re everywhere you go
Infiltrate at the break of revolution
You can’t stop the revival…
Most Skillet fans are likely already familiar with this tune, since the record label was kind enough to release it on a sampler ahead of time, and it’s got the classic in-your-face drums and guitars, electronic noises gurgling underneath, scratchy vocals, and discordant verses married to a catchy chorus that make up the classic Skillet formula. The guitar riffs here are strong – the band’s new guitarist, Ben Kasica, is only 17 and he’s already tearing up the place! The rough, jerky nature of the song, combined with a rather easy-to-learn chorus, make this one quite similar to “Best Kept Secret”, the opening tune from Invincible, and the premise of both songs is the same – those who love God cannot keep quiet about it, and the truth is poised to “take over the world”. It may sound extreme, and likely even offensive to non-Christians, and I’ll grant you that the opening line “Worldwide Jesus domination” isn’t going to win the band a lot of crossover success. But it’s not hellfire and brimstone, either. It’s simply a declaration that the message of Christ will be heard throughout the world and it can’t be stopped, which is a pretty fair assumption given the interconnectedness of global culture these days.

Vapor
And I feel my skin’s just a shell
Underneath is my reality
I breathe dimensions unknown
It conquers my mortality…
“Alien Youth” comes to a sudden but predictable stop (much like “Best Kept Secret” did), and immediately the drums and a frenetic guitar riff come crashing in on what is definitely the standout tune out of all the harder tracks on this album. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard such an urgent, desperate take on the brevity and seeming insignificance of human life before, but when John frantically cries out “I’m a beep, I’m a vapor, and I’m about to evaporate,” you begin to think he’s not kidding around. The inspiration from the song was taken from Ecclesiastes, which details the futility of humanity’s desire to live forever, but it doesn’t write off life as being pointless, either: “While my body decays, my soul does not/Death is just the beginning.” This is one of those songs you can’t help but rock out to – the drum attack is relentless, and I’ve definitely got to give credit to drummer Lori Peters, who has only been with the band since the start of their Invincible tour in early 2000. She’s wasted no time assimilating into the Skillet style, and when I sit there listening to her slam those skins… I almost think I’m in love.

Earth Invasion
Changing history when the colliding comes
Where will you run?
Come with us if you want to live…
This song breaks in with a strong dose of electronica, thanks to Korey Cooper’s versatile keyboards. It sounds like a more easy-going synthpop tune at first, something like “Come on to the Future” from Invincible, but then Ben breaks in with a chugging guitar riff just to keep the heaviness factor intact. Lyrically, this song is a continuation of “Alien Youth”, as you would expect from the title (Skillet’s more recent songwriting doesn’t leave as much to the imagination, which is the one drawback for listeners like me.) They keyboards are still more prominent, and Korey also breaks in with some nice backing vocals during the chorus – she’s a great singer, and I’m glad they decided to use that talent more after relegating her voice to the background of just one track on Invincible. The new Skillet sound isn’t too far removed from The Echoing Green’s, now that they’re a full band with a female backup singer who takes the lead from time to time, but I have to say that Skillet’s production allows each of the elements to shine through much more clearly.

You Are My Hope
It’s hard to keep the faith alive day to day
Leaning on the strength I’ve found in you…
This would be the softer, more worship focused song, since every album has to have at least one within the first few tracks. Not surprisingly, it’s already got a strong hold on the Christian Hit Radio charts, drawing much the same audience that loved “Rest” and “More Faithful” so much. While this new worship song doesn’t break much new ground (it seems like a less poignant take on keeping the faith through hard times, which was explored more fully in “More Faithful”), it is more guitar-dominated, just not in a heavy way, which sets it apart from the previously mentioned worship songs, both of which were very keyboard heavy. This would have fit well on the group’s worship album, and again, Korey puts in a strong backup performance while John reigns in his scratchiness for an overall gentler song. The “da-da-da”s in between verses make it seem almost too nice at times, especially when compared to the tracks surrounding this one, but that’s a minor complaint at this point.

Eating Me Away
I shake my fist
At the cosmos and my insignificance
I need a reason to breathe…
This tune begins with some low-end mechanical noises, and then John’s voice comes in using a very low, atonal, zombie-like tone. It’s a bit creepy, and this is probably one of the things that will drive fans of the softer stuff away from Skillet’s albums, but honestly, this is a great song once it gets going. Here John cries out to God about the selfishness and negative emotions that are “eating me away” and “nibbling at my brain” like parasites. The song almost gives off a sci-fi aura as Korey messes around with different electronics bleeps and blurps, and then a very strong chorus breaks in: “Save me from my rage and my humanity/I’m more nothing than being, is this my legacy?” Any of us who have struggled with selfishness and anger management can relate to that desperate prayer. The combination of such a catchy chorus with almost tuneless verses seems like an odd match, and again I point out that underneath the hard/glam-rock image Skillet puts forth is an earnest, hopeful pop band, and these two sides often fight it out in mid-song. It may lose them some credibility with the diehard rockers, but I still think it’s great, because I almost always appreciate a strong pop hook when it has the appropriate level of energy to back it up.

Kill Me, Heal Me
How can I scream when the pain is such a release
I get the courage to pick up the nails, ‘cause it’s killin’ time…
Ooh, tricky transition! Just as the final few choruses of “Eating Me Away” are going strong, the track switches and another guitar riff picks up without missing a beat – this will likely catch a lot of people off guard once they realize it’s a different song. “Kill Me, Heal Me” is like-minded in its theme – it takes the problems lamented in the last song and asks God in no uncertain terms to destroy them. This is definitely the hardest track on the albums, with John’s vocal delivery approaching a scream during the chorus – something he hasn’t done as much since the very first album. Admittedly, the chorus is repetitive and not as catchy as the last one, and the extreme nature of the song almost seems to be crying out for attention amidst an industry used to putting out a lot of pleasant, pristine music. Long-time fans of Skillet will realize that this is nothing new – they’ll probably recall being caught off guard by some of the seemingly masochistic lyrics in “Locked in a Cage”, “Whirlwind” or “Gasoline”, and rejoice that the old Skillet is still shining through loud and clear.

Thirst Is Taking Over
I’m gonna scream aloud, throw it down
Crash in the sweet obsession of You
I’m gonna swim and drown in the wake of You…
This song is, in a word, sweet. Remember before when I complained about not having much middle ground between the hard stuff and the soft stuff? This would be one of two “middle-ground” tunes, and this one does a perfect job of combining the hard-rocking urge of the band with its softer, more worshipful side, likely pleasing both audiences in the process. The electronica influence is heavy here, a programmed beat dominating the first verse of the song, right after the barely audible intro in which John’s voice seems to be underwater. Skillet goes for broke on this gem of a song, the very first lyrics roping me in and leaving me spellbound: “Hold me down, hold me down/Drip it on my tongue, and my convulsions stop”. As the song builds to a strong, easily singable, guitar-driven chorus, the listener can’t help but feel that relentless thirst for God. Seriously, this song almost brings me to tears. This really should have been the “featured” worship tune on the project instead of “You Are My Hope”, but then again, with its six-minute-plus length, it would likely get butchered on the radio. Skillet keeps the lyrics simple but compelling, and the music rises and falls at just the right times, saving the biggest dose of power for the end when the chorus breaks back in, and soon after, Korey’s voice, slightly distorted by her own electronic trickery, breaks in, singing “I wanna drink You in, I am drinking You in” in such a way that makes her a dead ringer for Adrienne Liesching of The Benjamin Gate (another great worship-oriented alternative/electronic rock band, by the way). As the songs fades out, the instruments fall away, leaving John’s soft, raspy voice to be the last thing that disappears. Great stuff!

One Real Thing
Speak and my heart starts aching
Reach and the numbness dims…
Well, after that last song, everything else is bound to be mediocre by comparison. This song is a little more upbeat than “You Are My Hope”, and its chorus is a little more rocking, but it still stands apart from the “heavy” material that dominated the first half of the album (and that we’ll be hearing again shortly). Ben goes for more of a polished, graceful guitar style during the intro and the verses here, and the chorus is prime sing-along material, celebrating God as the one constant thing in life. The lyrics seem to give a nod to a few of the band’s older songs: “Stay locked within your presence.” “Rest, ‘cause I know you’re faithful.” Not bad at all, but probably not one of the standout tunes on the album, either.

Stronger
My skin is my disguise, I’m more than a man
I laugh at my demise, ask who I am…
Another low machine-like hum starts this song off, and John breaks in with another heavily distorted vocal, but something here is different. Rather than singing from the point of view of a weak and broken man, he is singing from the point of view of Jesus Christ, even though he never explicitly spells this out for us (it’s pretty obvious). The track builds in momentum as we’ve come to expect, and remains fairly predictable (almost annoyingly so). I hate to say it, but the whole thing basically seems to be a childish taunt against Satan: “I’m stronger, yeah, than the devil, yeah, yeah.” It almost makes Jesus sound like a professional wrestler. Obviously I agree that Jesus is stronger than the devil, but I kind of wish it had been put in more clever terms here. As it is, at least it’s not a Carman song, because this has always been Carman’s favorite subject.

Rippin’ Me Off
They say God doesn’t even exist
We made Him up just to numb our pain…
I was really interested to hear this track after I read the story behind it: John Cooper decided to attend a Marilyn Manson concert earlier this year because he wanted to know firsthand why there was so much hype surrounding a band known for trashing Christianity. Obviously, being there and hearing the band curse God on stage was a sickening experience for him, and so he wrote a song about it. Well, I hate to say it, but Skillet arrived a bit late to the Mason-bashing party. Relient K did a much funnier (if somewhat immature) take on the shock-rockers on their debut album last year, and though Skillet never mentions the group by name, the song comes off as another youth group rallying cry, only adding to the childish taunts being thrown back and forth between the two camps. Musically, it’s also one of the harder songs on the album, and I really do like Ben’s machine-gun-like guitar riffs in this one. But most of the song, especially the annoying voice at the beginning of the song, irritates me. Yes, I know, people who insist that God is dead often make Christians angry, and that philosophy is ripping people off, but I just don’t think that this is the way to deal with it. What really gets under my skin is that John probably thinks he’s doing a pretty good job of imitating Marilyn Manson, but I have to admit that they’re a bit more creative than this. The most troublesome thing about this song is when John rants, “They can’t believe in a loving God who doesn’t believe in atheists!” Um, guys, I think we just set Christian music back about ten years…

Will You Be There
When I’m in retreat, can I run to You?
Will my pain release at Your mercy seat?
If that last tune got your blood pumping and your hands clenching into fists, then you’re probably really unprepared for this tune – it’s the softest on the record so far (and it’s followed by an even softer one). The mood here is that of a rock power ballad, likely even a love song, and John and Korey share the lead vocals quite nicely on this one. I guess I’m still in shock over the drastic change in mood. I almost wish it was a love song, because Skillet hasn’t really tried to handle that subject, except perhaps in “Each Other” from Invincible. In any case, this is a better song, but something about it seems a bit too warm and cuddly. It’s still got a strong guitar lead and everything, but Korey sounds frighteningly similar to Amy Grant, and the song itself doesn’t seem to far removed from something she’d record. Replace John with Michael W. Smith, and this would’ve fit perfectly on Change Your World. Having said that, the lyrics are often compelling, especially then line “As my brokenness and Your strength collide”.

Come My Way
Desperate, I push through the crowd
If I could touch Your clothes, if I could feel Your power…
In the past, Skillet was known for closing their albums with one of their more rocking, anthemic tunes (“Splinter”, “Scarecrow”, “You’re in My Brain”), but they’ve taken a more traditional approach here, stripping the musical accompaniment down to just Korey’s piano, John’s voice (with maybe a little bit of Korey in the background), some gentle guitar strokes from Ben, and likely a day off for Lori. The song is really lovely, even though I’m still trying to reconcile this tune with hard-hitting songs like “Vapor”. I guess it just shows the versatility of the band, and the stripped-down arrangement is definitely something new for them. John describes a crowd of people surrounding Jesus in the first verse, him being one of many in the crowd who longs to be healed, and it effectively transports the listener back to a time when people met the physical Jesus and saw miracles with their own eyes. He laments being “out of touch, out of reach”, and knows that he is so weak that Jesus will have to come to him. It’s a good way to close the album, even though these softer, gooier songs don’t mesh as well with the theme of the album.

To clear this up, I don’t think that the soft songs are a bad thing for Skillet. I think that the one thing they have left to work on (besides the occasional not-so-brilliant lyric) is transitioning better between moods. I still prefer this approach to rocking out a few times and then mellowing out during the entire back half of an album (like Fold Zandura does), but there’s still room to improve – to attain that final star. This is Skillet’s first time producing their own album, and considering that, they’ve definitely done much better than a lot of bands do after taking the helm for the first time. Alien Youth is a great collection of songs, most of which fit with the theme of the album, and most of which make for some really good listening. Skillet may well have the crowning achievement of their worship-song-writing career with “Thirst Is Taking Over”, though “More Faithful” still remains a strong contender in that department after all these years. I definitely prefer the new band line-up to the old one (how many industrial rock band can you think of that are split 50/50 between male and female, and can still rock out like there’s no tomorrow?), though I still hold Hey You, I Love Your Soul to be their best album, simply because of the solid lyrics and excellent musical textures on that CD. Alien Youth is definitely a close second, and the band has a good shot at taking over the world of Christian music with this one (maybe even getting that coveted spot on the WoW CD – not that I care much any more).

TRACK REVIEW SUMMARY
Excellent: Thirst Is Taking Over, Vapor, Alien Youth, Eating Me Away, Earth Invasion, You Are My Hope
Good: Kill Me Heal Me
Decent: One Real Thing, Will You Be There, Come My Way
Weak: Stronger
Skippable: Rippin' Me Off

Band Members:
John Cooper: Lead vocals, bass
Korey Cooper: Keyboards, programming, vocals
Ben Kasica: Guitars
Lori Peters: Drums, percussion

Website: http://www.skillet.org (also try http://www.alienyouth.com)


Recommended: Yes