Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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52 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Anything but Comatose, October 3, 2006
Ever since their self-titled debut album, Skillet has been known for great music and mind-blinding lyrics. Things like "I'm going to drown you in maddening forgiveness..." (from "Hey, You, I love your Soul" of the album with the same name) and "Soak my heart in Gasoline/Light a match and consume me..." (from "Gasoline", self-titled debut) truly made this critic anxious to see what their seventh full-length production would bring -- both lyrically and musically. After six albums, one would think that there's not much life left.
And one would be wrong.
"Comatose" opens up with their first single: "Rebirthing," a beautiful mix of power and emotion, which sets the pace for the rest of the album. Filled with piano, strings and the angelic voice of Korey Cooper, the emotion is not lacking throughout the length of the album. However, it is filled with enough guitar riffs and catchy beats that maintain the "Skillet" hard-rock flavor we've all come to know and love. The orchestral elements prove the musical genius that Skillet was capable of. Versatile, beautiful and powerful -- Skillet has, once again, raised the bar for themselves and their contemporaries.
Skillet's sound in "Comatose" is much more complete and mature. Now, it's about much more than the crunchy music. It's a complete experience.
If you like exceptionally-made hard-rock music with elements of piano and stings, or if you're a "Pan-Head" (like me!) this is a must buy.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding hard rock, October 10, 2006
I've been a Skillet fan for years, and they just keep impressing me more with each album. "Comatose" is a great blend of driving, hard rock with quick (though constant) infusions of synth rhythms.
What's most amazing about this album, however, is the lyrical intimacy the band achieves in the midst of such hard rock. Songs like "The Last Night" and "Yours to Hold" contain some beautiful lyrics of love, but they're couched in the midst of the screaming guitars and driving rhythms.
"Rebirthing" and "Whispers in the Dark" show off the band's hard rock edge, while "Say Goodbye" and "Looking for Angels" are excellent ballads. Overall, another winner from this incredible band.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Soundtrack to My Life, July 25, 2008
There are not enough words available to contain the genius that is Skillet. I truly think that when the dust settles from the rock movement, eventually Skillet will be one of the bands remembered for their lyricism and musical ingenuity. Many bands have attempted to put a hard spin on classical refrains, but Skillet has largely succeeded, and it will give them longevity beyond many other more well-known bands.
Skillet also manages to be relevant in a scarily intimate way--I cried the first time I heard "The Last Night," and I don't cry to music. They've tapped into a generational Zeitgeist; you can see them laid open in their music and follow them through it. They acknowledge the messy, sticky, depressing ugliness of humanity, and then offer a way out. They are brave enough to confront inner demons that we all face, and then brave enough to stand up and say, "I know it doesn't have to be this way." Their devastating and honest spirituality is an affirmation of Faith and a total obliteration of excuses. I pray for this band, because I don't want to ever see them lose that total transparency that comes from a genuine relationship with Christ.
While each of their albums has some real gems, this one is nothing but one big hit. Once again, in an apropos theme, it's entitled "Comatose," with a trash heap of TVs in a drab field on the cover. Just staring at the artwork gives one chills, and completely sets the stage for the first song. I know that artwork is supposed to complement the album, but for it to be a part of the experience is new to me.
The journey opens with the adrenaline rush that is "Rebirthing." The tune is catchy--maybe I shouldn't do this, but I've played this album enough that my two-year-old can sing along with the chorus. However, the complexity of the song, both musically and lyrically, keeps it from becoming a pop-tune casualty. It's accessible hard rock that makes you want to embrace your inner head-banger instead of covering your ears!
Next up is "The Last Night," a gorgeous utilization of vocals. It's a love song; it's a tragic acknowledgement of depression; it's an allegorical love song; it's a passionate refrain. It should be blasted along with "Rebirthing," yet it could be a lullaby. However you want to categorize it, "The Last Night" is an experience rather than a song.
In a mellowing turn, "Yours to Hold" continues the double-meaning--it could be a simple love song, but it could also be an emotional cry from a Savior. This continued double emphasis raises the idea of love to a level of dignity that much of mainstream music doesn't understand, but it also makes Divine love accessible. Once again, part of the genius of Skillet: they're just not afraid to go there.
"Better than Drugs" necessarily amps it back up; subject matter like this can't be handled with a keyboard alone. I have to admit it's not a perspective on God that I would have naturally thought of, but it does make sense. How many of us who have been Christian for longer than three months can honestly say that God *hasn't* been our alternative to any alluring self-destruction?--and then we find that He's so much better, because He's the original. I love this raw honesty.
After that prep, we get to the title track, a rush all to itself. The lyrics are a delicious turn in wordplay: "Comatose/I'll never wake up without an overdose of you." The music is again appropriate to the subject matter, and the listener is swept away.
At this point, there's a shift in the album. The first five songs are musically and thematically similar, but beginning with "The Older I Get," the album goes deeper, as odd as that might seem. "The Older I Get" is a reflection on broken relationships. As much as we would all like it to be different, it's a fact of life that some relationships don't work out. The lilting nature of this song gives it a closing, healing quality--we acknowledge it, learn from it and move on.
The theme of "The Older I Get" finds its partner in "Those Nights," also a song with a musical abandonment that makes the bittersweet nature of the song palatable. "Falling Inside the Black" starts slow and then turns it up, a musical rendition of desperation. Again, there are levels of meaning in this song; is it betrayal? Or is it that familiar desert of faith where the Christian has nothing to hang onto but the promises of God, when she can't see or hear Him? Or is it that overwhelming depression that swallows us whole when it hits, and all we can do is muster the strength to, as Paul said, Stand? Maybe it's all three. But it's absolutely wonderful to have lyrics that go deep enough to withstand analysis. I am, after all, a literature person....
"Say Goodbye" is another bittersweet track, slightly more straightforward than other songs on the album, but endearing in its stubbornness: "Don't say anything tonight/If you're gonna say goodbye." The music is more lyrical than other songs on the album, closer in theme to "The Older I Get."
The album ends on a high note: "Whispers in the Dark" is the companion to "Falling Inside the Black," the answer we all want to hear. I would almost wish they would have put the two tracks together, but I suppose there's something to be said for not being too obvious. "No, you'll never be alone/When darkness comes you know I'm never far" is the direct answer to "Don't leave me here like this/Can't hear me scream from the abyss." Life has these pits of despair, but God never leaves us alone in them--and this is the companion promise that's just edgy enough to be believable.
The album is capped with a spiritual/social conscience song, that reminds us, through all of our struggles, that life isn't about us alone. We're here for a greater good: "We want a reason to live." "Looking for Angels" reminds us that the suffering are everywhere, and those of us who have been fortunate enough to receive Light in our lives need to be there to pass it on and be that Light to others. Our overcoming isn't much use if we can't help dig others out of their pits of Hell. "We represent a generation/That wants to turn back the nation/To let love be our light and salvation." Amen.
In short, this album is a tour de force not to be passed up. It's a masterpiece that will endure, because it's not just an album. It's a story of redeemed humanity that will resonate for years to come.
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