Skillet - Awake

**earlessdog** · 09-05-2009, 12:19 PM

01. Hero
02. Monster
03. Don't Wake Me
04. Awake and Alive
05. One Day Too Late
06. It's Not Me It's You
07. Should've When You Could've
08. Believe
09. Forgiven
10. Sometimes
11. Never Surrender
12. Lucy

**earlessdog** · 09-05-2009, 12:20 PM

Suggested guide for voting
10 - Amazing CD. Everyone should own it.
9 - Among the best of the year.
8 - One of the top CDs around, but could have been improved in a few places.
7 - Not a bad CD, but could have been better in a number of places.
6 - Pretty good for it's genre, but overall it's only acceptable.
5 - Decent CD, but only if you're a big fan of this genre.
4 - If you love this band, you'll like this CD. Otherwise, probably not.
3 - If you're a fan of this genre, the CD is barely acceptable.
2 - If you're a big fan of this band, this CD is tolerable.
1 - Even if you like this band, you won't like this CD.

bravesfan007 · 09-06-2009, 09:59 PM

I threw a five down simply because I thought it was mediocre compared to the ones in the past. They built this one up to be something great and I was expecting so much more. It just didn't have the raw passion that the others have had.

**DKelly** · 09-06-2009, 09:59 PM

I've had extensive exposure to this CD over the past couple of weeks. Based on that, I'm gonna have to give this a 4. And that's kind of pushing it, in my opinion.

I think I only enjoyed two, maybe three songs on the entire album. The intensity and energetic feel that I've always loved about the band has all but disappeared here. The lyrics, at times, are very uninspired and lazy. I just can't believe the band that made albums like their self-titled CD and Hey You, I Love Your Soul (heck, even Collide) would make an album like this. The only part I thought was fairly cool was hearing the new drummer get some singing bits.

In the end, I think die-hard Skillet fans will probably find something to like about it, but honestly, I firmly believe this is Skillet's worst album thus far.

tmlfan123 · 10-20-2009, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DKelly

In the end, I think die-hard Skillet fans will probably find something to like about it, but honestly, I firmly believe this is Skillet's worst album thus far.

Agreed. I'm going with a 5.

Don't Wake Me, Awake & Alive, Believe, and Forgiven are the only songs worth listening to on this album. Maybe Lucy depending on your mood. Hero is a serviceable drum-along. One Day Too Late is the biggest Nickelback ripoff since Theory of a Deadman released their latest album.

fendeanson · 10-20-2009, 01:11 PM

It's ok... I gave it a 7. I really was expecting better. "Hero" is good... I'm still not sure if I like "Monster" or if it is the dumbest song I've ever heard in my life. I love "one day to late"

**JayCarrFan** · 10-20-2009, 01:44 PM

Seeing these songs performed live is worthy of a 9 or 10. Hearing the songs on the cd is a 6. There's very little passion, a rather pessimistic tone, and not much to really get excited about.

Also, it bothers me that one song has the lyrics "don't wake me", while the very next song says "wake me up". Personal pet peeve

tmlfan123 · 10-20-2009, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fendeanson

It's ok... I gave it a 7. I really was expecting better. "Hero" is good... I'm still not sure if I like "Monster" or if it is the dumbest song I've ever heard in my life. I love "one day to late"

Monster is the dumbest song you've ever heard in your life.

**nbfan** · 10-20-2009, 08:16 PM

They have a habit of putting out albums that have one song that makes you think "what the heck was that" ("Vapor", "Better Than Drugs", etc), I think "Monster" fits into that. The album's okay, but the new drummer's voice kind of annoys me. Skillet never made the same record twice for a long time before this one, and this one relies too much on the success of "Comatose" I think.

**Tallahassee** · 10-20-2009, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmlfan123

Monster is the dumbest song you've ever heard in your life.

Monster has been seeing quite a bit of play on my local Secular rock station.

I hate that song. Nickleback and Three Days Grace together for one song!

tmlfan123 · 11-03-2009, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tallahassee

Monster has been seeing quite a bit of play on my local Secular rock station.

I hate that song. Nickleback and Three Days Grace together for one song!

Thank God they haven't found Skillet around here. Skillet's best songs are never the "big" songs, although Rebirthing was decent(off Comatose).

monkeysmile · 11-03-2009, 05:00 PM

7. I hate not being able to give it a 10, like I would other Skillet albums.

This CD is a lot like Comatose obviously, only weaker I think in lyrics, guitar, drumming, bass, etc. I listen to the CD quite a bit just, and right now my favorites are Hero, Monster and Believe, but none of the content is up to par with what they've put out in the past. It disappointed me that Cooper said in a studio video that it was going to be some of the heaviest stuff they had recorded, and it was the opposite. I hope next album they go back to something along the lines of Invincible and Collide mixed, but that won't happen, because they want the popularity of modern rock ballads.

BenWahrman · 11-03-2009, 09:49 PM

Okay, I'm not going to sugarcoat it, this CD is weak. There, that's said, now for the nitty-gritty.

Awake had so much potential. Skillet just came off of one of their best-received albums in Comatose and had seemed to find a balance between the techo-rock of Alien Youth and the hard metal-esque edge of Collide. They were poised to make the leap into music imortality (Okay, maybe not). Unfortunately, both of those CDs, and even Comatose, are far superior to this one. Awake, pure and simple, does not live up to either its hype, or even its potential.

The number one symptom? Something I'll call "ballad overload". Unlike Comatose, which had a good balance of slower songs to the driving rock anthems, or Collide, which only had two slow songs out of 10 or 11, this CD crawls with them. Looking at the track list, there really aren't that many ballads on the CD. It just seems like there are, because the CD itself crawls along like a dying squirrel on one good leg.

Are there good songs? Sure. Hero is a bit underwhelming, but solid, Awake And Alive makes good use of Jen Ledger's voice and the same string backing that made Comatose so epic, and Lucy, if listened to in the right mood, is a tearful ballad, easily the best on the CD. But what makes the CD so poor an effort, especially from Skillet, is the writing.

Skillet's trademarks are John Cooper's voice and his in-your-face, unashamed writing, brutally honest and crisp in an industry of cliche. Well, John's voice is still here, albeit sounding more growly and even studio-layered than ever before. But his writing, with the exceptions of Lucy and Forgiven and perhaps Believe, has dissolved into cliche and "mainstreaming". One listen to It's Not Me, It's You or Should've When You Could've tells the story. They just aren't very good songs. They lack all of the passion and edge that makes Skillet Skillet. Perhaps they'd be better live, but I doubt it. Showmanship, no matter how good, can't make up for bad writing.

Hopefully, we'll be able to look back on Awake as a hiccup, a bump in the road for Skillet. But, as it is, I'll have to give this one a 4.

**Sean** · 11-03-2009, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmlfan123

AOne Day Too Late is the biggest Nickelback ripoff since Theory of a Deadman released their latest album.

Huh? THe song sounds like the ballads on Comatose. It didn't at all remind me of Nickelback.

**Sean** · 11-03-2009, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenWahrman

The number one symptom? Something I'll call "ballad overload". Unlike Comatose, which had a good balance of slower songs to the driving rock anthems, or Collide, which only had two slow songs out of 10 or 11, this CD crawls with them. Looking at the track list, there really aren't that many ballads on the CD. It just seems like there are, because the CD itself crawls along like a dying squirrel on one good leg.

The problem is that there are too many ballads, but at the same time, there aren't that many ballads?