#77: Album review: "Comatose", by Skillet

Overall Rating: ◆◆◆◊◊
Review Synopsis: The lyrical and thematic material of Comatose re-treads the cliches that plague Christian rock, but the guitar and bass riffs and occasional orchestral accompaniment are just enough to make this album stand out.

I'm not a fan of Christian hard rock, or even hard rock in general. Due to its generally having little thematic variety, few hard rock albums I've come across offer much more than melodramatic despair, arrogant hatred, and selfish depression. Christian Hard Rock bands tend to follow suit, but must pay lip service to redemption and hope if they want to please the Christian mainstream. The mark of a good Christian rock band is their ability to meet these expectations--naturally, not out of obligation--and also back thematic material with well written lyrics and good musicianship. Skillet's 2006 album, "Comatose", fares well in the musicianship category, but flounders in the lyrics and thematic material.

On one hand, Comatose has those obvious and elementary rhymes such as "right now/I came alive somehow" and "remember/in December", and the familiar thematic materials such as songs about some sort of mysterious "rebirth", several "don't leave me alone, I'm so sad" songs, and another one of those songs that fail to clarify whether the lyrics refer to God or girlfriend. There's also a little social commentary that doesn't quite work in Looking for Angels. But on the other hand, you have the occasionally exhilarating string accompaniments on songs like "Rebirthing", delicious guitar riffs on songs like "Falling Into Black" and "Whispers in the Dark", and even a few truly beautiful melodies on songs like "Yours Alone", "Don't Say Good-bye", and "The Last Night". Simply put, the music rocks.

I think the main shortcoming on this album are the poor lyrics. There are some songs, though, with some well written lyrics, such as "Whispers in the Dark" and "The Last Night", which are the overall best songs on the album. But, if you buy this album, it's got to be for the music, because it's very good.

Overall, I have to give this album two stars. What it lacks in lyrical freshness it makes up for in musicianship.

If you download some songs, here's the best ones:
1. (Tie) Whispers in the Dark, The Last Night
2. Say Goodbye
3. The Older I Get