I still remember when I bought Skillet's first album. It was in 1996 and I, like most of my peers, was slowly emerging from the grunge era. Skillet's debut album hit a home run with its "alternative" post-grunge sound. It's hard to believe it's been over a decade since their debut, but Skillet is rocking as hard as ever in 2007's Comatose. While still focusing on the rock sound they've perfected over the years, this release is quite a bit more orchestral than previous records. Skillet added strings to many tracks on this release giving the record a dark ambiance. Many people will compare this release to the sound Evanescence has made popular and most of this album is in the same vein musically; however, lyrically Skillet is in a very different place. As with their previous releases there is still a great spiritual element to their tracks. Skillet is a band that is unabashedly Christian and many of their tracks tackle spiritual issues teenagers face. The song "Better Than Drugs" is about a relationship with Christ being better than the highs drugs offer, and in "The Last Night", the character in the song converses with a friend as the friend attempts to convince the other not to commit suicide. Teenagers have always been Skillet's target market and this album will be loved by that demographic. For me, however, this album is a bit disappointing for that very reason. After over a decade of recording music, I would hope that Skillet would have grown lyrically as well as in their sound. In the latter area they most certainly have; the last 11 years have seen Skillet grow from post-grunge to nu-metal to electronic rock to a blend of many rock styles. Despite obvious growth musically the band seems trapped in adolescence lyrically. I would like to see a more mature album from Skillet but unfortunately Comatose is simply not it. If their true desire is to simply entertain and challenge "the kids" then this album succeeds, but for me personally it falls short of anything I'll listen to on a regular basis.
Rating out of 4 Stars: * *
