Awake

First, we were Comatose. Now, we're Awake.


Skillet's singles "Hero" and "Monster" were already hits before the album arrived, giving the album a lot to live up to. I'm sure my skepticism can be pardoned, but I was not expecting so much from the rest of the album. So you can imagine my delight when the rest of the album turned out almost as well as the pre-released singles. In fact, the first five tracks on Awake all received five stars on my iTunes rating list on the first listen, a distinction not even achieved by what is arguably my favorite album this year, Red's Innocence and Instinct. Like every album, Awake contains a few less-stellar tracks, but that doesn't take away from the journey.

And that's just what I noticed about Awake; it seems the story of a journey. It begins with our "Hero", a troubled, questioning man, who realizes that his secret side, his "Monster", has pushed away the one he loves. "Don't Wake Me" he cries as he despairs over her, but deep inside he knows he has to be "Awake and Alive", realizing the darkness he is in and determining to get himself out. But it's "One Day Too Late" as his depression deepens, which he turns outward in "It's Not Me It's You". His bitterness reaches a pinnacle when he tells her that she "Should've When You Could've". But somewhere along the line he begins to soften and see things in a different light, and to "Believe" again. When he realizes he's been "Forgiven" he starts anew, but not everything is fun and games because he still struggles "Sometimes". But he is determined that he will "Never Surrender".

The final track, "Lucy", doesn't seem to fit anywhere in this narrative, and as such feels like it's been randomly tacked on, like a footnote at the bottom of a page.

While other artists' works are filled with random songs with a similar sound, or songs that follow a common theme, I rarely see an album with such narrative as Skillet has, intentionally or not, worked into Awake.