Skillet "Alien Youth"

Title: Alien Youth
Category: Alternative
Artist/Group: Skillet
Rating: 4 / 5
Hey panheads, can you feel the rage? This post-modern generation is angry.

In a world where people believe that there is no God, and therefore no purpose; in a world where nothing can mean anything, where there is no right or wrong, and everything is just a matter of "perspective", Skillet's Alien Youth is a loud and aggressive, but thoughtful, Christian response.

The hard hitting "Vapor", "You’re Rippin’ Me Off" and "Eating Me Away" convey righteous anger, a natural reaction to the existiential idiology. Thus, if this world is all there is, if we are only the result of some random events, then we really are "bleeps and vapor....about to evaporate". One can only live for the moment and rage. "I shake my fist, I shake my fist; At the cosmos and my insignificance...It's eating me away." Intellectual honesty, right there.

Band members John and Korey Cooper, drummer Lori Peters, and 17-year-old guitar player Ben Kasica, have produced a decidedly industrial/techno album. The art inside the CD case looks like a copy of the sci-fi movie Blade Runner, with it's bigger-than-life neon-glow advertizements (of the band) on the side of city buildings. So visually, thematically and musically, the CD has a science fiction-like feel to it.

On the surface, their latest music style may indicate the influence of Nine Inch Nails or even Massivivid. If your first Skillet exposure was their worship album, Ardent Worship Live, you are going to be really thrown off by this harder, more extreme musical style, and the often violent imagery on this CD. On the other hand, this album does have some softer worshipful songs. It's not too suprising then, that the transitions between songs sometime don't work too well.

So what did influence them musically? You may be surprised. "I’m more of a pop fan", says Cooper, "I like Seal, INXS, Madonna. And the ’80s new wave - Howard Jones and Depeche Mode - is even a bigger influence."

The uncompromising lyrics of "Alien Youth" and "Earth Invasion" are battle crys for the hearts and minds and souls of the earth, that first and foremost, we Christians are soldiers: "...Where will you run? Come with us if you want to live; Join us in the army that's arising...The earth invasion has just begun."

Alien Youth is not just about raging against the post-modern ethos. There is a conviction to do something about it. John Cooper states, "....Normally Christians say we’re aliens and strangers and that we don’t belong here. But the truth is that we do belong here! Skillet is out to encourage this generation to be bold while on earth and take it back for God...."

Not suprisingly, the song getting the most airplay is the soft worshipful song, "You Are My Hope". The bright guitar, the raspy voice of John L. Cooper, and the catchy hook of the chorus, all resonate to the truth that God is our only hope. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in September, a special version of "You Are My Hope" was done by Gary Walsh, Program Director of WBGB - 106.5 - The Promise in Jacksonville, FL. [For free downloads of this song, and to view some cool flash, go to the link at the bottom of this review]

"Will You Be There (Falling Down)" has the cool back up vocals of Korey Cooper that made Ardent Worship Live an incredible worship experience. Unfortunately, only three songs on this disc ("One Real Thing", "Will You Be There" and "Come My Way") exhibit her vocal talents. The earnest duet between John and Korey Cooper, full of fear and hope, with the melancoly cry of the guitar....

Chorus:
Will You be there
As I grow cold
Will You be there when I'm falling down
Will You be there
My heart grows cold
Will You be there when I'm falling down

This is the language of intimacy. During troubled times, when we have doubts and fears, it's safe to talk like this before our God. You have ever been there? Before our crucified Messiah, who came to earth to suffer for us, it's okay to talk this way, to express our fears. God understands.

"Come My Way" is a song from the perspective of the woman "who was subject to bleeding for twelve years" (Mt 9:20). The lyrics will immediately catch your attention:

Hundreds come from everywhere. Just to see Your face and touch the healer's hem. Desperate, I push through the crowd. If I could touch your clothes. I could feel your power. Come my way. Please look. And notice me....

Overall, Alien Youth is grittier, heavier, and has a more industrial rock sound. This continues the electrical musical progression that began on Invincible. A solid CD. I give it a 4 out of 5 rating.

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