Skillet

Live CDs are like movie sequels; either they’ll be really great or they will totally tank. Four-member band Skillet totally rocks out in concert and their live CD Comatose Comes Alive does a great job capturing and conveying that.

Recorded at a concert in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the energy is obvious from the moment you push play on your CD player. The energy is contagious; your heart starts beating just a little faster, the muscles in your neck begin to spasm with the desire to headbang, and you resist the urge to turn up the volume and start singing along with the record at the top of your lungs. Lead singer, John Cooper engages the crowd from his greeting of “What’s up Chattanooga?!” Within a couple lines of the first song, he’s turning it over to the audience to finish the lyrics. This technique, while meant to engage the concert participant, works to engage the listener of the album who also feels prompted to supply the lyrics.

What is particularly great about this live recording is that any talking that Cooper does is edited to be included at the end of the track so that if you skip to a specific song, you will hear that song immediately and do not need to wait for the verbal filler to pass. On the opposite end of that, Cooper’s ramblings (all coherent) are there for the listener to enjoy, if they so choose. The comments are entertaining and enlightening, such as the insights into the band’s name and the back story to the song “The Last Night.”

As all good concerts do, the Comatose tour includes a good mix of both new songs off the Comatose release, as well as some off their Collide album. The older songs were slightly remixed, but not to such a degree that you can’t sing along. It was nice to hear a new, fresh sound to the more familiar songs that have been around since 2004. Along with keeping a good mix of old and new, Skillet edited the record to keep the mix of full-fledged, rock-out songs and slowed down, melodic songs. The CD is enhanced with acoustic versions of “Rebirthing,” “Yours to Hold,” “The Older I Get,” “Whispers in the Dark,” and “Say Goodbye.” Skillet is a talented bunch, and their range of song melodies and lyrics exemplifies that fact.

For those who are visual, the DVD is an added feature that morphs your living room into a concert hall. The editing is well done; there is no disparity between the audio and visual. All those tracks preformed in concert and included on the CD are on the DVD, but additionally, three of Skillet’s music videos are included, as well as  footage of the recording of the song of “The Older I Get” set to the song and a slide show of photos from the concert. All the extras were worth watching, though I would have liked it if Skillet’s music videos were a little more diverse instead of being the standard set up of band-playing-the-song-with-video-effects-around-them. Giving credit where credit is due, there is a difference between the music videos and the video footage from the concert. Further, the music video for “Savior” put new meaning behind the song’s lyrics with it’s look into father-son relationships.

As an aside, I think it is wickedly cool that Skillet’s drummer is a girl, given that there aren’t too many of those out there. The listener is treated briefly to the sound of her voice on the track “Yours to Hold.” Beautiful and enchanting, I wish the band would take greater advantage of that asset and use it on more of their songs.

This CD and DVD collection is well worth the buy; from the moment you pop Comatose Comes Alive in your CD player you will feel like you are in Chattanooga, Tennessee. And when the CD reaches the end, you will either have to hit replay or go online to find out when Skillet will next be in your area.

Tagged as: Comatose Comes Alive, Skillet

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