RECORD REVIEW
Skillet
Victorious
Atlantic Records
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As an established Christian author,
Bible College graduate and global
missionary, I will confess that I'd
rather suck the muzzle of .44 Mag
snub nose than choke down even a
swig of what's peddled as current
contemporary Christian music.
That being said...
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Maybe it's the beard that has fueled my fascination. Heck, I'm secure enough to admit it
— John Cooper has been a good-looking dude from the get-go. However, since "going
Gibbons" a few years back, the founding frontman has been possessing significantly stronger superhero appeal. Then again, as a fellow drummer, maybe it's
Jen Ledger's impressive badass factor that I find so frustrating.
Hmm, perhaps. But as a guy who appreciates all things fun and fabulous, maybe it's guitarist Korey Cooper's "Little Miss Purple Hair" thang that has piqued my interest. Ooh, maybe it's Seth Morrison's backside-blistering guitar solos. Or maybe,
just maybe, the reason I've become so revved-up recently is because
Skillet is an amazing rock band with a monstrous new record that oozes hard-hitting messages, breathed into heart-stopping songs.
Ahh yeah, maybe that's it. Well, regardless of how they got there, Skillet definitely now owns a place of prominence on my personal music radar.
Truth be told, as a distinguished member of the music journalism community, I'm pummeled daily by a barrage of promotional new releases from an array of national band press agents. In fact, I don't buy
any new music releases to review. If I'm gonna make the exhaustive effort to review a new record, at the very least, a band's rep has gotta email me a download and related album credits.
I never received a promo copy of
Victorious from the Skillet camp. (Insert frowney face
HERE) But I'd become so intrigued by the advance YouTube clips and pre-release online band member interviews, that I did the unthinkable. I actually sought out and purchased a hard copy CD of the record, with my very own money I'd been trying to save up from mowing lawns since '75
— no easy feat given the demise of record stores in our modern-day, digital-dominated world of music streaming and stealing. I prefer the hard copy music format because I'm old, and I dig diving into liner note credits and pouring over song lyrics. But given my rapidly deteriorating eyesight, attempting to make out the super-tiny print made reading the
Victorious CD insert more challenging than I had patience for. So, in the immortal words of
Joe Perry, I simply had to "
let the music to the talking." And for the $20 I doled out, I expected the music to "talk" to me pretty darn loudly.
 |
| Skillet reigns "victorious" with latest record. |
Brought to you by the production firm of Cooper & Cooper,
Victorious is Skillet's 10th studio set. Bursting with village-leveling firepower, the record launches strong with the rib-cracking lead-off single, "Legendary." Penned by Cooper, Cooper and Morrison, "Legendary" offers rock-solid riffage and life-changing words of hope and encouragement. Punctuated by Ledger's signature-style, dart-and-duck back-up vocals, this baby makes for one of the record's shiniest gems.
Dropping one beefy metallic anthem after another,
Victorious sounds so big, it's almost overwhelming
— like an urgent-sounding soundtrack to a blood sport championship
— a match-up where the good guy is destined to win, despite getting beat to shit along the way.
While "Save Me" and "Anchor" both were promoted as singles, I'd maintain that those tracks aren't necessarily the picks of this 12-pup litter, as "You Ain't Ready" and "Rise Up" each pack an impressive punch that's more human than human. Written by the husband and wife team of Cooper and Cooper, along with the father and son team of
Churko and
Churko, "You Ain't Ready" owns one of my favorite lyrics from the record
— "What doesn't kill me makes me who I am."
There's been a longstanding opinion held by certain poo-pooers that Skillet's rock cred is somehow compromised by their Christian message
— which is a pretty sad and naive perspective. In reality, the band's arena-caliber content is every bit as potent as the goo spewed in any episode of
Stranger Things. Skillet's chart-busting music has the courage to be transparent, to be real, to be fearless
— and occasionally to be ugly. And that's what makes for great art. In that regard, despite a strike or two,
Victorious connects consistently. At it's most convincing, the record knocks it out of the park with fist-pumping anthems. Conversely, at times, it can veer off a bit into banal contemporary Christian radio-type territory. But be sure, those less than compelling moments are far and few between.
In sum,
Victorious hits hard and sounds fresh
— proving to be yet another musical "victory" for a veteran band that clearly has plenty of tread, cred and facial hair to spare.
-
Christopher Long
(October 2019)
- SUPERSTAR -
__________
- SHOUT IT OUT LOUD -
(2014)
__________
- C'MON! -
(2012)
