My Top 40 Albums - #9

#9
Skillet - "Invincible"

Year: 2000
Label: Ardent/Forefront
Favorite songs: The Fire Breathes, Best Kept Secret, Invincible, You're Powerful, You're In My Brain, I Trust You
Lyric sample: "You know you just can't kill a man when he's dead / You know the spirit survives / You can't stop the advance of the Kingdom to com / You know the truth is alive (invincible)"

Electro-industrial rock. That's what singer/bassist John Cooper of Skillet called their musical style circa-2000 when Invincible was released. As I've been saying in my previous reviews of Skillet records, the band perfects a style once every other record. Hey You, I Love Your Soul was a transitional effort, veering wildly from the raw grunge rock of their debut into a completely new territory dominated by electronic effects. With Invincible Skillet found their niche, a sublime combination of hard rock and electronica that is about as perfectly balanced as I can imagine it. The unorthodox praise band rocks harder and more confidently than ever before, blending distorted electric guitars and real drums with electronic percussion and all manner of computerized synth sounds, beeps, bloops, and swells. They also incorporate more traditional keyboard tones on some of the softer tracks.

The record opens dramatically with one of the ripest, most satisfying synthetic sounds I've ever heard. Immediately, they have my attention. I figure any song that sounds that sweet in the first 5 seconds is going to be great all the way through, and I'm not let down by "Best Kept Secret," one of Skillet's all time best tracks. It sets the tone for the album and for the rock tracks that are to follow. Seeped in style, a little bad-boy-esque - its grinding, somewhat fuzzy compressed guitar sounds punching in time with the danceable electronic beat that offers a lot of bass response. Cooper's voice also seems to have found its way by this time. In the first record he sounded hoarse all the time, and in the second the mix was simply too quiet. Here he gets a more prominent  presence in the songs and commands a smoother sound than at any other point in his career. This lends itself nicely to the airy spaces often left in the songs between all the keys, yet still retains enough attack to drive the heavier tracks. This is the most refined Skillet prior to Comatose. Yet, unlike the latest release, it has a focused lyrical approach in addition to a coherent and unique style.

You'll probably notice as you listen that most songs are written in second person. "You" is the most common noun of address. Why? Because Invincible is at its core a praise and worship album. Easily half the record is vertical, sung to or at least about God. "You're the best kept secret." "You take my rights away." "You're powerful." "I Trust You." "You're in My Brain." "You're the One that I need, the One who makes me complete," etc. That's six songs directed to the Father in Heaven, not counting the tender and beautiful "Angels Fall Down" which appears as a hidden track. In 2000 this seemed more difficult for people to grasp than it does today. I mean, these guys wore crazy hairstyles and funky clothing and played strange rock music. It just so happens they found their own unique way of expressing their faith and emotions, and I for one am glad they did.

This is another one of those albums that is sometimes hard for me to explain. What is the appeal? Either you like the style or you don't, I think. I love it, and nobody else sounds like this. Even Skillet doesn't sound like this, except on this record. "The Fire Breathes" gets me so pumped up. "Rest" is calm and chill. The only one that I think doesn't work as well as it should is "Each Other," a bit of a stock ballad. After Audio Adrenaline's Some Kind of Zombie, Skillet (and namely Invincible) was one of the first heavy bands that I started listening to. This record to me was a gateway to a world of great alternative music, and it stands as a benchmark today. "It lives inside of me / burning, burning, burning."

One of my favorite music videos is the one for Best Kept Secret. I love how it looks like they are wearing wrapping paper! And near the bridge ("let it out..."), the imagery seems influenced by the X-Files movie. ;)