Flash Music Recommendation: Collide by Skillet

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Hey everyone, I'm just writing a quick post to share an album that has really been resonating with me - Collide by Skillet. For those of you who are new to the band, they are what I think of as a Christian cross-over band, which means that their music has definite Christian themes in it, but they often aren't so obvious that secular stations refuse to play the songs.  (Other bands that fall into this category that you might recognize include Thousand Foot Krutch and Switchfoot.)   Their genre is really hard to nail down.  Some of their albums feel more rock, some of them more metal; some of them you could even argue venture into symphonic metal.  I would put this 2003 album (iTunes) right at the intersection of hard rock and metal.

 That is probably why, in the past, I haven't liked is quite as a couple of their albums that are a little newer - Comatose and Awake, in particular.  Comatose is more musically complex than Collide, drawing on vocal elements of metal, but still relying heavily on electric cello and violin.  Awake, on the other hand, is a bit less "hard" and more hopeful.

Right now, I'm enjoying Collide, in part, because it is a bit less positive, very willing to recognize the pain that life holds. Because the songs' instrumentals and lyrics are riddled with references to hardship and emotional pain, they feel realistic to me.  I can relate to them more than I can songs that are simply happy or celebratory. (Think "Happy" by Pharrell Williams.)  I can relate to songs like lyrics like"Imperfection," that talk about being devoured by the fact that you aren't good enough.  And yet, somehow the songs also speak about hope without invalidating the pain.  For example, the same song also talks about healing  In short, this album depicts a world that I actually recognize, while still maintaining touches of realistic positivity.    

Because this is a flash  recommendation, I won't go into more detail than that.  However, I will share some of my favorite lyrics with you below.

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