Skillet - Collide (2003)

After the techno-filled, semi-disaster album that is Alien Youth, comes Christian rock band Skillet's fifth studio album, Collide. Collide's musical style is vastly different to any album before it and is described as "classic Skillet" nowadays. With the more harder hitting rock style that Skillet has become known for, this album absolutely trumps any album before it. As well as that, this album and Comatose was inspiration for Fight The Fury, Skillet's metal side project, which carried on the heavier musical style.

Collide asks the question: "Can you hold onto your faith when you're surrounded by fear?" This theme is prevalent through out the whole album, is blatantly discussed in the eponymous song, "Collide", and the album art is described as such. The songs "Fingernails" and "Imperfection" fit the theme perfectly, with them being about failing to reach your personal aspirations and failing to love yourself, respectively. "Imperfection" also says that the person should not worry about themselves, and should learn to love and have faith themselves, not fear themselves.

Musically, Collide is astounding. Its style is so different to anything before it and it is executed so well. It starts off with "Forsaken", a hard hitting beginning track and that is carried all the way until the end, but with each track being "hard hitting" in their own sense. "A Little More" is a break from the jetpack joyride, boasting a more calmer tone to the rest of the album. Comparatively, Collide is a step in the right direction after Skillet's previous albums and is the beginning for the greater albums like Comatose and Awake.

I'm rounding off this review positively. Collide is a great album and the first stepping stone for great material that has since been produced by Skillet. The album's theme is easily identifiable throughout and is not lost in translation, so there's some bonus points. This is an album I thoroughly recommend

Favourite Tracks: "Open Wounds", "A Little More", "Collide", "Fingernails", "Imperfection"
Rating: 9 / 10