Concept albums are risky business. When a band creates a "concept album" there are plenty of ways it can fail. One of the biggest is the listener not "getting it." If you don't understand the story the album is telling, you may not understand the songs at all. Even if you do, the songs may not be able to stand on their own, and then you've got a disc full of sub-par songs that tell a story, but no one cares. Moreover, because you're telling a story with all these songs, seamless transition from song to song is a necessity. Like any great story, the concept album needs to have a great flow to it. Now, despite the risks, a successful album like this can become the highlight of a band's career.
Enter Skillet. This band has become one of the top acts in Christian music today, and one of the bigger names in mainstream rock music as well. After 2006's Comatose went gold, 2009's Awake made the biggest splash to date, going platinum while pumping out multiple successful singles. Now, 2013 rolls around, and Skillet comes along with their concept album, Rise. According to the band, the concept of this disc is teenager coming-of-age story, trying to figure out who he is a world filled with problems. This CD is the story of a battle from start to finish. Because of that, it only feels appropriate to take each song in and break it all down, piece by piece.
The opening track, Rise, is the perfect opening track for a disc like this. It sets the tone for what you're going to hear throughout. It's edgy, and it's definitely a radio-friendly rock song. And the end of the track is our first transitional element. It comes out of nowhere, but it's a haunting ending that perfectly explains the next song (And the lead single), Sick Of It. These two tracks work excellently back-to-back. Both tracks are up-tempo, hard rock songs that give the feel of the rush of adrenaline in the opening moments of a fight (Or any competitive moment, really).
The disc calms down just a bit on the next track, Good Day To Be Alive. It's a solid softer track, with a decent musical quality to back it up. It's not a standout track, but it's got a good message behind it and fits the mold of the concept. The operatic transitional element really makes Not Gonna Die Tonight pop, though. This is definitely one of the highlight tracks of the disc. It stands solidly on it's own, but it fits perfectly in the album, particularly in this spot. This song grabs you and doesn't let go from start to end, and the guitar solo is an excellent added element to this track.
When I first saw the title of the next track, Circus For A Psycho, I immediately thought "Insane Clown Posse." When I heard the opening 10 seconds, I thought I was about to hear a System Of A Down track. Neither of these things hold true, of course, but it speaks to the oddity of this song. It is above-average overall, but it's a bit off from normal Skillet standards. It almost seems like a song designed more to highlight the (admittedly excellent) guitar skills than the lyrics or even the music as a whole. This is one of those songs that works within the concept of the album but is thrown a bit out of whack otherwise. That thought process actually works well as a transition to American Noise. This track is on the same level as previous slower Skillet songs (The Older I Get comes to mind for me personally). It's not particularly great, but I wouldn't call it terrible. And this is one that is actually elevated by the concept of the album. The transition into this one, the idea that this teen is just exhausted from this "psycho circus" he's been in, needs to take a breath and regroup, and that this song could be a motivator...it works surprisingly well. Following this one, Madness In Me comes up next. This one is a solid song, but in the grand scheme of things, it's an admittedly forgettable track. It's another "fits well in the concept" type of song, and it does continue the story, but it doesn't do much more than that.
That brings us to the last half of the album. This whole second half of the disc kind of fits together. It is arguably the most overtly Christian material that Skillet has put out since Savior was a single. There is no hiding the meaning on this half of the disc. And it starts out right away with Salvation, which may be the standout track of the entire disc. Giving Jen the reigns and having the female lead through the vast majority of the song is a great change of pace, but the message here is what makes this track stand out so much. And it moves right into Fire And Fury, which actually feels like a bit of some old-school Skillet worship tracks.
Then there's My Religion. This is the track that is most likely to be controversial, in more ways than one. Let's get the obvious part out of the way: This one could easily be viewed by some Christians as a shot at Christianity. Don't be that person. This song is not a shot at Christianity as a whole or a shot at any particular section of Christianity. What this song is is a hit right to the root of what this religion is supposed to be. Debate the theology if you must, but it ultimately comes back to this: "You are my religion, my religion is You." That being said, the other controversy could come from the music itself. It's just so different from the usual Skillet sound, it's inevitably going to turn some people off. I find it to be a good balance, because it's such different song as a whole, it feels right that it is so stylistically different.
The final two tracks on the disc, Hard To Find and What I Believe, are a good way to end out the disc. Neither song is going to be the highlight moment, but both songs are solid, and they continue to speak to that overtly Christian message. They close out this story in an excellent way. These two songs feel like a fitting end to this disc.
Overall, Rise hits the mark. there are a few minor missteps, but each song fits well into this concept. The vast majority of the songs hold their own outside of the disc, and some are elevated to greater levels in conjunction with the tracks around them. Much like other Skillet disc, not every song is a keeper, but a whole lot of it is. This is a solid disc, and certainly qualifies as one of Skillet's best efforts.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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