Skillet

Item: Skillet
Author: Terry Babbey

(1996)

Reviewed by Terry Babbey

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Label Ardent Records / ForeFront RecordsThe LighthouseJune 1997

alternative rock grunge hard rock

Skillet is the self-titled debut release from John Cooper, Trey McClurkin, and Ken Steorts. Musically they find themselves in the Bush/Pearl Jam rock arena. Loud crunchy guitars, straight-ahead rhythms, and out-front drums mark the heavy rockers, but they have also added just the right amount of quieter "unplugged" music in the mix, all the while staying true to the stylistic path they have chosen for themselves.

With my first listen to this release, I felt that perhaps Skillet did not have anything new to present musically. After subsequent listens I began to see that while they have chosen a style to follow, they are not rubber stamps, especially in the Christian market. John Cooper, the lead singer, sounds as if he has a perpetual sore throat. I found the vocals grew on me very quickly. The production and sound qualities on this album are all top rate.

Lyrically, Skillet has gone beyond the "you need Jesus" songs, and has chosen instead to look at more complex issues of the Christian life. They have also managed to avoid the "After I met Jesus my life was beautiful and simple" songs. They present the Christian life as it really is-the struggles to accept who we are in Jesus; the confidence of a personal salvation, while acknowledging there is nothing we can do to earn it; our response to Christ's love as one of action and not just word.

"Saturn" compares the assurance of salvation to the rings around Saturn. You cannot see them with your eyes, but know that they are there. "My Beautiful Robe" challenges us to look inward and examine the motivation for our actions, asking if we are doing them because that is what we believe the Lord would have us do, or because we are trying to earn our salvation. Even if we do great acts of charity, but have not the love, they are as filthy rags to God. "Paint" tries to look into the minds of Adam and Eve the morning after they bit the forbidden fruit and were kicked out of the garden.

My favorite lyrics have to come from "Gasoline." This song is the cry of someone wanting to be smothered in God's love:

I'm sitting with my heart out on the table I'm doing a face to face with God He picked up my heart and said, "What do you want me to do with this?"

A couple of lines later the writer cries out in reply:

Soak my heart in gasoline Light a match and consume me

If you are young enough that grunge is not just something that collects between your toes, but a musical style to be enjoyed, then Skillet is definitely worth a listen. In the Christian market especially, I feel they fill a void musically, with solid lyrics that give an answer to the pain of today.