Skillet - Unleashed (2016)
At this point in Skillet's career, most people know what to expect from these Christian hard rockers. Whenever they make an album, no matter what the explicit theme is, there will be some super emo power ballads, riff-centric upbeat harder tracks, and some symphonic strings in the background. Ever since their hit album Comatose , this is the formula they've followed and have done commercially quite well with. Most people either really relate to their music or find it derivative of itself and quite bland. I'm definitely in the latter of the two camps. I really enjoyed their 2003 release Collide because of its rabid sonic intensity and somewhat rough-around-the-edges sound. Comatose was slightly less enjoyable for me because of its extra layer of polish, but it still retained some originality with its addition of strings and some subtle electronic elements. However, with Awake , Skillet lost me. Their over-reliance on either ballads or remakes of "Comatose" we...