Skillet - "Comatose" (Lava / Atlantic, 2006)

Vertical Horizon fans will love their hooks, while fans of Thousand Foot Krutch and P.O.D. will love the uber-rock bombast of Comatose, but really who's surprised by that? The band's been recording heavy rock Christian music since 1996, and they've got it down to an artform. If you want to listen to the lyrics, you can hear their message of God, and if you don't, you can hear the crunching guitars of "Rebirthing" or "Comatose" and be grateful this isn't another Nickelback clone. Come on, we know you want to! Christian rock may not be the most original thing under the sun, but when a band is consistently as enjoyable to hear as Skillet is on this effort. "Tell me that you will listen / Your touch is what I'm missing / I don't wanna live / I don't wanna breathe / Unless you're next to me!" singer and bassist John Cooper belts out on the title track, and whether he's singing about his personal savior or just another woman, you believe he means it. That's hard to pull off no matter who you're singing to.

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