Friday, November 1, 2013
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Rise - Album Review - The Genius's Take
Introduction
I've read quite a few reviews on Skillet's newest album, Rise. They range from those who absolutely love the album, to those annoying people who are never satisfied no matter what they review. :) Given that I have my own blog (which I don't believe anyone reads anymore), I figured that I should probably write a review myself.
First, let me start off by saying that I first listened to Skillet's music on the album Invincible. I loved it as a 6 year old, thinking that the techno was the coolest thing I'd ever heard. For the longest time, Skillet and Relient K were the only artists I ever listened to. As time went on, I dumped Relient K, and forgot about Skillet. Some years later, my older sister played the song "Hero" for me. She gave me quite a shocker when she told me that Skillet did that song. It sounded completely different from the techno I was used to in Invincible. (By the way, after getting used to the new, harder sound, I loved "Hero." It's still one of my favorite Skillet songs).
It would be a few more years before I started listening to the albums between Awake and Invincible. After that point, I found that my favorite album was Alien Youth, with Comatose as a close second. I only liked three songs on Awake (Hero, Awake and Alive, and of course, Monster), and in my mind, Collide doesn't exist. (Maybe Savior, but other than that, I don't have anything positive to say about that album).
Then I heard that Skillet was going to release a new album, Rise, in June 2013. I was mildly interested, as I wasn't impressed with Awake, and I figured they would do a lot of the same stuff they did in that album. (Namely, a few great songs, and a bunch of forgettable songs).
Then the singles started getting released, and finally the album, which I listened to online. I can't say anything more without getting into the meat of this review. So here we go:
Rise:
The first song on Skillet's new album, and the namesake, starts with a synthesized tune. It sounds quite different than the hard rock guitar opening of "Hero". Then the drums go, and the song really gets you going. Vocals-wise, the lead singer is John Cooper. But Jen Ledger gets in a few good lines as often as she does on "Hero." Given how much I liked "Hero", I really liked this song. It's a great opener to the album, and it's lyrics are a call to action for us to rise and make a change. Far from being hopeless, the lyrics give the feeling that we can and must make a difference in the world: e.g. "Sound it off, this is the call. Rise in revolution. It's our time to change it all. Rise in revolution. Unite and fight - to make a better life. Everybody, one for all. Sound off, this is the call. Tonight, we rise." It's a real fight song. And I think it's safe to say that if you liked "Hero", you'll like "Rise."
P.S. I'm really annoyed at all of the lyrics websites online that say that the lyrics go "Rise and revolution." I have the CD lyrics. It's "Rise in revolution."
Sick Of It:
This song was the first single, and the first song I heard off of this album. When I first heard it, the first thing I noticed was very electronic sound of the track. It reminded me of the earlier days of the band in Invincible and Alien Youth. The song's lyrics focus on something (which is never specified) that you are sick of. The song exhorts you to "get rid of it, while there's a fighting chance." I like to listen to this song while thinking of something that I am sick of, that I just want gone. This is definitely one of the albums harder tracks, so if you're in the mood for a hard rock song with some nostalgic, cool electronic elements, this one is for you.
Good To Be Alive:
The first thing my sister (not the one referred to in the beginning of this post) said when I played this song for her was, "Wow. He's (John Cooper) not straining his voice. He's actually singing normally." And she is partly correct. For the first part of the song, his usual raspy voice is almost non-existent. Granted, it doesn't sound as good as it did in "Will You Be There" from Alien Youth (one of my favorite songs), and I realize that he's not singing very loud, which probably helps. But still, it's almost refreshing to hear. The rest of the song has a very "Feel Good" atmosphere to it. The lyrics reminds us to be thankful for what he have, rather than dwell on what we've lost. Chorus: "This life could almost kill ya, when you're trying to survive. It's good to be here with ya, and it's good to be alive." Normally, I'm not a big fan of Skillet slow songs. (Notable excepts before Rise: "Rest", "You Are My Hope", "Will You Be There", and all of Ardent Worship). But this has a catchy melody that makes it hard for me to skip it and go straight to the next track. A considerable feat for Skillet.
Not Gonna Die:
If you're hoping for some signature Skillet symphonic rock (i.e. electric violins) that we all know and loved since Comatose, this song definitely does not disappoint. This song could easily be my favorite song from the album, but it does have some competition from other songs in this album. That said, this song makes me sing along as loud and as best as I can in the car (which isn't that great, according to my younger brother's facial expression in the rear-view mirror). Once again, Jen Ledger's voice backs up Cooper in key places, much like "Rise." And like "Rise", this is a fight song. If you liked "Awake and Alive", you'll like "Not Gonna Die". (If you're a grammar teacher, you won't like the word "Gonna"). The lyrics really get me pumped, especially this part, "In a world gone mad, in a place so sad, sometimes it's crazy - to fight for what you believe. But you can't give up - no - if you want to keep what you love."
Circus For A Psycho:
My sister (the same one in "Good To Be Alive") frequently misquotes the name of this song as "Psycho On A Wheel". The reason she doesn't remember very well is probably because she doesn't really like this song. Which is probably because she doesn't really get the lyrics... or maybe because of the kids in the background singing, "Psycho, go go go. Psycho, here we go." Or maybe because of the crazy guitar. Or maybe because of the word "psycho" in the title. In other words, you'll either avoid this song altogether because it makes you feel uncomfortable, or you'll listen to it because you like the energy of the song... like me. Some of the lyrics are easy to understand. For example, "You push me 'till I break, and the anger turns to rage. Why can't you just leave me alone? Got your finger on the trigger, you think that you're the winner; but you're gonna get kicked off of your throne." The chorus's lyrics, on the other hand, are a little confusing, casting uncertainty on exactly what the "circus for a psycho" is. "Tonight, get ready for a fight. So now you know it's time to ride my circus for a psycho. Round and round we go. Look out below 'cause I, want off this, I want off this circus for a pycho." So is the cirucs an instrument of torture for the devil, or is an instrument of torture that Cooper wants off of? It's confusing. And if you can't listen to a song unless you understand the meaning behind the lyrics completely, than this probably isn't the song for you. But if you like the energy and combative lyrics, and want to see a song where you fight back against the "beast inside" (which we didn't see in "Monster"), then this song might work for you. I confess, sometimes I skip this song, but mostly because I want to get on to the other great songs in this album.
American Noise:
Another slow Skillet song. Although, unlike "Good To Be Alive", this one is liable to be skipped by most Skillet fans. It was the second single off the album, and likely was selected to show some of the diversity in music that comes with the namesake "Skillet." But if I were to choose a song that shows off Skillet's musical variety, I would have chosen "Fire and Fury." But more on that later. The lyrics aren't terribly deep. "Times will be bad. Times will be good. Things I wish I hadn't done, and some I wish I would. Cutting through the American noise. You got a voice. And a song to sing. Drink deep in the morning. Drink deep in the morning. See what the day will bring." As I've said before, "Good To Be Alive" does a better job of encouraging someone who's had a bad day. This track is okay. And I will listen to it from time to time. But it is most likely going to get skipped.
Madness in Me
Some people have compared this song to "Monster" from the album Awake. It is similar lyrics-wise. The song talks about the monster inside that threatens to take us over. But if you're looking for the hard guitar or the "monster chasing you" similes, you won't find it here. Like "Monster", it doesn't really get resolved in the chorus.It just focuses on the madness taking over. But there are some redemptive lyrics, the ones that make me want to listen to this song: "Just one chance, is all it takes. Can't change the past, but I can fight to change today." This is a hard song, but if I'm in the mood for hard, I'll probably listen to "Sick of It" rather than this track. To be honest, the biggest reason I listen to this song is to get to the interlude that comes after the main song.
Salvation
I haven't said anything about the interludes so far, and that's because they usually don't lend anything to the real songs. You can skip past them easily, and in most cases, I do. But this is the one interlude I can never skip, for a number of reasons. One, it has a scripture reading from Isaiah (which is for any of you fans who wondered if Skillet was still Christian). Two, the prelude flows right into the main part of the song. Third, it's always nice to hear a child's voice in the middle of a rock album. Speaking of other voices, Jen Ledger, for the first time, is the lead singer. And it works really well for this song. After hearing so much hard rock, the contrast in style of music and the different singer makes this song that much more refreshing to hear. The chorus goes: "I feel You keeping me alive. You are my salvation. Hold me. Heal me. Keep me near." For those fans who wanted a song with more of Jen Ledger's vocals, that song is here.
Fire And Fury
This is one of my favorites on the album. Cooper and Ledger share about an equal amount of the lyrics in this song, and it works really well. Although it is one of their slower songs, it is also one of their more different songs. If you listen closely, you can actually hear an accordion in the background. The lyrics go, "I will burn, I will burn for you - with fire and fury, fire and fury." The singers really project the idea of resolutely following God, and affirming how much we need Him. This has to be my second favorite Skillet slow song of all time (number one is "Will You Be There"). I can't ever skip this one.
My Religion:
Hmmm. Let's see. How do I begin this review? Well, let's put it this way. I downloaded the entire album Rise onto my MP3 except for this track. That just about sums it up. Don't get me wrong, I don't have any issue with the lyrics. But sometimes Skillet can get a little too diverse in terms of musical style. All it takes a few seconds of listening to this track and you'll know what I mean. It sounds almost like the blues. But with electric guitars. The lyrics aren't bad, but they don't make up for the music: "I don't need to stare at stained glass in a steeple. I don't need to dress to impress all of the people. Don't need no priest. Don't need no pew. You are my religion - my religion is You." This is the kind of song where the music makes you think, "Am I still listening to Skillet?" The answer to this is, "Yes, you are listening to Skillet. And apparently they burnt something in the skillet that smells really bad."
Hard To Find:
The song starts with some keyboard and some violin. Not a bad start for a Skillet song. Then comes a gentle melody. Then the chorus starts. And it works. It's not hard rock, but it's good. Much like "Good To Be Alive", I find it hard to skip this one, even though the next song is so good. Another great feat. The song goes, "You give me faith, to believe there's a way - to put the past behind me, behind me - and hope to make it through another night. You give me strength, during these dark times, when I'm blind, You are my light - when faith is hard to find." The rest of the lyrics give a real atmosphere of hope, even when everything around is screaming that there is no hope. Because God's reality is more real than any troubles you might be facing. At least, that's what I got out of it. It's a great song for when you're facing impossible situations, and you just need to be reminded that, with God, there is always hope.
What I Believe:
Most bands put their best song in the beginning of the album, and leave their slow (and sometimes weaker) songs at the end. Not so with Rise. While "What I Believe" is not as a strong as Rise in terms of hard music, it definitely rises above "Rise" in terms of lyrics. This song sees the return of Jen Ledger in the vocals, sharing lyric duty with John Cooper. She gets to sing more than she does in "Awake and Alive", but less than in "Salvation." But the melody is good, and it really takes you along so that, when the chorus isn't being sung, there still aren't any dull moments. And as for the way that the song begins, it's textbook symphonic rock Skillet. You can't play this song loud enough in the car. It's the perfect song to end the album with... unless...
Bonus Tracks (oops):
...unless you bought the deluxe version, which doesn't end on "What I Believe." It contains three extra songs: "Battle Cry," "Everything Goes Black," and "Freakshow". I had limited money when I bought Rise, and decided that I didn't like these three songs well enough to warrant spending more money for them. You may think differently. If so, get your own blog and write your own review. :) I will say this, though: From I listend from the songs, don't expect the driving Pillar type melody in "Battle Cry." Same title, but two different artists. And Skillet took a different spin on this song that is much slower than the Pillar counterpart. As for "Everything Goes Black", I don't remember that one very well. I might say that's because the song is forgettable, but then I read somewhere that Jen Ledger sang in that song, which I didn't remember. So I might be giving that song a second look. Freakshow is nothing to sneeze at, but it isn't anything to rave about either, in my opinion. If I'm in the mood to compare Christians to freaks, I'll listen to DC Talk's "Jesus Freak." But again, I don't own these songs, so maybe I don't have enough information to properly review these songs. Oh, well. It's my blog. And nobody is probably reading this anyway, so no one will be offended. So I can say things like: "Stop reading this blog and go do something useful."
Summary:
Rise is a great comeback for Skillet. Especially after the Awake fiasco. I bought Rise because I liked nearly the entire album a lot. Which hasn't happened for me since Invincible. If you do indeed decide to buy this album, you'll find hard rock songs, near-acoustic encouraging songs, symphonic rock fight songs, new-and-old-style "direct-speak-to-God" songs, and... My Religion. But we can just pretend that song doesn't exist. Like we all pretend that 80% of Awake doesn't exist. Or like we pretend that 99% of Collide doesn't exist. If we do that, Rise is a great album and it will not disappoint Skillet fans from Invincible to Awake.
Now go buy the album.
I've read quite a few reviews on Skillet's newest album, Rise. They range from those who absolutely love the album, to those annoying people who are never satisfied no matter what they review. :) Given that I have my own blog (which I don't believe anyone reads anymore), I figured that I should probably write a review myself.
First, let me start off by saying that I first listened to Skillet's music on the album Invincible. I loved it as a 6 year old, thinking that the techno was the coolest thing I'd ever heard. For the longest time, Skillet and Relient K were the only artists I ever listened to. As time went on, I dumped Relient K, and forgot about Skillet. Some years later, my older sister played the song "Hero" for me. She gave me quite a shocker when she told me that Skillet did that song. It sounded completely different from the techno I was used to in Invincible. (By the way, after getting used to the new, harder sound, I loved "Hero." It's still one of my favorite Skillet songs).
It would be a few more years before I started listening to the albums between Awake and Invincible. After that point, I found that my favorite album was Alien Youth, with Comatose as a close second. I only liked three songs on Awake (Hero, Awake and Alive, and of course, Monster), and in my mind, Collide doesn't exist. (Maybe Savior, but other than that, I don't have anything positive to say about that album).
Then I heard that Skillet was going to release a new album, Rise, in June 2013. I was mildly interested, as I wasn't impressed with Awake, and I figured they would do a lot of the same stuff they did in that album. (Namely, a few great songs, and a bunch of forgettable songs).
Then the singles started getting released, and finally the album, which I listened to online. I can't say anything more without getting into the meat of this review. So here we go:
Rise:
The first song on Skillet's new album, and the namesake, starts with a synthesized tune. It sounds quite different than the hard rock guitar opening of "Hero". Then the drums go, and the song really gets you going. Vocals-wise, the lead singer is John Cooper. But Jen Ledger gets in a few good lines as often as she does on "Hero." Given how much I liked "Hero", I really liked this song. It's a great opener to the album, and it's lyrics are a call to action for us to rise and make a change. Far from being hopeless, the lyrics give the feeling that we can and must make a difference in the world: e.g. "Sound it off, this is the call. Rise in revolution. It's our time to change it all. Rise in revolution. Unite and fight - to make a better life. Everybody, one for all. Sound off, this is the call. Tonight, we rise." It's a real fight song. And I think it's safe to say that if you liked "Hero", you'll like "Rise."
P.S. I'm really annoyed at all of the lyrics websites online that say that the lyrics go "Rise and revolution." I have the CD lyrics. It's "Rise in revolution."
Sick Of It:
This song was the first single, and the first song I heard off of this album. When I first heard it, the first thing I noticed was very electronic sound of the track. It reminded me of the earlier days of the band in Invincible and Alien Youth. The song's lyrics focus on something (which is never specified) that you are sick of. The song exhorts you to "get rid of it, while there's a fighting chance." I like to listen to this song while thinking of something that I am sick of, that I just want gone. This is definitely one of the albums harder tracks, so if you're in the mood for a hard rock song with some nostalgic, cool electronic elements, this one is for you.
Good To Be Alive:
The first thing my sister (not the one referred to in the beginning of this post) said when I played this song for her was, "Wow. He's (John Cooper) not straining his voice. He's actually singing normally." And she is partly correct. For the first part of the song, his usual raspy voice is almost non-existent. Granted, it doesn't sound as good as it did in "Will You Be There" from Alien Youth (one of my favorite songs), and I realize that he's not singing very loud, which probably helps. But still, it's almost refreshing to hear. The rest of the song has a very "Feel Good" atmosphere to it. The lyrics reminds us to be thankful for what he have, rather than dwell on what we've lost. Chorus: "This life could almost kill ya, when you're trying to survive. It's good to be here with ya, and it's good to be alive." Normally, I'm not a big fan of Skillet slow songs. (Notable excepts before Rise: "Rest", "You Are My Hope", "Will You Be There", and all of Ardent Worship). But this has a catchy melody that makes it hard for me to skip it and go straight to the next track. A considerable feat for Skillet.
Not Gonna Die:
If you're hoping for some signature Skillet symphonic rock (i.e. electric violins) that we all know and loved since Comatose, this song definitely does not disappoint. This song could easily be my favorite song from the album, but it does have some competition from other songs in this album. That said, this song makes me sing along as loud and as best as I can in the car (which isn't that great, according to my younger brother's facial expression in the rear-view mirror). Once again, Jen Ledger's voice backs up Cooper in key places, much like "Rise." And like "Rise", this is a fight song. If you liked "Awake and Alive", you'll like "Not Gonna Die". (If you're a grammar teacher, you won't like the word "Gonna"). The lyrics really get me pumped, especially this part, "In a world gone mad, in a place so sad, sometimes it's crazy - to fight for what you believe. But you can't give up - no - if you want to keep what you love."
Circus For A Psycho:
My sister (the same one in "Good To Be Alive") frequently misquotes the name of this song as "Psycho On A Wheel". The reason she doesn't remember very well is probably because she doesn't really like this song. Which is probably because she doesn't really get the lyrics... or maybe because of the kids in the background singing, "Psycho, go go go. Psycho, here we go." Or maybe because of the crazy guitar. Or maybe because of the word "psycho" in the title. In other words, you'll either avoid this song altogether because it makes you feel uncomfortable, or you'll listen to it because you like the energy of the song... like me. Some of the lyrics are easy to understand. For example, "You push me 'till I break, and the anger turns to rage. Why can't you just leave me alone? Got your finger on the trigger, you think that you're the winner; but you're gonna get kicked off of your throne." The chorus's lyrics, on the other hand, are a little confusing, casting uncertainty on exactly what the "circus for a psycho" is. "Tonight, get ready for a fight. So now you know it's time to ride my circus for a psycho. Round and round we go. Look out below 'cause I, want off this, I want off this circus for a pycho." So is the cirucs an instrument of torture for the devil, or is an instrument of torture that Cooper wants off of? It's confusing. And if you can't listen to a song unless you understand the meaning behind the lyrics completely, than this probably isn't the song for you. But if you like the energy and combative lyrics, and want to see a song where you fight back against the "beast inside" (which we didn't see in "Monster"), then this song might work for you. I confess, sometimes I skip this song, but mostly because I want to get on to the other great songs in this album.
American Noise:
Another slow Skillet song. Although, unlike "Good To Be Alive", this one is liable to be skipped by most Skillet fans. It was the second single off the album, and likely was selected to show some of the diversity in music that comes with the namesake "Skillet." But if I were to choose a song that shows off Skillet's musical variety, I would have chosen "Fire and Fury." But more on that later. The lyrics aren't terribly deep. "Times will be bad. Times will be good. Things I wish I hadn't done, and some I wish I would. Cutting through the American noise. You got a voice. And a song to sing. Drink deep in the morning. Drink deep in the morning. See what the day will bring." As I've said before, "Good To Be Alive" does a better job of encouraging someone who's had a bad day. This track is okay. And I will listen to it from time to time. But it is most likely going to get skipped.
Madness in Me
Some people have compared this song to "Monster" from the album Awake. It is similar lyrics-wise. The song talks about the monster inside that threatens to take us over. But if you're looking for the hard guitar or the "monster chasing you" similes, you won't find it here. Like "Monster", it doesn't really get resolved in the chorus.It just focuses on the madness taking over. But there are some redemptive lyrics, the ones that make me want to listen to this song: "Just one chance, is all it takes. Can't change the past, but I can fight to change today." This is a hard song, but if I'm in the mood for hard, I'll probably listen to "Sick of It" rather than this track. To be honest, the biggest reason I listen to this song is to get to the interlude that comes after the main song.
Salvation
I haven't said anything about the interludes so far, and that's because they usually don't lend anything to the real songs. You can skip past them easily, and in most cases, I do. But this is the one interlude I can never skip, for a number of reasons. One, it has a scripture reading from Isaiah (which is for any of you fans who wondered if Skillet was still Christian). Two, the prelude flows right into the main part of the song. Third, it's always nice to hear a child's voice in the middle of a rock album. Speaking of other voices, Jen Ledger, for the first time, is the lead singer. And it works really well for this song. After hearing so much hard rock, the contrast in style of music and the different singer makes this song that much more refreshing to hear. The chorus goes: "I feel You keeping me alive. You are my salvation. Hold me. Heal me. Keep me near." For those fans who wanted a song with more of Jen Ledger's vocals, that song is here.
Fire And Fury
This is one of my favorites on the album. Cooper and Ledger share about an equal amount of the lyrics in this song, and it works really well. Although it is one of their slower songs, it is also one of their more different songs. If you listen closely, you can actually hear an accordion in the background. The lyrics go, "I will burn, I will burn for you - with fire and fury, fire and fury." The singers really project the idea of resolutely following God, and affirming how much we need Him. This has to be my second favorite Skillet slow song of all time (number one is "Will You Be There"). I can't ever skip this one.
My Religion:
Hmmm. Let's see. How do I begin this review? Well, let's put it this way. I downloaded the entire album Rise onto my MP3 except for this track. That just about sums it up. Don't get me wrong, I don't have any issue with the lyrics. But sometimes Skillet can get a little too diverse in terms of musical style. All it takes a few seconds of listening to this track and you'll know what I mean. It sounds almost like the blues. But with electric guitars. The lyrics aren't bad, but they don't make up for the music: "I don't need to stare at stained glass in a steeple. I don't need to dress to impress all of the people. Don't need no priest. Don't need no pew. You are my religion - my religion is You." This is the kind of song where the music makes you think, "Am I still listening to Skillet?" The answer to this is, "Yes, you are listening to Skillet. And apparently they burnt something in the skillet that smells really bad."
Hard To Find:
The song starts with some keyboard and some violin. Not a bad start for a Skillet song. Then comes a gentle melody. Then the chorus starts. And it works. It's not hard rock, but it's good. Much like "Good To Be Alive", I find it hard to skip this one, even though the next song is so good. Another great feat. The song goes, "You give me faith, to believe there's a way - to put the past behind me, behind me - and hope to make it through another night. You give me strength, during these dark times, when I'm blind, You are my light - when faith is hard to find." The rest of the lyrics give a real atmosphere of hope, even when everything around is screaming that there is no hope. Because God's reality is more real than any troubles you might be facing. At least, that's what I got out of it. It's a great song for when you're facing impossible situations, and you just need to be reminded that, with God, there is always hope.
What I Believe:
Most bands put their best song in the beginning of the album, and leave their slow (and sometimes weaker) songs at the end. Not so with Rise. While "What I Believe" is not as a strong as Rise in terms of hard music, it definitely rises above "Rise" in terms of lyrics. This song sees the return of Jen Ledger in the vocals, sharing lyric duty with John Cooper. She gets to sing more than she does in "Awake and Alive", but less than in "Salvation." But the melody is good, and it really takes you along so that, when the chorus isn't being sung, there still aren't any dull moments. And as for the way that the song begins, it's textbook symphonic rock Skillet. You can't play this song loud enough in the car. It's the perfect song to end the album with... unless...
Bonus Tracks (oops):
...unless you bought the deluxe version, which doesn't end on "What I Believe." It contains three extra songs: "Battle Cry," "Everything Goes Black," and "Freakshow". I had limited money when I bought Rise, and decided that I didn't like these three songs well enough to warrant spending more money for them. You may think differently. If so, get your own blog and write your own review. :) I will say this, though: From I listend from the songs, don't expect the driving Pillar type melody in "Battle Cry." Same title, but two different artists. And Skillet took a different spin on this song that is much slower than the Pillar counterpart. As for "Everything Goes Black", I don't remember that one very well. I might say that's because the song is forgettable, but then I read somewhere that Jen Ledger sang in that song, which I didn't remember. So I might be giving that song a second look. Freakshow is nothing to sneeze at, but it isn't anything to rave about either, in my opinion. If I'm in the mood to compare Christians to freaks, I'll listen to DC Talk's "Jesus Freak." But again, I don't own these songs, so maybe I don't have enough information to properly review these songs. Oh, well. It's my blog. And nobody is probably reading this anyway, so no one will be offended. So I can say things like: "Stop reading this blog and go do something useful."
Summary:
Rise is a great comeback for Skillet. Especially after the Awake fiasco. I bought Rise because I liked nearly the entire album a lot. Which hasn't happened for me since Invincible. If you do indeed decide to buy this album, you'll find hard rock songs, near-acoustic encouraging songs, symphonic rock fight songs, new-and-old-style "direct-speak-to-God" songs, and... My Religion. But we can just pretend that song doesn't exist. Like we all pretend that 80% of Awake doesn't exist. Or like we pretend that 99% of Collide doesn't exist. If we do that, Rise is a great album and it will not disappoint Skillet fans from Invincible to Awake.
Now go buy the album.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Murray & Filbert: Why We Love America
Special Thanks to Britni. If I wasn't trying to entertain you, I wouldn't have come up with Murray.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
A Message From Murray (To Britni)
This video is meant for Britni. If you're not Britni, this video will not be funny, nor will it make any sense.
I hope you enjoyed it!
Saturday, May 4, 2013
"Sherlock: The Reichenbach Fall" Explained - The Genius's Take*
* Some parts of the explanation explained therein were formulated by a third party. Rest assured, credit is given where credit is due. Anything not credited to a third party was completely formulated my myself or my father independent of any other sources. Any similarity to other theories on this subject is completely coincidental.
Some of you may be familiar with the British TV series "Sherlock." For those of you who do not, let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up:
"Sherlock" adapts stories from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous Sherlock Holmes books and places them in the modern era. So Sherlock texts, uses the internet, and drives cars in the course of solving cases. Each episode can be traced, to some extent, to a particular story of the real Sherlock Holmes books. Despite its many similiarities to the books, the plots are always given a twist that makes for very interesting mysteries that are, in my opinion, on par with the original stories.
The latest episode (the sixth) of the series is called "The Reichenbach Fall". In a nutshell... Never mind. If you haven't seen the episode, don't even read this. It's way too confusing. Go get Netflix for one month free and watch the entire series in six days. Then come back and read this.
Okay, now we come to the meat of things. The episode ends with Sherlock Holmes apparently jumping to his death from the roof of a hospital. Watson seems to see Sherlock hit the pavement, although the spot where he landed is partially obscured by a truck. As he runs to the spot where Sherlock seems to have met his doom, he gets hit by a random biker, keeping him from reaching the aforementioned spot for about ten seconds. Then he reaches the spot, but it is kept from getting to close by many bystanders. He is, however, able to get his hand on Sherlock's wrist, feeling for a pulse, and finding none. The last scene in the episode shows Watson grieving over Sherlock's "grave", and then leaving, asking Sherlock to not to be dead. Sherlock himself is seen, alive and well, just outside the graveyard (Watson doesn't see him) smiling slightly.
So the viewer knows that Sherlock is alive, but is not told why. Hundreds, if not thousands, of theories on the subject have gone viral on the internet. Wikipedia listed "tagwords" of the several theories (e.g. mattress, dummy, giant rubber ducky, physcotropic drugs) to account for Sherlock's survival of the fall. The Wikipedia article also mentioned that, on hearing the many theories, one of the creators of the show commented, "there is a clue everybody's missed ... So many people theorising about Sherlock's death online – and they missed it!"
Upon looking over the "tagwords", I noticed something that was missing, that was never explained in the episode: IOU.
And now we begin the mighty theory that accounts for everything in the episode (I think. Don't get too angry if I've missed something, but I'm 98.69% sure I didn't):
First of all, the IOU thing has to be explained before I explain how Sherlock faked his death. If you'll remember, Sherlock grabbed the book, "Grimm's Fairy Tales." Why did he grab it? Well, next we see him in the lab trying to figure out what the five elements found in the footprints are through chemistry. While he's looking at it all, an image of a snippet of the periodic table of elements flies through his thoughts. Around the same time, he gets an epiphany, and mutters, "I... O... U." When asked about it, he says, "Nothing, merely a mental note."
According to a blog I read (http://eva-christine.tumblr.com/post/27733467733/iou-explanation-53-8-92-grimms-fairy-tales-cipher), the author theorizes, due to the context in which the epiphany is found, that IOU refers to elements. The author provides these three elements, "Iodine... Oxygen... Uranium." The atomic number of these elements are, "53... 8... 92." The author suspects that this is a code similar to the one used in "The Blind Banker." The author also suspects that Moriarty left the fairytale book, and that it did not belong to the kidnapped kid. I must say, the genius of this author is amazing. Because the author, using screenshots from the episode, found the EXACT same edition of "Grimm's Fairy Tales" that was used in the episode and examined it. In the table of contents, each story is numbered. The author looked at story #53: Little Snow-White, #8: The Strange Musician, and #92: The King of the Golden Mountain.
You'll have to read the article yourself to see the details I don't want to go into, but suffice it to say that there are MANY parallels from those fairytale stories and the events in this episode of Sherlock. So much so that it is possible to guess what Moriarty had in mind on the roof of the hospital if you were as smart as Sherlock (i.e. From the stories, either from invisible ink that highlighted certain passages or just the gist of the stories, Sherlock could have deduced that Moriarty planned to have three of Sherlock's friends killed if Sherlock didn't commit suicide. Sherlock could've deduced that the suicide would be via a perilous fall due to Moriarty's comments towards the beginning of the episode).
(Update: If the last two paragraphs seem too far-fetched to you, we can simply say that I.O.U. refers to Moriarty's words, "I owe you a fall," to Sherlock. In which case, IOU is simply a threat that Moriarty is going to kill him. And we can say that from those words, Sherlock deduced that Moriarty was trying to get Sherlock to kill himself because it fit into the lie that Sherlock was a fraud. Now that I think of it, this explanation is probably the correct one. But the other one was so interesting I wanted to share it).
And now, here comes my explanation, completely devoid of outside sources. Because Sherlock figured out Moriarty's plan prior to going to the top of the hospital, he was able to arrange for faking his death. He went to Molly, and told her that he needed, in his own words, "You." Does anyone remember what Molly's profession is? I'll get back to that.
Sherlock also noticed, earlier in the episode, that when he went in to see the girl that was kidnapped by, either Moriarty or one of his henchmen, she screamed as soon as she saw HIM. Sherlock is very smart. He was able to deduce that Moriarty was setting him up to look like Sherlock had kidnapped the girl. He must have also been able to deduce how Moriarty had accomplished that. (I figured it out, so could he). Whoever kidnapped the girl wore a mask. A Sherlock Holmes mask. That makes sense.
By the time Sherlock had figured out Moriarty's plan to make Sherlock commit suicide, he had figured out that the kidnapper had worn a Sherlock Holmes mask. Now, either Sherlock found that same mask, or he used that revelation as inpiration for how to foil Moriarty, and had another Sherlock mask made. He then took that mask with him to the top of the hospital.
When he got there, he had a very cryptic conversation with Moriarty. Mainly, Moriarty was disappointed in Holmes for being "ordinary." (i.e. not figuring out something.) The thing that Moriarty thought Sherlock didn't figure out was the message encrypted in "Grimm's Fairy Tales." (Or, if that isn't true, Moriarty thought that Sherlock didn't figure out that there was no key code). Sherlock made Moriarty believe that he didn't figure it out by playing along and pretending to think that the computer program, that could supposedly open anything anywhere, was real.
Moriarty then revealed that if his snipers didn't see Sherlock jump off the hospital to his death, they would kill Sherlock's three closest friends: John Watson, Greg Lestrade, and Mrs. Hudson. Moriarty thinks that he has Sherlock trapped into committing suicide. But after a verbal slip-up, Sherlock deduces that Moriarty CAN call off the snipers without Sherlock having to jump at all. Sherlock then approaches Moriarty and threatens to torture him most severely until Moriarty calls off the snipers. Sherlock says that he wins as long as he has Moriarty. Moriarty, upon hearing that Sherlock would actually torture him, decides to shoot himself because he has no desire to live if Sherlock isn't alive to challenge him and keep him from being bored.
So Moriarty dies. But he didn't count on one thing: Molly. Remember her profession? She's a pathologist. It's her job to determine what the cause of death is for a person. Sherlock put his coat and the mask on Moriarty, props his body up straight at the edge of the building, and makes the call to Watson, making sure that he is at the exact spot where he won't see the fall very clearly, and where the bicyclist can get to him later. He also makes sure that Watson keeps his eyes on him, so that he doesn't see the bicyclist just waiting to take off and hit Watson. Also, so that Watson doesn't see the group of doctors waiting to pick up Moriarty's body. Then he pushes Moriarty's body off the roof, and dons Moriarty's clothes and another disguise to sneak out of the hospital unnoticed. Watson rushes to the spot where Moriarty fell, but is stopped by the bicyclist (a member of the homeless network). In that time, more members of the homeless network, disguised as bystanders get to the body and keep Watson away from it. Then Molly's connections get hospital people to cart off the body very quickly. She makes sure that she's the coroner for the body, and proclaims that it is indeed Sherlock Holmes, and that the cause of death was the fall, not a gunshot wound to the head.
Sherlock Holmes remains in hiding while he tries to get rid of the rest of Moriarty's gang so that they can't continue to assassinate his friends. Meanwhile, no mention is made of the body of Moriarty being found at the top of the hospital.
And that's it folks! I hope you find this explanation satisfactory.
Some of you may be familiar with the British TV series "Sherlock." For those of you who do not, let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up:
"Sherlock" adapts stories from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous Sherlock Holmes books and places them in the modern era. So Sherlock texts, uses the internet, and drives cars in the course of solving cases. Each episode can be traced, to some extent, to a particular story of the real Sherlock Holmes books. Despite its many similiarities to the books, the plots are always given a twist that makes for very interesting mysteries that are, in my opinion, on par with the original stories.
The latest episode (the sixth) of the series is called "The Reichenbach Fall". In a nutshell... Never mind. If you haven't seen the episode, don't even read this. It's way too confusing. Go get Netflix for one month free and watch the entire series in six days. Then come back and read this.
Okay, now we come to the meat of things. The episode ends with Sherlock Holmes apparently jumping to his death from the roof of a hospital. Watson seems to see Sherlock hit the pavement, although the spot where he landed is partially obscured by a truck. As he runs to the spot where Sherlock seems to have met his doom, he gets hit by a random biker, keeping him from reaching the aforementioned spot for about ten seconds. Then he reaches the spot, but it is kept from getting to close by many bystanders. He is, however, able to get his hand on Sherlock's wrist, feeling for a pulse, and finding none. The last scene in the episode shows Watson grieving over Sherlock's "grave", and then leaving, asking Sherlock to not to be dead. Sherlock himself is seen, alive and well, just outside the graveyard (Watson doesn't see him) smiling slightly.
So the viewer knows that Sherlock is alive, but is not told why. Hundreds, if not thousands, of theories on the subject have gone viral on the internet. Wikipedia listed "tagwords" of the several theories (e.g. mattress, dummy, giant rubber ducky, physcotropic drugs) to account for Sherlock's survival of the fall. The Wikipedia article also mentioned that, on hearing the many theories, one of the creators of the show commented, "there is a clue everybody's missed ... So many people theorising about Sherlock's death online – and they missed it!"
Upon looking over the "tagwords", I noticed something that was missing, that was never explained in the episode: IOU.
And now we begin the mighty theory that accounts for everything in the episode (I think. Don't get too angry if I've missed something, but I'm 98.69% sure I didn't):
First of all, the IOU thing has to be explained before I explain how Sherlock faked his death. If you'll remember, Sherlock grabbed the book, "Grimm's Fairy Tales." Why did he grab it? Well, next we see him in the lab trying to figure out what the five elements found in the footprints are through chemistry. While he's looking at it all, an image of a snippet of the periodic table of elements flies through his thoughts. Around the same time, he gets an epiphany, and mutters, "I... O... U." When asked about it, he says, "Nothing, merely a mental note."
According to a blog I read (http://eva-christine.tumblr.com/post/27733467733/iou-explanation-53-8-92-grimms-fairy-tales-cipher), the author theorizes, due to the context in which the epiphany is found, that IOU refers to elements. The author provides these three elements, "Iodine... Oxygen... Uranium." The atomic number of these elements are, "53... 8... 92." The author suspects that this is a code similar to the one used in "The Blind Banker." The author also suspects that Moriarty left the fairytale book, and that it did not belong to the kidnapped kid. I must say, the genius of this author is amazing. Because the author, using screenshots from the episode, found the EXACT same edition of "Grimm's Fairy Tales" that was used in the episode and examined it. In the table of contents, each story is numbered. The author looked at story #53: Little Snow-White, #8: The Strange Musician, and #92: The King of the Golden Mountain.
You'll have to read the article yourself to see the details I don't want to go into, but suffice it to say that there are MANY parallels from those fairytale stories and the events in this episode of Sherlock. So much so that it is possible to guess what Moriarty had in mind on the roof of the hospital if you were as smart as Sherlock (i.e. From the stories, either from invisible ink that highlighted certain passages or just the gist of the stories, Sherlock could have deduced that Moriarty planned to have three of Sherlock's friends killed if Sherlock didn't commit suicide. Sherlock could've deduced that the suicide would be via a perilous fall due to Moriarty's comments towards the beginning of the episode).
(Update: If the last two paragraphs seem too far-fetched to you, we can simply say that I.O.U. refers to Moriarty's words, "I owe you a fall," to Sherlock. In which case, IOU is simply a threat that Moriarty is going to kill him. And we can say that from those words, Sherlock deduced that Moriarty was trying to get Sherlock to kill himself because it fit into the lie that Sherlock was a fraud. Now that I think of it, this explanation is probably the correct one. But the other one was so interesting I wanted to share it).
And now, here comes my explanation, completely devoid of outside sources. Because Sherlock figured out Moriarty's plan prior to going to the top of the hospital, he was able to arrange for faking his death. He went to Molly, and told her that he needed, in his own words, "You." Does anyone remember what Molly's profession is? I'll get back to that.
Sherlock also noticed, earlier in the episode, that when he went in to see the girl that was kidnapped by, either Moriarty or one of his henchmen, she screamed as soon as she saw HIM. Sherlock is very smart. He was able to deduce that Moriarty was setting him up to look like Sherlock had kidnapped the girl. He must have also been able to deduce how Moriarty had accomplished that. (I figured it out, so could he). Whoever kidnapped the girl wore a mask. A Sherlock Holmes mask. That makes sense.
By the time Sherlock had figured out Moriarty's plan to make Sherlock commit suicide, he had figured out that the kidnapper had worn a Sherlock Holmes mask. Now, either Sherlock found that same mask, or he used that revelation as inpiration for how to foil Moriarty, and had another Sherlock mask made. He then took that mask with him to the top of the hospital.
When he got there, he had a very cryptic conversation with Moriarty. Mainly, Moriarty was disappointed in Holmes for being "ordinary." (i.e. not figuring out something.) The thing that Moriarty thought Sherlock didn't figure out was the message encrypted in "Grimm's Fairy Tales." (Or, if that isn't true, Moriarty thought that Sherlock didn't figure out that there was no key code). Sherlock made Moriarty believe that he didn't figure it out by playing along and pretending to think that the computer program, that could supposedly open anything anywhere, was real.
Moriarty then revealed that if his snipers didn't see Sherlock jump off the hospital to his death, they would kill Sherlock's three closest friends: John Watson, Greg Lestrade, and Mrs. Hudson. Moriarty thinks that he has Sherlock trapped into committing suicide. But after a verbal slip-up, Sherlock deduces that Moriarty CAN call off the snipers without Sherlock having to jump at all. Sherlock then approaches Moriarty and threatens to torture him most severely until Moriarty calls off the snipers. Sherlock says that he wins as long as he has Moriarty. Moriarty, upon hearing that Sherlock would actually torture him, decides to shoot himself because he has no desire to live if Sherlock isn't alive to challenge him and keep him from being bored.
So Moriarty dies. But he didn't count on one thing: Molly. Remember her profession? She's a pathologist. It's her job to determine what the cause of death is for a person. Sherlock put his coat and the mask on Moriarty, props his body up straight at the edge of the building, and makes the call to Watson, making sure that he is at the exact spot where he won't see the fall very clearly, and where the bicyclist can get to him later. He also makes sure that Watson keeps his eyes on him, so that he doesn't see the bicyclist just waiting to take off and hit Watson. Also, so that Watson doesn't see the group of doctors waiting to pick up Moriarty's body. Then he pushes Moriarty's body off the roof, and dons Moriarty's clothes and another disguise to sneak out of the hospital unnoticed. Watson rushes to the spot where Moriarty fell, but is stopped by the bicyclist (a member of the homeless network). In that time, more members of the homeless network, disguised as bystanders get to the body and keep Watson away from it. Then Molly's connections get hospital people to cart off the body very quickly. She makes sure that she's the coroner for the body, and proclaims that it is indeed Sherlock Holmes, and that the cause of death was the fall, not a gunshot wound to the head.
Sherlock Holmes remains in hiding while he tries to get rid of the rest of Moriarty's gang so that they can't continue to assassinate his friends. Meanwhile, no mention is made of the body of Moriarty being found at the top of the hospital.
And that's it folks! I hope you find this explanation satisfactory.
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