#Yes I know Skillet is meant to be a Christian band so this song is probably supposed to be about faith

[kasunex]

I've always felt Awake and Alive a fitting song for Hakuno and their relationship with Nero.

I'm at war with the world and they

Try to pull me into the dark

I struggle to find my faith

As I'm slipping from your arms

It's getting harder to stay awake

And my strength is fading fast

You breathe into me at last

I'm awake I'm alive

Now I know what I believe inside

Now it's my time

I'll do what I want 'cause this is my life

Here, right here

Right now, right now

Stand my ground and never back down

I know what I believe inside

I'm awake and I'm alive

I'm at war with the world cause I

Ain't never gonna sell my soul

I've already made up my mind

No matter what I can't be bought or sold

When my faith is getting weak

And I feel like giving in

You breathe into me again

I'm awake I'm alive

Now I know what I believe inside

Now it's my time

I'll do what I want 'cause this is my life

Here, right here

Right now, right now

Stand my ground and never back down

I know what I believe inside

I'm awake and I'm alive

Waking up waking up

Waking up waking up

Waking up waking up

Waking up waking up

In the dark

I can feel you in my sleep

In your arms I feel you breathe into me

Forever hold this heart that I will give to you

Forever I will live for you

I'm awake I'm alive

Now I know what I believe inside

Now it's my time

I'll do what I want 'cause this is my life

Here, right here

Right now, right now

Stand my ground and never back down

I know what I believe inside

I'm awake and I'm alive

Waking up waking up

Waking up waking up

Waking up waking up

Waking up waking up

[happymetalgirl]

Skillet - Victorious

I won’t lie, Skillet was a small part of my musical adolescence; I liked the uplifting, Linkin-Park-inspired alternative metal heaviness of Collide and the parts of Comatose that came closest to that. But since Awake, the band have just been on such a downward trajectory as their radio rock success has cornered them into reproducing the same formulaic Christian hard rock into oblivion. 2013′s Rise was chocked full of stale attempts at recapturing of the essence of “Hero” and “Awake and Alive” from the previous album due to their chart-topping success, and that was the last time I listened to a new Skillet album. I didn’t have any desire to listen to Unleashed when it came out in 2016, but I figured I’d check back in this year and see what Skillet were up to with their tenth studio album, Victorious, and God I wish I hadn’t.

I have said on here before that I think the offensiveness of Imagine Dragons' meteoric success through mediocrity is often overstated, their omnipresence just annoying status for the time being much in the same way that Nickelback's was back in their peak of relevance. But while I would definitely rather get stuck listening to Imagine Dragons than most of the other top 40 drivel, I will agree that they are really annoying and I grimace a bit any time I'm stuck somewhere where I have to hear their songs. What has been more annoying even than their music itself has been how pretty much any band trying to break onto the Billboard top charts is copping Imagine Dragons' brand of hollow, overproduced arena rock grandiosity, and that it exactly what it happening here with Skillet on Victorious.

I still haven't listened to Unleashed, and Victorious has not made me eager to go back and hear it, so I don't know how much of this they were doing on that album, but I truly can't imagine it being as horrifically, transparently focus-grouped and disastrously executed as it has been on this album. The production on here is right in line with what is expected of bands trying to get in on Imagine Dragons' radio success. From the thin, artificial, overdone arena rock drum pounds that sound devoid of any really invigorating punch, to the gutless and overly synthetic production that gives the guitars the bite of a newborn kitten.

The songwriting too is equally appallingly formulaic and, again, focus-grouped, with the predictable token throwback to the band's heavier sound on the closing track "Back to Life" (ironically titled there, Skillet), being the only diversion from the drab, sterile, and downright annoyingly repetitive compositions, and the songs aren't just repetitive in their use of the same motifs within them over and over again, but also in their consistent approach across the track list. And again, it's all really predictable; the reptitive "woahs" and chorus refrains, the bland vocal melody features from drummer Jen Ledger, the super processed delivery of the vaguely Christian lyrics about getting up and fighting. It is a truly annoying album.

And look, Skillet has never been the most original band on the planet; Collide was very derivative, and the band have been following the trends of radio-friendly alternative metal since then. But the issue with Victorious is not just its being unoriginal. At least Collide and Comatose sounded like the band was really passionate about the Linkin Park imitations they were making, but Victorious sounds so phoned in and corporately directed that I can't believe a word this band is saying about the same nonspecific rising up and fighting they've been singing about for the past decade.

I suppose I should get into the ugly details a bit. Thankfully I think this will be brief and relatively easy since the album is such a homogenously bland, lifeless trash fire. The tedious choruses and unenthusiastic arena rock aesthetic over the soulless production that I brought up earlier are pretty universal across the album. So I'll try to keep it quick and just highlight the most egregious examples. The "woah" melody on the first track, "Legendary", is so annoying I can't believe it made it out of the studio, the same of which can be said of the thin, verses on "You Ain't Ready", but honestly, these "woah ohs" are the least irritating of those on the album. I can see the electronic rock pump-up that the band were going for that people think of when they think of pop rock in a positive light on "Finish Line", but there really isn't enough muscle in the song to pull it off. The woop-woop vocals on the minimally instrumental, yet still over-produced "This Is the Kingdom" make it sound exactly like an Imagine Dragons song that even that band wouldn't want. The song "Rise Up" so lyrically generic and phoned in and so instrumentally thin that it's insulting the band actually consider this effort enough to incite any kind of rising up. The pop rock lighter-waving of the title track is so nauseatingly top 40 with its artificial string backing, Jen Ledger's bland melody even before the post-chorus "woah"s, but those indeed bring it home. The completely inattentive and forgettable balladry of "Terrify the Dark" is obviously an attempt at making a Hillsong-type ballad meant to be the musical backing to inspirational church video montages. It's just a transparent foray into trying to get a contemporary worship music hit in the worst way, and to call it half-assed would be generous. Even worse perhaps is the saccharine "Jesus is by girlfriend"-type pop rock ballad of the faux-orchestral piano number "Anchor". Okay, so that wasn't as brief as I was hoping, but it's over now.

I know I mentioned Collide being a part of my early musical life, but my distaste for this album is honestly independent of my nostalgia for the band's earlier work. Yes, it's disappointing seeing a band whose music I have fond memories of just tank while trying to do something that seems rather contrived that clearly isn't working for them. I was kind of already expecting some stale radio alternative metal and alternative rock going in, but this album really defied those expectations in the worst ways and I know that I would feel just as negatively about it if it were hypothetically released by some other band or if I didn't know Skillet prior. I know my disappointment is probably influencing the degree to which I am frustrated with this album, but I know that my negative reaction is not just because I expected wanted a rehash of Collide or Comatose (I didn't) and got something different. Really, I'd already heard the essence of this very unoriginal album before I even heard the album itself; I mentioned Imagine Dragons earlier. The contrast with the band's better earlier work just makes this hot pile of garbage all the more tragic to hear.

I keep a roughly ordered list of all the album's I've heard throughout the year, and earlier last week before this album came out, I was thinking about how great the output has been over the past few months and how I hadn't heard a truly atrocious album in a good few months, which sparked my curiosity to look at the bottom ten of my list at the moment. And I know the year's not over yet, but when I saw the album I had tenth from the bottom, I felt bad because even though I don't like it, it didn't feel like it deserved a "ten worst albums" spot. I suppose the silver lining of Victorious is its nudging that number ten album out of the bottom ten. But the other ugly aspect of Victorious' awfulness is that im going to have to listen to Mark Morton's Anesthetic to determine which one is worse.

Don't listen to this inauthentic, radio ploy cash grab/10

[335am]

Any song recommendations? (I want all the emo stuff you have! ;)

 OKAY OKAY HERE WE GO (i excluded the super famous ones like wttbp or sugar we’re going down)1) Miserable At Best - Mayday ParadeThis is an emo classic too but since you ignore the lesbian video I need to promote this band somewhere elseIt’s a really slow song but the guy has a piercing voice and it just lures you into the atmosphere (it’s a perfect song for daydreaming too). It may seem boring but PLEASE stay till the endand don’t get me started on the lyrics (by the way this is the song that i’m mouthing every time our english teacher says the word miserable)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqM3Dr7agjY

2) Misery Business - ParamoreThis band is actually female fronted so your feminist side can enjoy this too lol (btw it’s from 2007 and I swear she’s even more beautiful now)This is just the 00′s rebellious pop punk/rock that all the emo teens liked and it still somehow stands outhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCyGvGEtOwc3) Mr. Brightside & Somebody Told Me - both by The KillersYeah they are separate songs but they’re the lead singles of Hot Fuss and they’re both great so I didn’t know which one to put hereYou probably know Mr. Brightside since it’s a meme now, but if you really listen to the song you start to get into it, you start to understand the lyrics and... Brandon Flowers’ voice is just weirdly attractive to me and just the way that he opens his mouth (idk i swear i don’t have a kink on this)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5fBdpreJiUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGdGFtwCNBE4) We The KingsWe The Kings are a band, not a song, but just THEM as a concept needed to be here. They have like two hits (Sad Song which is known in the mainstream AND Check Yes, Juliet which is known in the emo community and that’s wild to me), they don’t have an interesting aesthetic, they aren’t conventionally attractive - they just aren’t really special but they still are somehow. It’s like the friend that once did a really cool thing and everyone respects them for that but otherwise no one actually knows them. Oh and they did a cover of The Story Of Tonight from Hamilton.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CUyWJ7UINMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZsXcc_tC-ohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O-i3TvFZXA5) Satellite - Rise AgainstRebellious name, but they’re just a bunch of vegetarian straight edge guys that sing about politics. Oh and their newest album sucks. But my brother played them in the car in the summer of 2014 and that’s what started my emo phase, actually. So I kinda owe them something? Anyways Satellite, Prayer Of The Refugee, Savior, Ready To Fall, I Don’t Want To Be Here Anymore, Behind Closed Doors and Injection (I HAVE INJECTION STILL IN MY PHONE FOUR YEARS AFTER) are absolute bangers. You’ll fall in love with them instantly.https://youtu.be/6nQCxwneUwA6) Hero - SkilletMy friend from elementary school loved them and had their name written on her backpack and I was curious what “Skillet” meant so I looked it up and watched Hero. Oh my god I felt like I’ve finally found what I love (and yeah, I had a top 40 phase after but I returned to rock haha). They’re a christian band, but they have some powerful lyrics too. They have two grammys oh my god and Jen Ledger (the drummer and the second vocalist) is my 2014 crush hahaAnd I recommend Monster too, that was the second song I had in my phone lolhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGcsIdGOuZY7) Sleeping With SirensThe emoest of the emos - they had the looks, they have the lyrics, they have the feminine sounding vocalist and besides BVB they probably have the most bad memes and cringy quote images made about them. For me it’s actually the two newest albums (Madness and Gossip) that most people hate but I love - maybe because his voice really stands out. They have a screaming past too, but you know. If You can’t Hang is a classic and If I’m James Dean, Then You’re Audrey Hepburn is probably even a bigger classic that teenage girls loved seven years ago and other teenage girls love now. Better Off Dead and Madness are just THE songs for me, if you understand - they’re painfully relatable.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poZLiypLJzQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UwWYtLWEZghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIH25CP2wc4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJvxagr5rV88) Circles - Pierce The VeilEmo mexicans, wow that’s a weird combination BUT IT WORKS SO WELL. Pierce The Veil are best friends with SWS and they have the same things that I listed above. I included Circles AND two songs that are my favorites for Vic, not for PTV. But Kellin Quinn is the lead guy from SWS and All Time Low are the third band to their trinity and I recommend them too! (#missinglow lol)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucN-iv4QVWwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDbVY3gCJgghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icXUkIfZxyg9) ...black veil bridesAnother band with veil in the title. I sigh everytime I see them because Andy Biersack is just the guy that one half of the emo community hates and one half loves maybe too much (i feel like the perfect question to determine someone’s cringiness is “what do you think of andy biersack?”) and I’m somewhere in the middle. This band is my guilty pleasure, their music isn’t too good technically (like seriously, their albums sound the same - ARTV said the perfect thing: “You heard one, you heard them all.”) but Andy has a unique voice and I just can’t believe he’s only 26 with all that he’s accomplished... But I feel that Andy Biersack is the Adam Levine of rock. (Oh my god I love this metaphor sijdisjd I just came up with that NOW? It’s perfect.) No one really knows the other band guys, he has a somehow interesting voice, good looks, he’s somehow respected in the community... (and no one believes they’re the age they actually are)Here you have Goodbye Agony, In The End, Wake Up and... Knives And Pens. Knives and Pens is just really weird to watch because that’s the stereotypical emo song, expect that it started a wave. You know what wave I’m talking about. And yeah, the guy in Wake Up is the same guy that’s in Knives and Pens. UNBELIEVABLE RIGHT? (and he was like 16 or 17 in knives and pens...) Oh but Andy’s solo stuff is really good.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-cxPIOAfSkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0EQlIzPowMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBB37gsHJmQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFDCHdKbKBY

10) UNDER THE LADDER - MÉLOVIN

I’M SORRY BUT YOU SAW THAT COMINGTHIS IS THE SONG THAT I WILL BE OBSESSING OVER FOR TWO MONTHS, THEN FORGET ABOUT IT AND IN FIVE YEARS I’LL FIND IT, LOOK AT MELOVIN IN 2023 AND HAVE A GOOD CRY. OH AND THIS IS EUROVISION BY THE WAY AND IT WAS R O B B E D LIKE WTF JURY? LAST? SERIOUSLY? LOOK AT HOW SAD HE WAS OH MY GOD AND I ACTUALLY WANTED TO CRY WHEN THAT HAPPENED BUT THEN THE TELEVOTES CAME HAHA TAKE THAT, SWEDEN i’m so sorry for people that don’t watch eurovisionanyway, this song is really good, he has a great voice, he looks emo, he talks about emo things (but in ukrainian because he knows like ten words in english) in interviews, he seems older than he is and you can’t understand a word he says perfectBUT LOOK AT HOW PRECIOUS HE IS IN THE END WHEN HE SMILES AND- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhOuMYtQ94M

[idonthaveanaccent]

Humans are Weird - Part 6

So I’m writing this right after an anon ask about if I’m continuing the series and they told me how much they liked it, so I’m assuming that other people too are enjoying this little thing. Anyways, enjoy this part!

The floor seemed to be vibrating. While a normal hum was common on a spaceship, the rhythmic vibrations seemed to shake each crewmember. Sil’keen, a young female Grangle, was currently begging Captain Zellnor to find the source of the racket.

“Please, Captain! Me and the other engineers are terrified! We’ve never heard a noise such as this, nor has the ship ever made such a strange vibration before!” She begged, clasping her furred paws together.

Captain Zellnor sighed, his scales a dark shade of orange. He was worried. “Yes. I’ll have-” he stopped as he eyed the crew. “Where are the humans?”

Xylion looked around frantically. Had the vibrations harmed the humans? He didn't know much about them, but he knew enough about them to notice they were sensitive to certain things. What if this was one of them? What if- what if they were, dare he say it, dead?

Captain Zellnor looked to him. “Find them. Now.”

Xylion nodded, and hurried off towards their cabins as quickly as possible. As he neared Human Mason’s cabin, he felt the vibrations grow louder and he could hear the low beat of...something. Now, he was even more confused. What could that be?

When he reached the cabin door, he typed in the password and he watched as the door slid open. Immediately loud voices were slammed into him. The sound was terrifying. It was like being pushed back. Xylion felt his whole body begin to ache.

“W-wha-”

Human Jenny shook her head and touched a button on some weird device in the middle of the floor. “Mason, we are not listening to your stupid rap stuff anymore!”

“And your mix of Five Seconds of Summer, One Direction, and Megan Trainor is much better?” Human Isaac questioned, narrowing his eyes at her.

Human Jenny looked him dead in the eye as she pressed another button on the machine. The sound of a woman’s voice blasted out of it. She was singing something about ‘lips’ and ‘lying’, though Xylion couldn’t understand what it meant. Why did the two coincide?

“What are you doing?” He yelled, trying to make them hear him.

Human Fredrick glanced up. Hs mouth moved, but Xylion couldn’t hear him. Human Fredrick frowned before closing the book he was reading and walking over and pressing a button on it. The noise stopped.

“Hey!” Human Jenny cried, her eyes wide.

“Hey, Xylion. What’s up?” Human Fredrick asked, looking at him.

Xylion let out a breath. “What. The. Hell. Is. That?” He was so proud that he was using a human word.

Human Fredrick let out a nervous laugh. “Ah, that is music.”

“What?”

“You do know what music is, right?” Human Isaac said, his eyes wide as he stared at him.

Xylion crossed his tentacles. “I know what music is, Human Isaac. That? That wasn’t music.”

Human Jenny stood up and crossed her arms. “That was music, Xylion. Good music.”

Xylion sighed. “Show me, then.”

Human Jenny smiled at him as she typed something into the machine. A song then began to play.

Xylion frowned at the lyrics. Why was this woman talking about gold and wanting to be like herself when she was already herself? It was confusing.

He shook his head. “I’m not into it.”

Human Jenny sighed. Human Isaac grinned. “Mason’s turn!”

Human Mason nodded, walking over to the machine and typing something in.

Xylion listened to the weird conversation between two men. That was definitely not music. He was about to state that when he heard a dude began to talk really fast. Did he say...Rap God? What in all of Galactia was rap? He knew what a god was, but a rap god?

He shook his head. “He doesn’t sound like the girl.”

“They’re different people, Xylion.” Human Isaac said, shaking his head in disappointment.

“Oh.”

Human Isaac pointed at Human Fredrick. “It’s your turn.” He said, a wicked grin on his face.

Human Fredrick nodded as he typed something into it. Xylion listened to the sound of thunder and bells. He frowned. Was this music?

Suddenly, a voice began to sing. Xylion nodded. “This is actually pretty good. Just like back home.”

Human Isaac snickered. Xylion frowned. “What?”

He didn’t have to answer. Xylion heard it. The sound of sudden screaming. Instead of the smooth voice, he heard them yelling at him about ‘devils’ and ‘shoulder’s. Xylion almost screamed in fear.

Human Fredrick quickly turned it off. Human Isaac chuckled. “Alright, my turn, fellas.”

Xylion was terrified. What could Human Isaac be showing?

He immediately heard a voice talking. It was repeating ‘back’, and then it began talking about coffins. Xylion shook his head. “No, I don’t like it.”

Human Isaac sighed as he turned the music off. “You didn’t like any of that?”

“No! Who sung them?”

Human Jenny chuckled. "Mine was Me Too by Megan Trainor.”

"Mine was Rap God by Eminem.” Human Mason said, his voice showing no emotion, as the humans called it.

“Me, Myself, & Hyde by Ice Nine Kills.” Human Fredrick said, nodding to himself.

Human Isaac ran a hand through his curly hair. “Mine was Back from the Dead by Skillet.”

Xylion shook his head. “Those were all terrible.”

Human jenny shook her head. “You’re impossible to please, Xylion.”

Xylion shook his head, and then recalled something. “Say, why were you guys fighting over the songs? Don’t you all like them?”

Human Isaac laughed. “Puh-lease! Us humans are even harder to please than you, Xylion! No one likes the exact same music as someone else! There’s so much to choose from that it’s virtually impossible!”

“There’s more than just those songs?”

Human Jenny nodded. “Of course there is. Why wouldn’t there be?”

“You mean you don’t just have five different performers?”

“There’s thousands of bands and artists out there. I mean, I don’t even know all of them, and I am a music savvy.” Human Isaac said, shrugging.

Xylion nodded. “So you don’t even know all of your own music makers, and there are different ways to create music?”

HUman Fredrick nodded. “For example, Megan Trainor is classified as a pop singer slash songwriter, Eminem is classified as a hip hop slash rapper. Ice Nine Kills is classified as a Metalcore band. And Skillet is a Christian Rock band. There’s a lot more genres, like Country, Spanish, Punk, and Alternative, just to name a few. Music is very diverse on Earth.”

Xylion was about to answer when the sound of pounding feet was heard and Zellnor and Sil’keen appeared in the doorway. Xylion stood up and saluted his Captain. “Sir, it was just the humans listening to their music too loud.” He stated, looking to his superior.

Zellnor relaxed. “Thank goodness. Now, please listen to your music in a quieter volume, alright?”

The humans all nodded, and Human Fredrick typed something in, and a song began to play.

“What’s this one called?” Xylion asked.

“The Moment We Come Alive by Red.”

The aliens listened to the song, and Xylion smiled. It was soothing, almost. It reminded him of his favorite performer back home.

Perhaps the humans weren’t very different from them after all.

I hope you enjoyed this little segment! Music taste. Such a different thing.

I think this is one of my more favorite parts, mainly because it gives me the chance to share some of my favorite songs with you all, while also creating a bride between the Aliens and Humans.

The next part should hopefully be up tomorrow, but I have *sigh* Summer school so I don’t know if I’ll be able to get it up. We’ll see.

Anyways, if you have any suggestions for another part, then go on ahead and either send me a message or comment them below!