Comatose Comes Alive

AMG Review of Comatose Comes Alive

Jared Johnson
All Music Guide

Following the success of 2006's Comatose -- which sold over 400,000 units -- Skillet toured with Flyleaf, Breaking Benjamin, and Three Days Grace over the course of 2007 and stayed on the road the following year. A live record could only do justice to those tours if it adequately captured the group's raw, pulsing energy and the growth and expansion of their sound over the years. And to the utter delight of fans, Comatose Comes Alive scores on both accounts. The CD/DVD was recorded in front of a deafening crowd in May 2008 at the Tivoli Theater in Chattanooga, TN. About two-thirds of the set list is derived from Comatose -- all five of that disc's number one hits are included, as well as lesser-known tracks and a few favorites from Collide and Alien Youth. The quality of the recording production made it able to seize all of the sonic nuances that made Comatose their magnum opus. John Cooper's blazing vocals are cranked to 11, and the group unleashes a furious wall of rock sound.