You never know where or when a revolution might happen. It usually originates without warning and unexpectedly. After nearly three decades, eleven albums, and thousands of shows worldwide, Skillet play louder, fight harder, and sound more rebellious than ever.
Now, the multiplatinum chart-topping two-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated global hard rock quartet—John Cooper [lead vocals, bass], Korey Cooper [guitar, keys], Jen Ledger [drums, vocals], and Seth Morrison [lead guitar]—deliver an insurgent, infectious, and inimitable body of work with their twelfth full-length offering and first-ever independent album, Revolution.
“Musically, there are a lot of flavors on the record,” notes John. “It’s got the arena songs, but it also has some tunes that are more nostalgic and throwback Skillet. Thematically, there’s so much nihilism in our culture. Depression and teen suicide are at epidemic levels. We’re revolting against a culture that creates nihilism, nothingness, and materialism. Revolution isn’t about wanting to burn everything down. Instead, it’s a revolution of love to say, ‘I refuse to be silent and let you destroy everything. Let’s rebuild together’.” After an incredible 20 years on Atlantic Records, Skillet have built this new vision entirely by hand, intentionally opting to go independent at the end of their last contract and developing a solid indie team. Bolstered and galvanized by the support of a fervent global base, they took advantage of this newfound freedom, writing and recording the album at their own pace on the road and at home as well as in studios across Milwaukee, Canada, and Nashville. The group also tapped the talents of longtime collaborators and producers Brian Howes and Seth Mosely, as well as band member Korey Cooper with YOUTHYEAR/Carlo Colasacco bringing these ten tracks to life naturally.
“We made records on the same label for 20 years, and it was a great experience,” says John. “Since this was the first independent record, it put some pep in my step, so to speak,” he laughs. “We did exactly what we wanted to do. If I was on the road and felt inspired to write, I just did. In the past, we’d make a bunch of ideas and whittle everything down for the album. This time, we only wrote and recorded ten tracks, but it was all we needed.”
Fittingly, Skillet come out of the gate swinging with the single “Unpopular.” Exuding confidence, it hinges on a hard-hitting guitar groove and swaggering rhythm. A shotgun blast, Ric Flair-inspired “Woo,” and wailing guitar lead perfectly complement the tongue-in-cheek lyrics as John muses, “I think today’s a good day to be unpopular.”
“It’s lighthearted, but there’s a clear message,” he goes on. “So many people don’t have a place to belong. You used to know your neighbors. Our communities are online now, which contributes to the loneliness. You have powerful people telling you what reality is, what you should eat, what you should drive, and how you should live. They deem us ‘unpopular’. In reality, we agree more than we disagree as a society. The majority of people just want to be free and they don’t really care whether or not you agree with them about everything. I don’t mind being ‘unpopular’ to powers-that-be who think I should shut up!”
On the follow-up single “Ash In The Wind,” cinematic electronics melt into a hard-hitting bridge punctuated by pinch harmonics and a gritty riff. Emotion overflows as John wonders, “What am I supposed to do?”
“It reminds me of a mix of old Skillet and Linkin Park who I’m a huge fan of,” grins John. “Korey produced it, and it definitely merges the live performance with modern recording techniques. I was thinking of social media, and it makes me mad to see what’s it done to our youth.”.
Elsewhere, airy guitar gives way to a chantable chorus on “All That Matters to Me” as John sings, “My faith, my family, my freedom’s all that matters to me.”
“It was the first song I wrote,” he recalls. “I was sick of all of the anger, insanity, and violence in the world—whether it’s school shootings or people constantly for something to hate online and yelling. I was thinking, ‘How do we remind?’ Again, everyone doesn’t have to agree by any means, but how do we reclaim ideas of community, loving your neighbor, and being willing to tolerate opposing viewpoints as friends? I had to say something about it.”
Then, there’s “Not Afraid.” Melodic guitar entwines with big screen-ready strings, while John locks into a call-and-response with Jen on the bridge. It culminates on refrain, “I will keep the faith, never back down till my dying day. Staring death straight in her face, I am not afraid,” bulldozing a path for a fret-scorching solo.
“We wanted to add the classical vibe with some throwback guitars,” he goes on. “The chorus has a lot of swag. It became the vibe of the album, which is heart-on-your-sleeve and ready-to-take-on-the-world.”
The opener “Show Time” sets the tone. A muscular riff lumbers and stomps, and a charismatic back-and-forth between John and Jen dominates the chorus, “Tonight’s the night we make history, you gotta fight to take victory. Show time, here we go!”
On the other end of the spectrum, John carries the heartfelt “Happy Wedding Day (Alex’s Song)” with unabashed emotion over softly strummed acoustic guitar. He exhales, “I blinked, it went faster than a freight train, happy wedding day.”
“I was initially going to write the song, not show anyone, and sing it at my daughter’s wedding as a surprise,” he remembers. “I never finished the second verse though. I figured there was no way I could do it without getting choked up anyway! When I woke up on the wedding day, I was like, ‘I have to do this song’,” he chuckles. “I grabbed my guitar, and I sang it. My daughter loved it, and everyone was crying. We haven’t done anything like this in a long time, but everybody was like, ‘You have to put it on the record’. I’m glad we did.”
Revolution has only extended Skillet’s formidable legacy. As of 2024, the band have received two GRAMMY® Award nominations, picked up a Billboard Music Award, and landed three albums in the Top 5 of the Billboard 200. Selling over 22 million units worldwide, they have notched multiplatinum, platinum, or gold RIAA certifications for a total of 12 singles and four full-length albums. Not to mention, they have regularly attracted 10 million monthly listeners on Spotify, boasting “one of the most-streamed rock songs of all-time” with the 5x-platinum “Monster.” Their presence has impressively surged throughout popular culture with syncs by WWE, Marvel, ESPN, and NFL in addition to coverage from USA Today, The New York Times, and more. As a live force of nature, they have touched down on four continents and in 26 countries, packing arenas everywhere from the Middle East to Russia. Not to mention, Skillet expanded their world with the graphic novel series EDEN. The first installment stood out as Z2 Comics’ best-selling book of all-time.
Even with all of this history in the rearview, Revolution feels like a new beginning for Skillet.
“I think that the album is poignant, but it's also very confident and inclusive as well. It's a record saying, ‘We have to be willing to stand up for what we believe in—even if it might be unpopular in some circles, but hey, maybe we could have a revolution of love, you know, a revolution of understanding, of tolerance towards people that we don't agree with and come back to some human dignity and respecting people's rights and where they're coming from. And so it's kind of speaking to the division and the polarization that is happening as well, which I think is a really good message and what the whole ‘revolution’ thing is all about. We allude to it on the record cover where there's a Skillet flag, and in the corner it lists I Corinthians, 13:13, a verse that says, “Hold onto these things: faith, hope, love. But the greatest is love.”
