It’s been an interesting summer for alternative Christian music. Thousand Foot Krutch came out with new album "Exhale," which was supposed to be the hard rock sequel to their ballad-heavy "Oxygen:Inhale." That one had mixed reviews, but the overall consensus seems to be that while people enjoyed TFK returning to a more rock-centric sound, the album itself fell somewhat short of expectations. Relient K released "Air for Free" which was better received than their previous album, "Collapsible Lung." And now, Skillet has released a new album.

I have been a Skillet fan for many years now. Like many people, I discovered them during the reign of their most commercially successful album "Comatose," but I’ve definitely listened to their previous albums as well. In case you missed it, Skillet’s 10th and latest album "Unleashed" was released Aug. 5. Here’s a full album stream if you want to hear their new album but want to hear it before you buy it.

I would like to preface my review with this: I have never written an official music review before. However, I’m a musician, lyricist, Christian and Skillet fan and those are the perspectives from which I am reviewing the album.

Skillet’s previous album, "Rise," received mixed reviews. Personally, I wasn’t a fan of "Rise." While the music style varied much more than "Awake’s" numerous love songs, "Rise" was lyrically weak and the actual sound did not seem to create a cohesive album; rather, it was a mishmash of sounds and overproduction with no clear direction. I think of it as Skillet’s mid-life crisis album. But I digress. Because "Rise" fell short of my expectations, I was hoping "Unleashed" would redeem Skillet.

For those looking for a harder sound than "Awake" and more unified sound/message than Rise, you have found it. Sort of. The album opens with two aggressive, rockish songs (“Feel Invincible” and “Back From the Dead”), both of which are catchy with empowering lyrics. The two songs make the promising start for the new album.The next song, however, brings the energy down in an almost anti-climactic manner. “Stars” is a worship song and will probably be the one of the only songs on this album popular and worship-y enough to be deemed Air1-worthy. Lyrically, it’s not the cheesiest worship song ever, so it gets a pass in my book even if I don’t necessarily agree with the placement in the album. Just imagine it's the song everyone waves their cell phones to during a concert.

“I Want to Live” comes next and it’s rather unmemorable musically and lyrically. As a Jesusfreakhidehout review put it, it’s a “paint-by-numbers Skillet track.” It is simply there and that’s about all I can say about it. “Undefeated” follows it, continuing on the same line of feeling powerful and getting knocked down but not giving up. I suppose message-wise, it is an apt song to follow “I Want to Live” whose lyrics are exactly as the title suggests. “Undefeated” brings listeners back to a similar rock sound as the first two songs. Unfortunately, it’s all in vain as “Famous” changes the mood immediately after with its almost random synth dance-y pop vibe.

Remember how I commended “Stars” for not having super cheesy, stereotypical worship lyrics? If you got offended by that because you like worship songs or mainstream Christian music, well, “Lions” is the song for you. It is also a good contender for Skillet songs Air1 will play. I might even go so far to say it could probably be played on K-LOVE. Yikes. The lyrics are barely creative and riddled with cliches and rhymes that every good CCM song has.

However, to prove they haven’t sold out, the next song is “Out of Hell.” Yes, it uses the H word.

All joking aside, “Out of Hell” is a loud, fast-paced rock song with enough lyrical strength to almost make us forget about “Lions.” Almost. I’m not alone when I say it’s the best song on the album. “Burn it Down” seems like an interesting choice to follow a song about hell. Still, the song itself maintains the drive “Out of Hell” introduced.

“Watching For Comets” is a love ballad, so whoops, there goes the momentum again. But as far as love ballads go, it’s not bad, especially since it’s the only one on the album. No real complaints here. “Saviors of the World” picks up the pace again, but the lyrics are questionable (namely, the idea of there being multiple saviors of the world, though one can guess he means Jesus’ work through Christians). “The Resistance” ends the album on a relatively rockish note, but like “I Want to Live,” it’s very typically Skillet without being intriguing or unique. It also has a random guitar solo at the end.

As a whole, I find the lyrics in "Unleashed" to be much more shallow than previous albums. Many of the songs are full of empty empowerment and fail to address deeper issues, something previous albums have done quite successfully. However, if you’re looking for music with lyrics and a beat to work out to or to motivate you, you don’t need to look much farther. If you’re looking for catchy rock songs intermixed with worship songs just in case you forget Skillet is Christian, you’ve found it.

For all its faults, I’d rather listen to "Unleashed" than "Rise," which is really all I was hoping for with this album. So, good job, Skillet.

P.S. Please, John. Trim your beard. Thanks.