Jesusfreakhideout.com Music News, June 2013: Critics Agree: Skillet's RISE "Pushes its Musical Limits," "Shows the Band Excelling at Their Craft" and is "THE Album of 2013"

Critics Agree: Skillet's RISE "Pushes its Musical Limits,"
"Shows the Band Excelling at Their Craft" and
is "THE Album of 2013"

Platinum selling and GRAMMY®-nominated band's first album in nearly four years hits today to a flood of praise

RISE already Top 5 on iTunes® Overall Chart

NEWS SOURCE: The M Collective
June 25, 2013

Nashville, Tenn. (June 25, 2013) - Everyone agrees - RISE was worth the wait. Nearly four years since their last album, two-time GRAMMY®-nominated and platinum selling rock band Skillet aren't showing signs of slowing down. The new release, out today, comes as the highly anticipated follow-up to Skillet's mega-selling project AWAKE. The praises for RISE are pouring in with the project being called one of the "Best Rock Albums of the Year." With a Top 5 slot on the iTunes® Overall Chart and the deluxe edition not far behind at No. 7, the band is also narrowing the gap on the iTunes® Rock chart, holding both the No. 2 and No. 3 slots.

USA Today featured the release in today's edition offering a 3 out of 4 star review and toting the headline "Skillet's 'Rise' above rock boundaries." Adding to the momentum comes Billboard's praise of the record for "mixing new sonic flavors into the group's hard-rock bombast." The flood of applause has just begun, with more reviewers chiming in agreement at diverse outlets in both the mainstream and Christian world:

"Skillet is excelling at its craft." - HM Magazine

"Every note feels like it is there to convey an emotion and there is a laudable sense of in-the-moment intensity." - HitFix.com

"Bottom line: Skillet really did rise above the norm and their previous projects with RISE. Each and every song is a masterpiece in its own right...RISE is THE album of 2013." - About.com

"Skillet hopes to strike gold, well platinum, once again…with RISE, band clearly refuses to rest on their laurels." - CCM Magazine

"The songwriting has more depth, there's added diversity, the concept and lyrics are interesting and uplifting...there are plenty of potential hit singles like 'Sick Of It.' Current Skillet fans will find plenty to like, and new fans will be attracted to the album as well." - Loudwire.com

"This has all of the band's best elements in one record. It looks like Skillet has another platinum record on their hands." - Midwest Music Scene

"Skillet's RISE is an achievement well worth the wait...might also be their most musically complex and diverse offering." - New Release Tuesday

"RISE is Skillet's strongest album yet and is one of the best rock albums that will be released this year." - Front Row Report

"...it's hard to root against RISE, as its commercial aspirations are matched by its certainty that, despite the endless smackdowns delivered by the daily grind, goodness will ultimately prevail." - AllMusic.com

The band has been building momentum around the album's arrival with radio promotion, a social media blitz and festival show performances. The past two weeks Skillet hosted their first ever VIP fan events titled "Road to Rise" in Nashville and Chicago. The Chicago Sun-Times heralded the event stating that it "redefines the VIP experience." In the digital world, the band did an exclusive album stream and podcast premiere with Billboard, video premieres with Revolver and Guitar World and a song premiere with USA Today, to name a few. The high media profiles lead up to the band's late night debut on CONAN on July 11.

Prior to street date, Skillet released four tracks off the record: "Sick Of It," "American Noise," "Rise" and "Not Gonna Die." The release led to "Sick Of It" and "American Noise" peaking at No. 1 on the iTunes® Rock Songs Chart and songs "Rise" and "Not Gonna Die" hitting the chart at No. 2. Their continual radio success can be seen on both the Active Rock and Christian charts with "Sick Of It" currently at No. 12 on the Active Rock chart with a bullet and the No. 1 slot at Christian Rock for six consecutive weeks. Also at Christian radio, critic favorite "American Noise" continues to receive airplay at AC radio while quickly climbing the Hot AC/CHR chart at No. 5 with a bullet.

About Skillet:
RISE follows the band's 2009 blockbuster, Awake, which was recently certified platinum for sales in excess of one million copies in the U.S. It's worth noting that Skillet was the only active rock band to achieve platinum certification in 2012, and were one of only three rock bands (the other two being Mumford & Sons and The Black Keys) to strike platinum in 2012.

Awake debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart and No. 1 on the magazine's Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums Chart. In addition, the record hit No. 1 on the iTunes® Top Albums Chart, garnered three Billboard Music Awards and spawned four hit singles including the No. 1 Active Rock smash and gold-certified "Awake & Alive," the gold-certified "Hero," "It's Not Me It's You" and the platinum-certified "Monster." "Monster" lived up to its name, selling more than a million copies and hitting Top 5 at Active Rock radio (the first in a string of multiple Top 5 active rock hits), while its companion video has generated over 47 million YouTube views. The hook-happy "Hero" was featured in season-long spots for NBC's NFL Sunday Night Football and served as the official theme song for WWE's Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View. The band toured endlessly in support, playing to sold-out crowds across the country, which earned them a spot on Pollstar's Concert Pulse Chart of the Top 50 Tours for fall of 2010. Awake followed the band's 2006's gold-selling album, Comatose.

Over the course of the past few years have sold more than two million units in the U.S. alone, racked up more than 150 million YouTube views and amassed a diehard following (dubbed Panheads) whose members number in the millions, including over 4 million on Facebook alone.

[Get Connected with Skillet]
Website// www.skillet.com
Facebook// www.facebook.com/skillet
Twitter// www.twitter.com/skilletmusic

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For more info on Skillet visit the JFH Artists Database.