Remixes, love them or loathe them, bands do tend to release remix EP's more regularly than some people might like. I am one of those people that would rather see fresh new material than an extra remix of a good song. Maybe because on the one hand when you hear the term 'Remix' you tend to thing dance, electro, techno beats. And on the whole you would be right.
Over the years I have tended to have a real 'love/hate' relationships with remixes, when I hear a remix it's either "that's the best remix since sliced bread" or "what have... Read More Remixes, love them or loathe them, bands do tend to release remix EP's more regularly than some people might like. I am one of those people that would rather see fresh new material than an extra remix of a good song. Maybe because on the one hand when you hear the term 'Remix' you tend to thing dance, electro, techno beats. And on the whole you would be right.
Over the years I have tended to have a real 'love/hate' relationships with remixes, when I hear a remix it's either "that's the best remix since sliced bread" or "what have they done to this classic, they have spoilt it". Giles Martin while working on the Beatles album 'Love', which is a mash up and remix of a few Beatles song for the Cirque du Soleil show from Las Vegas, said "When I first started working on these songs, It felt like painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa". Sometimes classic songs should never be touched and messed around with.
As the remix concept has become more and more popular in the last few years it wasn't a surprise to me to see Skillet release 4 tracks onto an EP called Awake and Remixed EP. Skillet's last studio album 'Awake' was certified gold by the RIAA for sales in excess of 500,000 since it's release last August. Produced by Howard Benson (Three Days Grace, Daughtry, Flyleaf), 'Awake' reached the number 1 spot on the iTunes Top Albums chart within 24 hours of its release. The album also made a blockbuster debut on the SoundScan/Billboard 200, entering the chart at number 2. So it only made sense to take four of the best songs off that album and put on a new EP called Awake And Remixed.
The tracks that appear on the EP are Awake and Alive, Hero, Don't Wake Me & Monster. But if you thought these are going to be dance versions of the songs you would be wrong. These versions seems to be at times a lot slower and a little bit more chilled compared to their original studio versions. Something I wasn't expecting.
The remixes on this album are in general OK, good solid versions. I even think I prefer the remix of track Monsters, but I'm not 100% convinced if you liked the original edition of the tracks on the studio album you are going to love these remixes. But I can't really make that decision for you. This is basically a stop gap for the band between a very successful album in Awake and whatever the band produce next. I don't think this will be every Skillet fans favorite release, but there is nothing wrong with the band trying something different, as they have with this release.
Review by Jono Davies
LTTM Rating 3 out of 5 Stars Standout Tracks Monster
Hero
