Collide (Skillet album)

Collide is the fifth studio album by American Christian rock band Skillet. It was originally released on Ardent Records on November 18, 2003. The album was re-released on Lava Records as an enhanced CD with the bonus track "Open Wounds" on May 25, 2004. Collide peaked at No. 179 on the Billboard 200 and No. 5 on the Top Heatseekers. The album artwork, according John Cooper in a 2004 interview, is "faith and fear colliding." The album has sold over 320,000 units in the USA alone. The album received positive reviews. Collide was nominated for "Best Rock Gospel Album" at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards on February 13, 2005. Even though the album has sold enough copies to go gold, it has never been certified by the RIAA. On this album, Collide shed the industrial rock sound that Skillet utilized for three records in favor a heavier nü-metal sound.

Music video
A music video was made for the single "Savior". The video shows the band playing in both a house and at a park at night. It became only the second Skillet music video to include a story, after "Best Kept Secret" from Invincible in 2000, though the story in the "Savior" video is more heavily featured. The video shows an abusive father mistreating his children in the house, and the subsequent escape of the children from him. They make their way to the park, while the location where the band plays switches from one to the other. The video ends with the children being safe in their mother's arms. Lead singer and bassist, John Cooper, has said that 'Savior' is a song written mostly about his childhood. Although he was not physically abused by his father, he had a very destructive emotional relationship with him.

Track listing

 * Live recording appears on Comatose Comes Alive (2008)
 * Appears on The Platinum Collection compilation (2012)

Personnel
Credits taken from the CD liner notes.

Skillet
 * John L. Cooper – lead vocals, bass guitar
 * Korey Cooper – keyboards, acoustic piano, drum programming, sampling, string arrangements, backing vocals
 * Ben Kasica – electric guitars, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
 * Lori Peters – drums, backing vocals

Technical
 * Paul Ebersold – producer (all tracks except "Fingernails" and "Open Wounds"), engineer (all tracks except "Open Wounds"), additional string arrangements
 * John L. Cooper – producer ("Fingernails")
 * Kevin Kadish - producer ("Open Wounds")
 * Curry Weber – engineer (all tracks except "Open Wounds")
 * Matt Martone – engineer (all tracks except "Open Wounds")
 * Skidd Mills – engineer (all tracks except "Open Wounds"), mixing
 * John Goodmanson – engineer ("Open Wounds")
 * Scott Hardin – assistant engineer (all tracks except "Open Wounds")
 * Ryan Wiley – assistant engineer (all tracks except "Open Wounds")
 * Scott Hull – mastering at The Hit Factory (New York City, New York)
 * Asterik Studio – art direction, design (Seattle, Washington)
 * Christiév Carothers and Everything Visual – imaging
 * Margaret Malandruccolo – band photography
 * Kris McCaddon – additional photography
 * Richard Bates, Liz Barrett – art direction (2004 reissue)
 * Andrew Karp – A&R direction (2004 reissue)