Victorious (Skillet album)

Victorious is the tenth studio album by American Christian rock band Skillet, released on August 2, 2019.^[6] The album was announced on May 7, 2019, and a lyric video was released for the track "Legendary" at the same time on the band's YouTube channel.^[2] The band released the song "You Ain't Ready" on July 26, 2019, as a promotional single.^[7] "Legendary" was later chosen to be the new theme song for a new look WWE Raw, which debuted in 2019.^[8]

Victorious
Studio album by Skillet
Released	August 2, 2019
Recorded	December 2018 – April 2019^[not verified in body]
Genre	Christian rock^[1] hard rock^[2]
Length	44:59
Label	Atlantic
Producer	John Cooper Korey Cooper Kevin Churko Seth Mosley Mike "X" O'Connor
Skillet chronology
Unleashed (2016) Victorious (2019) Dominion (2022)
Singles from Victorious
"Legendary" Released: May 7, 2019^[3] "Save Me" Released: June 14, 2019^[4] "Anchor" Released: June 14, 2019^[5] "Terrify the Dark" Released: July 24, 2020

Background and recording

Skillet released their previous studio album, Unleashed, in 2016. During the production stage for Victorious, lead singer John Cooper and his wife, Korey, solely produced half of the album while joining Seth Mosley and Mike "X" O'Connor for two other songs.^[2]

Composition

In an interview with Radio.com, lead singer John Cooper said the album was composed of fight songs and that he wanted to let others know that "you can be victorious through the trials of life, but life is going to suck sometimes".^[9] In regards to specific tracks, Cooper told Billboard that "Legendary" was about making the most out of your life and referenced the past criticism the band received about their musical path.^[2] Upon the launch of the music video for "Legendary", Cooper told People that the song's meaning was "to live your life the way you think you should". Cooper also added that "Legendary" was chosen as the first released single because of the pumped up energy levels.^[10]

Promotion and release

On May 7, Billboard reported the release date for Victorious was August 2 and included the newly released lyric video for "Legendary".^[3] The song became a single for rock radio stations on May 20 and had a later music video published in July 2019.^[11][12] For their other songs released before the album's release, Skillet had "Anchor" and "Save Me" available to stream on June 14 while "Anchor" became a Christian radio single on July 19.^[4] On July 26, "You Ain't Ready" was made available alongside an accompanying lyric video.^[7]

Touring

In April 2019, Skillet revealed they would be embarking on a tour throughout the United States alongside Sevendust. The Victorious War started on August 11 in Memphis, Tennessee and ended on September 7 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.^[13] After the tour with Sevendust, Skillet started a one-month North American tour with Alter Bridge called the Victorious Sky Tour, running from September 22 to October 25.^[14]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Jesus Freak Hideout	^[15]

Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic called the album a "satisfying, defiant, and rousing collection of spiritual hype music".^[1] Alternatively, David Craft of Jesus Freak Hideout felt that the band was limiting themselves on the album and "seem to be stuck on recreating Comatose".^[15]

Accolades

Year-end lists

Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
365 Days of Inspiring Media	Top 50 Albums of 2019	5	^[16]
Loudwire	The 50 Best Rock Albums of 2019	Unranked	^[17]

Track listing

The track listing was released along with the album announcement.^[18] Credits adapted from CD booklet.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Legendary"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper Seth Mosley	4:05
2.	"You Ain't Ready"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper Kane Churko Kevin Churko	3:18
3.	"Victorious"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper Seth Mosley	4:06
4.	"This Is the Kingdom"	John L. Cooper Mia Fieldes Seth Mosley	3:28
5.	"Save Me"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper	3:43
6.	"Rise Up"	John L. Cooper Kane Churko Kevin Churko	3:58
7.	"Terrify the Dark"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper Mia Fieldes Seth Mosley	3:45
8.	"Never Going Back"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper	3:34
9.	"Reach"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper	3:23
10.	"Anchor"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper Daniel Omelio Nolan W. Sipe	3:37
11.	"Finish Line"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper Seth Mosley	3:26
12.	"Back to Life"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper	4:37
Total length:			44:52

Japanese edition bonus track ^[19]

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Victorious" (Demo)	4:05
Total length:		49:06

Victorious: The Aftermath^[20][21]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Dead Man Walking"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper Kane Churko Kevin Churko	3:51
14.	"Sick and Empty"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper	4:28
15.	"Dreaming of Eden"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper	5:05
16.	"Victorious (Soundtrack version)"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper Seth Mosley	4:30
17.	"Legendary (Destiny Remix)"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper Seth Mosley	3:53
18.	"Save Me (Reimagined)"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper	3:35
19.	"Reach (Falling Deep Mix)"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper	3:34
20.	"Terrify the Dark (Reimagined)"	John L. Cooper Korey Cooper Mia Fieldes Seth Mosley	3:35
Total length:			77:31

Personnel

Skillet

• John Cooper – vocals, bass guitar, additional guitars (7)
• Korey Cooper – programming (1-5, 7–10, 12, 13), keyboards (4, 7, 10, 11), additional programming (6, 11), additional guitars (10)
• Seth Morrison – lead guitars
• Jen Ledger – drums, vocals

Additional musicians

• Chris Marvin – additional backing vocals (1, 3, 4, 5, 13), additional guitars (3, 5), backing vocals (7, 8)
• Seth Mosley – keyboards (4, 7), programming (4, 7), additional guitars (4, 7, 11), additional backing vocals (4), backing vocals (7)
• Mike "X" O'Connor – keyboards (4, 7, 11), programming (4, 7), additional guitars (4, 10, 11), additional programming (11)
• Tate Olson – cello (3, 13)
• Drew Griffin – viola (3, 13), violin (3, 13), additional guitars (13)
• Cara Fox – strings (4, 7)
• Eleonore Denning – strings (4, 7)
• Rosalie Marvin – additional backing vocals (3, 13), backing vocals (5)

Production

• Zachary Kelm – executive producer, management
• John Cooper – producer (1, 3, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13), editing (1), engineer (3, 8, 13)
• Korey Cooper – producer (1, 3, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13), engineer (1, 3, 7, 8, 10–13)
• Kevin Churko – producer (2, 5), engineer (2, 5), mixing (2, 5)
• Seth Mosley – producer (4, 7, 10, 11)
• Mike "X" O'Connor – producer (4, 7, 10, 11), engineer (4, 7, 10, 11), editing (4, 7, 10)
• Nick Rad – engineer (1, 3, 8, 12, 13), editing (1, 3, 8, 10, 12, 13), mixing (13)
• Kane Churko – engineer (2, 5)
• Jericho Scroggins – engineer (7, 10, 11), production assistant (7, 10)
• Neal Avron – mixing (1, 3, 4, 7–12)
• Tristan Hardin – Pro Tools editing (2, 5)
• Nick Schwartz – editing (4, 7, 11)
• Ted Jensen – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York, NY)
• Pete Ganbarg – A&R direction
• Andrew Kemp – A&R direction
• Anne Declemente – A&R administration
• Mark Obraski – art direction, design
• Chino Villatoro – photography
• Chrissy Yoder – photography

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2019) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)^[22] 31 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[23] 20 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[24] 39 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[25] 117 Canadian Albums (Billboard)^[26] 33 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[27] 94 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[28] 17 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)^[29] 22 Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[30] 139 Scottish Albums (OCC)^[31] 21 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[32] 10 UK Albums (OCC)^[33] 84 UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)^[34] 3 US Billboard 200^[35] 17 US Christian Albums (Billboard)^[36] 1 US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)^[37] 3 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)^[38] 3

Year-end charts Chart (2019) Position US Top Christian Albums (Billboard)^[39] 31 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)^[40] 100 Chart (2020) Position US Top Christian Albums (Billboard)^[41] 24

References

1. 'Victorious at AllMusic. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
2. "Skillet Announces New Album 'Victorious': Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
3. Childers, Chad (May 7, 2019). "Skillet Announce 'Victorious' Album, Reveal New Song 'Legendary'". Loudwire.com. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
4. "Listen To Two New SKILLET Songs, 'Anchor' And 'Save Me'". Blabbermouth.net. June 14, 2019. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
5. Childers, Chad (June 14, 2019). "Skillet Unveil Two New Songs 'Anchor' + 'Save Me'". Loudwire.com. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
6. "Skillet Releases 10th Album 'Victorious': Stream It Now". Billboard. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
7. Longs, Herb (July 26, 2019). "Skillet Drops New Song "You Ain't Ready"". TheChristianBeat.org. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
8. Ahmed, Tufayel (September 30, 2019). "WWE 'Raw' to premiere new stage, theme music and logo". Newsweek. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
9. Timmerberg, Tiana (August 1, 2019). "Skillet Dives into New Album 'Victorious,' Looks Back With Performances of 'Monster' and 'Feel Invincible'". Radio.com. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
10. Mizoguchi, Karen (July 16, 2019). "Skillet Debuts New 'Legendary' Music Video: 'Don't Be Afraid to Go Against the Crowd,' John Cooper Says". People. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
11. "SKILLET: More 'Victorious' Album Details Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. May 8, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
12. Cerio, Michael (July 17, 2019). "Skillet Triumph in This Exclusive Acoustic Performance of 'Legendary'". Radio.com. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
13. Childers, Chad (April 22, 2019). "Skillet + Sevendust Co-Headline 'Victorious War' Tour With Pop Evil + Devour the Day". Loudwire. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
14. Divita, Joe (June 24, 2019). "Skillet + Alter Bridge Announce Co-Headlining Tour With Dirty Honey". Loudwire. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
15. Craft, David (August 1, 2019). "Skillet, "Victorious" Review". Jesus Freak Hideout. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
16. Andre, Jonathan (April 12, 2020). "BEST OF 2019- PART 11: TOP 50 ALBUMS OF 2019 | 365 Days of Inspiring Media". 365 Days of Inspiring Media. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
17. "The 50 Best Rock Albums of 2019". Loudwire. Townsquare Media. December 5, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
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21. "Victorious: The Aftermath (Deluxe) by Skillet on iTunes". iTunes Store. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
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24. "Ultratop.be – Skillet – Victorious" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
25. "Ultratop.be – Skillet – Victorious" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
26. "Skillet Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
27. "Dutchcharts.nl – Skillet – Victorious" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
28. "Offiziellecharts.de – Skillet – Victorious" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
29. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2019. 32. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
30. "Skillet". Oricon. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
31. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
32. "Swisscharts.com – Skillet – Victorious". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
33. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
34. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. August 9, 2019. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
35. "Skillet Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
36. "Skillet Chart History (Christian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
37. "Skillet Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
38. "Skillet Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
39. "Top Christian Albums – Year-End 2019". Billboard. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
40. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2019". Billboard. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
41. "Top Christian Albums – Year-End 2020". Billboard. Retrieved December 5, 2020.