Songfacts®:

• John Cooper, Skillet's vocalist and bassist, wrote this about recruiting young Christians as "Alien Youth" to embrace their faith and spread the gospel. "Normally you hear that we're aliens in this world and we don't belong here," he told Christianity Today, referring to scriptures like 1 Peter: 2:11, which describes Christians as foreigners and exiles. "The twist on our title is that we are aliens and we do belong here. We're not from here, but we're taking over the earth for the human race."
• The band created a Bible study to help fans join the Alien Youth movement. Cooper explained: "This study covers the five essentials of becoming an alien youth: birth of a new nature, Holy Spirit living, worship, transforming your mind, and living the alien youth lifestyle."
• Cooper told HM Magazine how Skillet's sound evolved from the hard-rock vibe of Invincible to the electro-industrial tone of this album. "Alien Youth is a step forward from Invincible in terms of sonic intensity," he said. "The goal was to capture our live sound, so the production is bigger in every aspect. There still are the electronic elements and programming, but they have more of an industrial leaning. The guitars are fatter and more prominent in the mix. The writing style is a bit edgier and darker, even though there are still some worship songs. Some people are saying that Alien Youth is a mixture of Skillet's debut album and Invincible."