I recall the first time I ever heard Evanescence. It was an exciting moment for me. This was the first time I had ever had a band I really, truly connected with a band. Amy Lee's soaring vocals, the delicate piano combined with picture-perfect rock harmony. I was in love. But that was January of 2003, and I was a naive, impressionable little teenager. After that day, I was obsessed with all things Evanescence. I bought Fallen the day it came out, and basically wore my copy out. I saw them in concert twice. I went goth and pretty much hated myself for it (my hair will never be the same after all those black dye jobs). But now, I am older, wiser, and brunette. I have barely listened to Fallen since I saw them in concert last, which was in August 2004. I am not ashamed to admit that Evanescence changed my life. But now, I think it's time to let it all go.

The band Evanescence has been together since 1997. It started out with original members, Amy Lee and Ben Moody, who met at a church camp. Amy, who was classically trained on the piano, and leader of her school choir, teamed up with Ben, who wrote most of the lyrics and played guitar. They released a few EP's throughout the 90's. David Hodges, who played piano, joined the band by the time they released their album Origin in 2000. After being signed to Wind-Up, they released their major label debut, Fallen in March 2003. The band achieved huge success with their first single, Bring Me To Life. David had left the band after the release and Ben eventually left in 2004 due to conflict with Amy. The lineup was now Will Boyd on bass, Rocky Gray on drums, John LeCompt on rhythm guitars, and Terry Balsalmo (formerly of Cold) on lead guitar. After the Fallen tour was over, Evanescence began to record their new album. Since then, Amy sued their ex-manager for sexual assault, Terry suffered from a stroke, Will quit the band to be with his family, and Amy's relationship with her boyfriend, Shaun Morgan, ended. So, not surprisingly, their new album, The Open Door is filled to the brim with angst, heartbreak, and regret. Sounds a lot like Fallen, eh?!

---------------------------------------------------

The album starts off with some kind of crazy distortion. Sweet Sacrifice is obviously Amy's "angry" song, like Going Under was on Fallen. It's not a very imaginative song, but Amy's vocals are great. I really think that Amy's vocals are one of The Open Door's strong points. She's obviously improved over the past four years. Next comes the overplayed single, Call Me When You're Sober, which in my opinion, has nothing on BMTL. Lee has admitted that CMWYS is about ex-boyfriend Shaun Morgan, who recently went into rehab. As it is with many albums, the single is totally non-representative of what the rest of the album is like. CMWYS shows a glimmer of hope and recovery, and I see little to none of that in ToD. Weight of the World is a rhythmic, chugging song that feels rehashed. There's some crazy howling in the background in the second half of the song that really could just drive you up a wall.

Following the formula of Fallen, the uber-depressing Lithium is next. Imagine My Immortal as Amy on Prozac. Now imagine her without her pills for a few days, and you have Lithium, which is obviously about Shaun Morgan. First of all, I don't see why Amy would date this guy anyway, but good lord! This song could drive me to eat fifteen gallons of Ben & Jerry's and going through 75 boxes of Kleenex. Well, maybe not, but it's seriously depressing. ("Don't wanna forget how it feels without lithium, I wanna stay in love with my sorrow.")

This is the biggest "what the eff" moment I've had this year. Cloud Nine is possibly the weirdest thing I've ever heard out of Evanescence. Listen to the first five seconds of it and you'll see what I mean. I had to keep myself from punching my stereo off of the table and crying because of what has happened to Evanescence. But I guess once you get past this crazy "experiment" or whatever the hell Amy Lee calls this operatic howling, it's not too bad of a song. But if you thought this was bad, you haven't heard anything yet. Snow White Queen is probably one of the worst songs I've heard this year. Not just from Evanescence, but period. It is terrible. Apparently, it's about about a maniacal fan who started stalking Amy, but seriously. Amy sounds like she's trying to throw up while she's singing and the background is pretty much random noise. It's honestly one of the worst songs I've ever heard.

One of the strongest songs on the album is Lacrymosa, which got me excited for this album. The choir is a huge part of the song without overpowering Amy. It's dark without being hugely depressing, as the album tends to be. It's kind of like Imaginary meets Whisper from Fallen. It's nothing new, but it's good, maybe even a saving grace. Like You is another one of those songs that really just depresses the hell out of you. It's Amy's tribute to her sister that died when she was six. It's lyrics like this that really make you wish you had your happy pills: "I long to to be like you, lie cold in the ground like you, there's room inside for two and I'm not grieving for you". Now three years ago, I probably would've eaten this song up and wanted more, but I think we've heard this twice now from Amy? Hello from Fallen and possibly Even In Death from Origin were about Amy's sister. Like I said, this is nothing new, just about 30 times more depressing.

Lose Control was a song I really was curious about after hearing Amy talk about it. It was the "sexy" song of the album, she said. But is it really? I suppose the beginning sounds like Amy's trying to pass for a seductress, but the chorus seems forced to me. There's a somewhat quiet vocal and piano with a loud bassline, but then there's just this explosion of guitar that almost doesn't fit. I think Evanescence could've pulled off sexy, but they could've done it better. The Only One is probably The Open Door's best song, except for this random duck sound in the beginning (I don't even know anymore, I won't ask questions). Amy's vocals soar, especially in the chorus. There's this one part of the song that still gives me goosebumps, like their other songs used to. The orchestral arrangements are gorgeous and fit right in, and dear Lord, Amy! I wish I heard more vocals like this. But the question is: can she pull it off live?

The next three songs are not much more than bland. Your Star fails to catch my attention at all, with mechanical instrumentation and drowsy vocals. All That I'm Living For is a basic rock tune, with heavy guitars, but nothing really new or interesting. And Good Enough? It's cheesy, at best, but sometimes I'll find myself singing it. I think it would probably be a good song to do live, but it's a boring studio song. It sounds to me like Amy was pretty much satisfied with the rest of the album, so she just stuck some random song at the end. Not bad, but did you hear Whisper? That, my friends, was a song to go out with.

---------------------------------------------------

So, here we are. Three and a half years later and I am thoroughly disappointed. I really didn't have many expectations for this album, which is probably a good thing. I wasn't let down too hard. I mean, how was Evanescence supposed to follow up something like Fallen, all while losing their chief songwriter? I knew the album wouldn't be the same without Ben involved. After all that's happened with the band, I suppose that Amy has the right to be little miss feelings, but is this honestly the best that they had in them? They were once my favorite band, maybe even borderline obsession, but now I think it's time to let go.

Did you ever think you'd live to see the day I'd say that? :)

Tracklisting:
Sweet Sacrifice / ***
Call Me When You're Sober / ***
Weight Of The World / **
Lithium / **
Cloud Nine / **
Snow White Queen / *
Lacrymosa / ****
Like You / **
Lose Control / ***
The Only One / *****
Your Star / **
All That I'm Living For / **
Good Enough / **

Recommended: No