blindsider's Full Review: The Open Door [Digipak] * by Evanescence
It's been a little over three years since Arkansas-based rock band Evanescence released its major-label debut Fallen, a magnificent album that continues to astound me to this day. With Fallen, Evanescence became worldwide superstars, with the band's exceptional vocalist Amy Lee quickly becoming a role model for millions of "gothic" teenage girls around the world. Whether Amy was belting out the sorrows of a love gone terribly wrong in a sprawling piano ballad or analyzing the pros and cons of suicide amidst crunchy guitar riffs, there was no denying that Evanescence knew how to captivate rock audiences.
Like many other longtime devotees of the band, I have eagerly anticipated the newest release from Amy Lee & Co. for many more months than I feel like counting right now. I was highly curious to see if Evanescence could match the magic that personified Fallen and all of their early independent/demo works after the departure of its co-founder/guitarist Ben Moody in late 2003. While many argued that Ben's role in Evanescence was minimal and that the songwriting would not be severely impacted, one thing has become quite clear to me after many, many listens to the band's new release, The Open Door: without Ben Moody, Evanescence suffers.
Let's take a trip back to the first time I heard The Open Door's lead single, "Call Me When You're Sober."
The childish song title is one thing, but the painful Kelly Clarkson impersonation that soon follows is an entirely different breed of awful. This poppy, piano-driven song showcases Amy trying out a new vocal style that just so happens to be, well, a watered-down version of the aforementioned American Idol star, and I can't find a single thing to like about it. The faded guitars that jump in after Amy's horrendously husky opening wails severely lack any form of energy or catchiness. As if things couldn't get any worse, the lyrics -- which Amy has interestingly dubbed some of her most "honest" and "mature" to date -- include such intricate pearls of wisdom as "Don't cry to me! / If you loved me, you would be here with me! ... / Don't lie to me! / Just get your things... / I've made up your mind."
One thing I'm happy to report is that no song on The Open Door is quite as terrible as "Call Me When You're Sober." Sadly, though, several of the songs are still pretty f*cking terrible. "Lithium," a dull pop ballad which bears no resemblance to the popular Nirvana song of the same name, uses a weak metaphor of comparing a dependence on the drug lithium to Amy's many failed attempts to end her relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Seether frontman Shaun Morgan. While Amy has never previously struggled with convincingly singing about troubled times, her lyrics ("I wanna stay in love with my sorrow / ohh, ohh / but God, I wanna let it go") now resemble what a pre-schooler might write on a bad day. That strong, heart-wrenching voice from Fallen has been replaced with that of any random third-rate American Idol contestant trying desperately to show off her limited vocal range.
"Cloud Nine" and "The Only One" see Evanescence trying to experiment, with the end products not at all focused or mature. Amy's voice is reduced to a highly distorted mumble for the first part of the electro-pop of "Cloud Nine," while she spends the latter half of the song relying on a nasally yell, which is most, most unpleasant. "The Only One" peaked my interest for a few seconds -- its introduction features a blink-and-you'll-miss-it clip of ducks quacking -- but it soon evolves into a duplicate of "Cloud Nine," with sloppier vocals and even more guitar monotony. I must have listened to each of these songs 40 times by now, and I still can't pinpoint a memorable guitar riff or a pretty vocal melody in either of them. It's just messy.
But with all of the bad comes a little good. "Sweet Sacrifice" may have the most simplistic guitar work this side of Fallen's "Going Under," but Amy's high notes in the song's well-executed bridge certainly outshine the majority of the drivel that she's serving up on The Open Door. And groundbreaking it is definitely not, but "Lose Control" is a catchy, sexed-up song in which Amy expresses her desire to let loose once in a while.
Amongst all the terrible, unmemorable, and "eh, decent," two rare treasures known as "Like You" and "Lacrymosa" lie. If Evanescence had scrapped plans for a new album and released these two excellent songs on a single priced at $5.99, I know I would have been a hell of a lot happier.
"Like You" is peaceful and somber, using very little instrumentation and relying on the passion of Amy's voice -- which is in top form here -- to carry the song. Like "Hello" from Fallen, "Like You" is centered around the childhood death of Amy's younger sister. The haunting lyrics give me chills every single time: "I long to be like you, sis / Lie cold in the ground like you did / There's room inside for two / and I'm not grieving for you... / I'm coming for you.""Lacrymosa" is the only song from The Open Door that I would refer to as 'heavy.' It samples from Mozart's Requiem and has a very gothic feel, thanks to the moaning choirs and the eerie string arrangements. This is one of Amy's most stellar vocal performances, and guitarist Terry Balsamo performs a brief solo worthy of much applause, especially considering the redundancy and monotony that he dishes out for most of the album.
Unfortunately, two wonderful songs and a handful of songs that range from "okay" to "good" do not make a great album. Such a combination doesn't even make a good album. It appears that with the loss of Ben Moody in the band, a large chunk of creativity departed as well. I would have been quite content with an album full of songs just like those on Fallen. I've always loved Fallen for the way it simply soars. Every song is a different experience, yet everything flows together so well. Every emotion presented on that album can be felt just as strongly after dozens of listens, and EVERY song on that album contains a truly riveting vocal performance from Amy.
On the other hand, The Open Door is a jumbled up maze. The lyrics and vocals are subpar, and in one year, it'll be difficult to remember very much about this album. Contrary to what Amy Lee says, this album is NOT heavy (it's actually a lot closer to "poppy", and definitely much more so than Fallen), it shows absolutely no "maturity," and it's excruciatingly repetitive. I'm struggling to express just how disappointed I am with the band, so for lack of anything more original to say: "Like You" and "Lacrymosa" will surely be made available on iTunes eventually, and I do recommend giving those songs a listen. But avoid The Open Door at all costs, for this longtime fan is devastated to report that Evanescence has lost its touch.
On the band s highly anticipated 2006 album, The Open Door, Evanescence presents the full-length studio debut of its new line-up, after the departure ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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