MattA75's Full Review: The Open Door [Digipak] * by Evanescence
Few bands have sparked such a personal connection amongst listeners in recent years as Evanescence did with their 2003 debut, Fallen. Led by singer Amy Lee's deeply personal lyrics and a pair of couldn't escape them if you tried hit singles, Fallen became a runaway hit.
Unlike others though, I did tire of the record relatively quickly. I'm sure the ridiculous amounts of airplay didn't help, but for me, the album lacked replayability after a certain point. I don't just mean the hits either; the entire album seemed cool until one day it just didn't seem all that great anymore. I sold my copy of Fallen 18 months ago and haven't missed it at all in those 18 months.
With that being said, I was still curious as to how the band would survive the loss of founding guitarist Ben Moody, as well as dealing with the crippling pressure to meet the expectations that selling 6 million records in this day and age brings. The band took their time recording The Open Door, apparently determined to not fall into the sophomore slump.
It appears they weren't determined enough.
The Open Door is a droning record that lacks any of Lee's memorably personal lyrics that helped move Fallen away from being overly generic. The songs lack any memorable hooks, instead treading over the same tired territory that Fallen risked falling into oh so often. Besides her lyrics taking about ten steps back, Lee's vocals here bring to mind a cat in screeching heat.
The first warning of disappointment comes on the opening Sweet Sacrifice. Lee sings like she has marbles in her mouth, warbling through her lyrics worse than Weird Al parodying Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit. Meanwhile, the rest of the band lays down a predictable arrangement of distorted power chords while moving the rhythm section so far back in the mix that you can't help but wonder what the point was of them being on the track in the first place.
Things only get worse when you get to the first single, Call Me When You're Sober. The layers of sound recall Bring Me To Life's arrangement, but this song lacks that track's passion. In fact, the whole band sounds as if they are mailing it in, outside of new guitarist Terry Balsamo's layered riffs. They might lack originality, but at least it appears he's trying to be creative and save a track way beyond being saved. The lack of maturity in the title (pointed at former boyfriend Shaun Morgan of Seether) was supposedly Amy's way of dealing with the situation by being brutally honest. She actually comes off as a spoiled little brat.
The chugga chugga guitars keep on coming on track after track, and as mentioned before, Lee's performance this time is nowhere close to redeeming such musical malaise. On Snow White Queen she takes a stalking situation she went through and attempts to look at it through the stalker's eyes. Over an arrangement that Staind has already used no less than 5 or 6 times themselves, Lee tries to sound dark, eerie even, but she fails miserably. The only bright part of the song is the melding piano and strings, but they take a backseat to the same ol' same ol' chugging guitars and Lee's flailing voice.
One of the album's few bright spots is on Lacrymosa, which despite being only 3 and a half minutes, manages to sound more progressive than anything the band has ever done previously. Balsamo's licks work in many spots, giving the track a much needed boost of adrenaline to contrast the strings used to set the mood.
Less successful is Like You, a song Amy wrote about losing her sister as a young girl. I'd think a more believable vocal performance could've been conjured up by Lee, but instead, she sounds completely melodramatic and dare I say pretentious in her performance. I find little passion in her singing, as she strains to sell lines like "I long to be like you sis, Lie cold in the ground like you did." I'll take melodramatic BS for $200 Alex...
Musically, the most interesting song on the record might just be The Only One, with it's programmed beats and simple piano melody. Too bad the band feels the need to kill the mood with a move towards a brighter sound that takes the edge away despite seemingly trying to have just the opposite effect.
Having listened to this record 8 or 9 times now, I can't help but wonder how in the world a songwriter that seemed to have such talent regressed this badly in the span of 3 years. For those expecting more My Immortals with the departure of Ben Moody, prepare to be disappointed. Instead, we get more of the same chugga chugga guitars that were only redeemed the first time by Lee. Now, with Lee seemingly mailing this album in, the rest of the band is unable to give her the same kind of helping hand she gave them on Fallen.
In effect, The Open Door is a monotonous listen, a disc that drones on and on and on with so little to say. It is as if it hopes to elicit the kind of drama that has surrounded the band since Moody left, but comes off as, well, horribly pretentious.
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
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
![The Open Door [Digipak] * by Evanescence](http://di1.shopping.com/images1/pi/d6/00/bb/2011393638-177x150-0-0.jpg)
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.