Pros: The three songs Amy penned by herself - Lithium, Like You, Good Enough
Cons: The denial. The lack of continuity. The voids.
The Bottom Line: The Open Door - a bag of mixed messages. If Amy's going to play the victim, the very least she can do is bring Ben back into the fold.
kristinafh's Full Review: The Open Door [Digipak] * by Evanescence
Dear Amy,
Three and one half years ago, I was sitting in the movie theater, watching Ben and Jen and their wonderful chemistry in Daredevil, when I first heard My Immortal. The wind was knocked out of me. I quivered. My eyes welled up. It was like no one else was around me. A couple of scenes later, Bring Me To Life came on. Again, I was shocked. Stunned. I ran out of the theater and searched and searched and searched to find out anything and everything about Evanescence.
I didn't have to wait too long for more - Fallen was released about a week later and there was absolutely nothing that came between me and my cd.
But I wasn't satisfied. I purchased every single remix and cd single because I just needed to get further into your psyche. I needed to understand every nuance and every nook and cranny of your thought processes.
Along the way, Evanescence became more popular. You and your childhood friend, Ben Moody, were interviewed ad nauseum. The cracks began to show. Eventually, rumors were swirling that you two were having problems with each other. Denials were issued. Plastic smiles were pasted on your faces. Finally, you two split from each other. Was it a lover's spat? Ben's alleged bi-polar condition? His abusive nature? Whatever it was, the video for My Immortal was very eerie. It conveys this frictional - push and pull between you two….the loneliness and frustration that comes with not being able to make peace with someone whom you've shared a lot with.
While I was saddened about Ben's departure, I was hopeful that you and the rest of the band would make music with meaning and impact. I waited for what seemed to be forever and then, The Open Door was released.
Amy, honey. There are SO many things I want to say and I'm having difficulty knowing how to - well - soften the blow.
The long and the short of it is this.
I read an article recently where you said that Fallen was about pain, fear, and hurt while The Open Door was about you being "over it" and "how do I make it feel better". Part of being "over it" is acknowledging a history. How you make it better is not to forget that pain forever grounds you in a reality. Your mode of operation seems to be walk one way, talk another way. You seem to be attracted to men who eventually put you into a victim mode. Instead of confronting your own demons, you're lashing out at the men - making them the center of the blame. Ben's gone. Shaun's gone. Your manager is gone. Think about it.
And also...
1) This isn't a band album. It's a solo album hiding behind the safety of some guys who play instruments.
2) You held back in places. You let voids happen. You let men step in and fill voids with whatever they could randomly think of. Very victim like Amy.
3) You need to re-think the order of the songs. Tell a story, take us on a journey. Instead of doing that, you jerked us around, not allowing us to feel your alleged transitional emotions.
4) Obviously, you’re not ready to let go of Ben. You named the cd, The Open Door which points directly to an interview that Ben gave to MTV in 2005, I sent her a message letting her know the door was open… You won’t return his calls. EVANESCENCE star AMY LEE is publicly urging her ex-boyfriend and former bandmate BEN MOODY to stop trying to contact her - because she feels any relationship with him would be "poisonous".
5) You lack chemistry with Ben's replacement - Terry Balsamo. Maybe it's because he's married or because he's having health issues or that his creative focus isn't the yin to your yang. Whatever it is, let's not pretend that this relationship is something that it really isn't.
Okay. Needed to get that off of my chest. In spite of my feelings Amy, I've taken several weeks to listen to The Open Door. I have to be honest and tell you that it was hard. I think with some time, it might grow on me however, it'll never resonate with me like Fallen did. Here's what I think about each one of the tracks.
Sweet Sacrifice was blah with the exception of your tonal inflections during time. Otherwise, it was a heavy-metal song with pieces of everything but the kitchen sink thrown in. So this was your F-you song to Ben? One day I'm gonna forget your name and one sweet day, you're gonna drown in my lost pain. This says to me, you just ain't over him - as much as you deny it - you ain't. Grade: C-
On the next listen to Call Me When Your Sober, I found that I liked it much more than seeing/hearing it on MTV. Still, you have to admit that it was a very safe first release. The intro with just you and a piano which diverged into a three way harmony led nicely up to the opening guitar riffs. Instead of the raw anger that you show in Going Under, it was more like an ultra-lite version. I hear that Shaun is none too pleased with your public airing of the dirty laundry. Me? It makes me giggle like the Snuggle Bear. Grade: B
As a sidenote Amy, I've never thought that your videos (minus My Immortal) - were spectacular and in CMWYS, there were places Amy, where you were over emoting. You don't need to do that. It's - well - it's kind of Mariah Carey like. If I start hearing that you'll only be photographed on one side of your face, well then, I'm not sure what I'll do...
Weight of the World has a cool Eastern-flavored intro - which I appreciate and adore. Even more, I like your deep and throaty and a bit distorted singing of weight of the world. The lyrics actually resonated with me. I felt the anger, the angst, the desperateness. This might be considered my top song but then you went in and threw in some silly ohhh's that sound like cheap Halloween sounds. Grade: B
Out of all of the songs on this album, I like Lithium the best. Word for word, note for note, it matches the softness, vulnerability, pain, anger, regret, want, and need that ran althroughout Fallen. I'm especially blown away when you sing, I can't hold on to me...wonder what's wrong with me. When you sing in the lower register of your range, I get mega-goosebumps. And I'll let you deny that this is a back and forth, his/her song of Ben/Amy. It is my friend. Grade: A+
The best part of Cloud Nine is the bridge, guess it wasn't real after all, guess it wasn't real all along. And of course, this has GOT to be about your struggle with telling Shaun to screw off. Enough with the whole Halloween sound effects too. You just ruined a perfectly good song.
Grade: C
How did you know that I love Snow White? I mean, all of those silly Disney princesses are blonde (mostly) but then we have Snow White. Yay! Snow White Queen is different and a tad bit risky for you. There's not as much focus on the big bang rock effects as much as the scary, stalker lyrics. There are bits and pieces where the song shines (i.e. I feel you in my dreams and I don't sleep) and other places where I want to tell you to go back and fix it (i.e. Wake up in a dream, frozen fear). Grade: B-
I'm a big fan of music that's in 3/4 time and then of course, I'm a huge fan of Mozart. He's the king of all that is dysfunctional Amy. And hey, everyone needs a Bohemian Rhapsody in their life ;). But woman - what happened? Lacrymosa had potential. It had big, splashy strings (ala Whisper), and a gothic-sounding choir. I think what messed it up for me Amy is that there wasn't any passion or soul. Usually, I don't have to "hear" the lyrics in order to pick this up. When I couldn't intuitively pick up your emotion, I listened to the lyrics and I guess it's supposed to signal some sort of moving on. I guess. I dunno. Amy, it just ended up being a mess. I'm disappointed. Grade: D
When I heard Like You, I felt it. Just like I had felt in Hello. No wonder. You wrote it about your deceased sister. It could have been a total part II of Hello but instead, you tapped into something that shakes me to my core. The lyrics. The emotions. Everytime woman. I long to be like you. lie cold in the ground like you. As I sit here typing this, I remember the death of someone special in my life and how for many years, I wanted to crawl into the ground with them. The ache of someone who was there and then gone. The switching on and off of a light. One day there. Boom. Gone. Are they in pain? Are they alone? Why did you deserve to live and they did not? I gotta stop now. Grade: A+
Lose Control is very schizo for me. Throwing in the reference of the nursery rhyme Mary had a lamb. his eyes black as coals. along with the distorted and seemingly disconnected musical styles - well I should have disliked it. Instead, I'm coming to the enjoy the more experimental side of you. Even if this is about sneakin' around ;). Grade: B-
Madonna already used the carnival sounding opening in a couple of her songs - you got to go there too? The Only One though recovers because this is truly the f-you Ben song. I feel it. We're all grieving lost and bleeding - that's him leaving you in mid-tour. All our lives. we've been waiting. for someone to call our leader. all your lies. I'm not believing. Again - all about Ben. And one more reference to him. can't hold onto the fear that I'm lost without you. if I can't feel, I'm not mine, I'm not real. Grade: B
Your Star is the flip to the f-you Ben song. and I'm alone now. me and all I stood for. we're wandering now. all in parts in pieces, swim lonely. find your own way out. You're depressed and mesmorized by the bleakness and neverending darkness but somehow you rebel and sing your way out of it (with a nice choir backing you up). Dear Ben - you find your own way out, I'll find mine (courtesy of Terry Balsamo). Grade: B-
Thank gawd for John LeCompt. Taking the lead on the creativeness for All That I'm Living For, it's obvious that he hasn't forgotten the heart and soul of what made ya'll sound like Evanescence. Guitars that sound fantastic, your voice which takes center stage, and lyrics that taunt and tease the bridge All that I'm living for. all that I'm dying for. all that I can't ignore. It'll be a single. Grade: B+
Good Enough was a surprise to me Amy. And a pleasant one at that. There's so much beauty in the arrangement AND the lyrics. The strings, as they creep softly across the piano melody, are a sister to your sweet vocals. I feel good enough for you People say it's a happy song but I think that it's a point-in-time song Amy. It's a place you've been. A place that you idealize. A place you want to be again. Was this at the beginning of your relationship with Shaun? Whenever it was, you beautifully captured the passion, romance, and peace that we all strive to hold on to. Grade: A
Okay. I realize I've probably just given you back a dose of mixed messages takes one to know one.
Amy, compared to Fallen, this cd is a C. Compared to everything else out there, this cd is a B. Let's split it and round it up, shall we? But next time, I won't be so forgiving. Kinda like you're being right now with Ben. ahem.
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.