It’s doubtful there is a non cave-dwelling person on this planet that hasn’t heard of Evanescence. This Arkansas based rock group has ridden critical and public acclaim to superstardom and never looked back. The band’s 6X platinum début album, Fallen, has been hailed as the greatest thing since sliced bread. Now, whether all this rampant praise is deserved is another matter entirely. Granted, Amy Lee has one heck of voice, but her band mates struggle at every turn to match her ability. You’d have to seriously rack your brain to remember even one standout guitar hook or churning bass line. Rock aficionados could do much worse than pick up this album, but for Heaven’s sake, let’s take a step back for a minute and acknowledge the considerable flaws plaguing Evanescence’s first effort.

Going Under opens the album with great promise. A more subdued Lee brings her ‘A game’ to the table with a thoroughly satisfying performance. Guitarist Ben Moody is above average, tossing a few pounding riffs and a six-second solo into the mix. This track is definitely one of the album’s strongest moments. The massively over-played first single Bring Me To Life roars in next. Even before the mind-numbing popularity this song achieved, I wasn’t blown away by it, to say the least. Guest vocalist Paul McCoy takes a break from making atrocious music with his band, 12 Stones, to lend a few raspy screams and chants (“Wake me up!”) to this song. Just be thankful that this is the only duet featured on the album.

The surprising fourth single, Everybody’s Fool slips in the third slot without making much of a lasting impression. The good news is that the creepy choir melodies in the intro and bridge help to distinguish it from the pack. The bad news is Lee sounds a lot whinier than anywhere else, complaining about the darker side of fame with lackluster results. Moody and the rest of the gang are as appealing as a colonoscopy. The pace slows with the arrival of My Immortal, a sleepy tune that removes the chunky guitars and boisterous drums from the equation, and allows Lee to really strut her stuff. An exceptionally beautiful piano complements Lee’s soaring harmonies, although it drags heavily near the end. The skip-worthy Haunted tries to create an eerie, atmospheric vibe and fails miserably. The awkwardly developed chorus and lifeless verses do nothing to pull this song out of the quicksand it’s stuck in.

The middle section of a band’s début album is always tricky business. At this point, bands typically relax after they’ve established themselves, with their best material having already been played. Things can get ugly in a hurry. Interestingly enough, this is where Evanescence fans really get their money’s worth. For all the flak that I give Moody, I have to say that he does a bang up job on Tourniquet. Carving an explosive niche with a blazing riff, this song immediately jumps up and declares itself a tremendous achievement. Sinister in tone, with Lee singing about contemplating suicide to escape an addiction to drugs, this sixth track makes a deep impression in the listener. Imaginary raises the stakes with a rousing intro of Lee’s soft melodies and intoxicating violins. Add a first-rate chorus and you have another shining composition. However, the album’s highlight is, without question, Taking Over Me. Curiously overlooked as an obvious choice for a single, this is Evanescence at their peak. Lee once again steals the show with a grand, captivating performance. Combining some solid, crunchy guitars and a carefully arranged piano piece is a recipe for an out-and-out success.

Another soft, piano driven entry, Hello, feels like a letdown after the excellence of the previous track. Lee isn’t given much to do, and it quickly devolves into monotony. My Last Breath throws in a variety of techno effects and synthesizers to compliment the marvelous chorus. Francesco DiCosmo finally gets to do something on the bass, and despite the repetitive guitar work in the chorus, the rapid pace keeps the song moving. The closer, Whisper, rehashes most of the album’s best elements in the hope of delivering another winner, but such is not the case. At five and a half minutes, it seems longer than your average baseball game. Surely the band could have picked a better sendoff song than this, because with it, the album closes with a whimper.

The band can thank Amy Lee for launching Evanescence into modern rock superstardom, because the album begins and ends with her. If they had gone with a male for the lead vocals, the band would have been labeled yet another talentless nu-metal outfit and dismissed by the public. With Lee at the helm, the group often climbs above their peers, hence how they’re playing at sold out shows around the world. Still, Fallen has many problems, such as routinely mundane musicianship and several tracks that scream “flop”. It’s good to know that the band can only get better with some experience under their collective belts. As spectacular as Fallen often is, there is undoubtedly much room for improvement.

Recommended: Yes