nclusvevaliant's Full Review: Fallen by Evanescence
Amy Lee (Vocals)
John LeCompt (Guitar)
Ben Moody (Lead Guitar)
Will Boyd (Bass)
Rocky Gray (Drums)
If you are looking for a review that states "buy this" or "don't buy this" in sophisticated SAT words and cryptic interpretations of the songs, you won't find that here. If you want to learn more about this album than just how long it is, or technical opinions of the arrangements, you've come to the right place. This review will not only tell you just how moving the music on this album is, but the journey in which the band went through to get to this point.
Now I will tell you what I've done for you.
Within seconds of putting this CD into your player, you're immediately commanded to listen to Amy's story as the pounding of the guitars shock your eardrums. Melodic piano keys being sporadically tapped add an almost erratic emotion to the music. Going Under, the first song you're blessed with on the album is a powerful rock tune about fears of falling for someone you already know is bad for you; because you've dated them before. Written by Amy Lee, her voice demands that you hear her pain, and rings so true in so many hearts around the world.
Their first single, Bring Me To Life, put the band on the radar. Originally written and recorded having the music be accompanied by only one vocalist, it was remixed for The Daredevil Soundtrack which also included their song My Immortal, a powerful piano ballad written by the former Evanescence member Ben Moody when he was 15. There have been many rumors about this song being a song about Amy, or even Jesus Christ. According to Ben, the song is about a spirit remaining with you after its death, haunting you. Ben dedicated the song along with the Fallen album to his grandfather.
My Immortal isn't Evanescence's only ballad to find its way to this album. Their song Hello is also a piano ballad, performed and written by Amy Lee. The only song off the album that has never been performed live, Amy wrote the song about her deceased sister, Bonnie. This is also the only song on the album that features no harmonies. Simply Amy and her piano, with a short string solo in the bridge. The piano arrangement in this song is highly monotonous, but honestly it took me almost a year to notice. Amy's voice is so captivating in this song, the piano is merely guiding her soft tones and peerless range. By the end of the song, you just want to grab a tissue, and give her a big hug.
A common misconception about this band is that they are a Christian rock band. Yes, two of the members are of the Christian faith, but they do not classify themselves as a Christian rock band. One of the main reasons this misconception was conceived is the song Tourniquet that appears on the album. Originally written by Rocky Gray and performed by his previous band Soul Embraced where it was titled "My Tourniquet." The song lends itself to be interpreted as a song about losing one's faith, then asking for forgiveness. Before the last chorus, you hear Amy scream "I long to die.", a line from the popular movie Romeo & Juliet. In the original remake of this song on their 2000 album Origin, they used the actual sound clip from the movie.
Their hardest song on the album, "rock"-speaking, would be Whisper. The version on Fallen being the 5th version recorded to date, it is probably the most "goth" song on the album as well, with the ever-so-goth Latin phrases at the end. "Servatis a periculum, servatis a maleficum." Rough translation means “Save us from danger, save us from evil.” According to many sources the line is grammatically incorrect, but it still sounds cool as hell. Who speaks Latin these days anyway?
The other "goth" song on the album being Haunted actually has a very interesting background. Ben Moody fancies himself a short story writer, always coming up with dark and morbid stories that turn into songs when him and Amy would collaborate together. The story that inspired this 'haunting' (no pun intended) song is as follows:
A little girl around 8 or 9 in a little white Easter dress is walking down a neighborhood street bouncing a little red ball. As she approaches an obviously deserted large house with a sinister demeanor, her attention moves from the ball to the house. Not paying attention to her bouncing, the ball hits the curb and ricochets toward the house. As she chases the little red ball toward the house, the ball picks up unnatural momentum and bounces right into the huge gaping front door. The little girl pauses for a moment, looks up at the house, which now appears to be staring down at her, and cautiously enters the house in search of her little red ball. as she slowly walks into the atrium, she surveys the decaying mess that once was obviously a beautiful mansion. She becomes mesmerized by the exquisite detail of every inch of the banister winding up the seemingly endless staircase in front of her. Suddenly her thoughts are broken by a horrifying commotion. She whips around to run out the front door, but finds only a blank wall where the door once stood. Frightened, she runs down the first hallway she sees, trying desperately to find a way out, but with every turn the world behind her changes, bending to the will of the house, so that even finding a path back to the atrium where she began becomes impossible. Terrified, the little girl sinks into a corner, puts her head in her hands, and weeps.
10 years later....
The little girl wakes up in a panic, now a young woman. Dirty, scarred. She's now clothed in black pants, work boots, and a black wife beater. Her skin is pale and dirty. Sun has not graced her flesh in over a decade. She wakes to find a meal placed on a dirty silver tray before her, just enough to sustain life, just like every morning before. Placed there by a figure she can only see in passing, around a corner, walking through a door.... a figure that has become her only friend, and her only hate. Her entire existence has become nothing but to hunt and destroy this shadow that keeps her here. As she hunts him relentlessly day after day, she becomes lost in the dichotomy of her being. This thing that keeps her here, this person that repeatedly rapes her mind and watches her when she sleeps, has become her only friend. For is this person left, she would cease to exist. For she live only to kill him. But lives only FOR him. Every day the house changes around her, so that every day she wakes in a foreign land. The only constant... is him. She hears his heart beating, she smells him, she can only think of finding him, but he is also the only thing she knows of love.
How can you see into my eyes like open doors?
Throughout the entirety of this album, there is one constant; honesty. Every single lyric that comes out of Amy's mouth is from either personal experience, or a storyteller's point of view. If you're looking for feel-good infantile lyrics in a song to play in the background while you host yourself a cookout, you've come to the wrong album. But if you're looking for a band that you can relate to the lyrics as though someone invaded your head and took all of your thoughts, look no further. Never in my life have I found a band that speaks so truthfully to me. This band has seriously changed my life in so many ways.
Evanescence went through quite a journey before reaching the success of Fallen. Their first EP recorded in 1998, this band has recorded over 30 songs, many recorded more than once, and a handful recorded many different ways. (My Immortal, Imaginary, Haunted, Whisper, Tourniquet, Bring Me To Life) Each and every song that has been created by the imaginative minds that make up this band has struck a chord in me, as well as millions of other diehard fans.
Evanescence is the most original band I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. I hope this review has enticed you enough to give them a try, regardless of the misconceptions and misguided hype that they're 'just another goth band.'
They are anything but. They're in a class all their own.
Although the band s name may suggest a sudden vanishing, the music of Evanescence is poised for longevity. Fallen, the Wind-up Records debut of this t...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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