[.ca] The Open Door

From Amazon.com:
There's nothing like a breakup to focus your muse. This follow-up to the stunning, multi-platinum Fallen was penned as singer Amy Lee's troubled romance with bandmate Ben Moody was spiraling out of control, impelling her to craft an anxious record full of recriminations, revelation, and self-flagellation, as she questioned everything that kept her whole. It's a fascinating journey for the listener as she ventures into her own personal heart of darkness, her stricken, perfect voice suspended on an unsteady precipice between breakdown and breakthrough. Despite the loss of two members, including guitarist Moody who left mid-tour in 2003, the album has a maturity, sophistication, and a singular vision that wasn't found in their earlier work. Stately and as exotic as Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, with its intricate instrumentation, disturbing imagery, and disembodied chorus, The Open Door shows exactly what this band is capable of. "Snow White Queen" is a goth-y alternative to Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together," equally anthemic, but with much more grit and pain. --Jaan Uhelszki

So afraid to open your eyes:
This isn't Fallen; there it's been said, it's over with. It's remarkable how the two most frequent comments I hear about The Open Door is that 'it sounds the same as everything else' and 'it's not as good as their other album'. Well that doesn't make any sense, if it sounds the same then it should be just as good; but the fact of the matter is that it does not sound the same. You have Amy Lee's voice, true, but I don't perceive that as a bad thing at all. The haunting gothic sound to Evanescence is enhanced in The Open Door, not only through the lyrics, but through the music and even the album art as well. This album is beautiful in itself, a complete masterpiece. If you want mainstream rock listen to Fallen by all means; it too was a great album, but the style of The Open Door completely deviates from that and opens into a style all its own. It's easy to fall in love with the tracks on this piece if you can accept them for what they are without attempting to mold them to fit Evanescence's older material. Interestingly enough, I'm still not a terrible fan of the first single 'Call Me When You're Sober' ... it's got Amy Lee's voice, but not the soul that normally goes into the lyrics. This was mended for me by tracks like Sweet Sacrifice, Lithium, and Lacrymosa; beautifully composed and well thought out. And regardless of anything else that can be said of the album, it definitely has a haunting quality. For me this was punctuated and accentuated by the track entitled 'The Only One'; a masterfully compiled piece that sent chills down my spine. My favorite track, 'All That I'm Living For' is beautiful beyond words and I find that you can only appreciate it by listening to it; attempting to confine it to the written word just doesn't do it justice. And the whole album is like that in a sense. There is no right or wrong way to listen to music, but I think that objectivity is needed when listening to The Open Door. Fallen received such high acclaim that it's practically impossible to best it, so Evanescence did something incredibly smart - they diversified. Instead of attempting to beat their old work, they blazed a new trail for themselves. Fans can stay behind if they like but I would strongly encourage them to follow; The Open Door is full of promises and if you listen closely, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

The Open Door Speaks for itself:
well when i say the open door speaks for itself, i mean they found a new door, a new way of doing their music, yes definitely unique and different than their other cd, which i definitely like now, but i thought the same thing with fallen, so i know that this is definitely a good cd, i listened to it alot of times now, each time it gets better, especialy the screaming passionate choruses. and i am especialy interested in the song all that i am living for, its definitely the song of this cd, meaning it talks about an open door on it also. and about a new begining, a self willing moving ahead, and its also ironic, as when the first one came out, i was in the state of mind of the whole essense of that cd and the same for this one. i'm not saying anyone is better than the other, on the last cd i listened to a few, because those were the ones woth the passion behind them,, but on this one, the songs are very different and have unique passion on them, but they blend very well together too. but this cd i use with faith, i listen to it everytime i need a boost, and each time i listen to it, i feel the pasion in it, more and more, its truely wonderful and i see that each and every single time too.

A Big Let Down:
I was pretty disappointed overall with this album. However, when your first album was as successful as their fist one was, it's pretty hard to top that. I wasn't crazy about the first single "call me when your sober" but after listening to the entire album, it's unfortunatly one of the best songs. Maybe after a few more listens I will get to like the album more but for now, I don't recommend it.

Okay CD-both a mix of good and bad:
The band has a new sound and I enjoy that despite the similarities to their other work. Lee's voice sounds different when she sings which is quite interesting. In this album they successfully tackle very different styles-slow haunting melodies in place of rock, dreamlike background music, and make it work with ease. It's an applauded effort since the transition isn't an easy one to make. However, I have mixed feelings about the album...I find that it has almost no variation in terms of theme. All the songs are angry or upset at something giving it more of an emo-ish sound. I hate to compare Ev to such a genre; but this is actually how I felt. The themes all seemed the same-angry at an ex-boyfriend, the world, stalkers, etc. The rest are sad/haunted about being alone after she sings about all this anger. (Lithium/Lacrymosa/All That I'm Living For) Only a few songs -Like You, The Only One, Good Enough- break out of this trend to offer something new. The first song "Sweet Sacrifice" opens the album with a bang and immediately draws the listener to it. Especially when she sings the melody in a creepily haunting tone "Fear is only in our minds, taking over all the time, fear is only in our minds but it's taking over all the time..." coupled with the dark guitar strings that heighten the beat. This carries over to the chorus and consequentially the whole song. Unfortunately it ends a tad too soon; but it's nevertheless an impressive intro. "Call Me when You're Sober" is a tad lighter in tone, though still heavy on the guitars. It works well as a single and in addition makes it easy on the listener's ears, despite such a bland title. The build-up of the guitars to the chorus is a nice touch-the song wouldn't be quite the same without it. The third song, "Weight of the World," was one I wasn't partial too. I wasn't really drawn into the song. I seems too generic and is nothing new. It just seemed like it was something thrown together quickly in order to make a third song. "Cloud Nine had a similar effect on me; however, the chorus is very powerful and puts energy back into the album after such a sad ballad as "Lithium." The dreamy background music during the bridge deserves a mention as well. The only problem is, the song is extremely predictable. This makes it get old very fast. "Lithium" itself is a nice song. It's easy to get caught up in it, though I wish the chorus was sung more often. "Snow White Queen" is growing on me as a song; but to be honest, I wish there was more power in it. Lee focuses on being haunting; but after a while it seems she's singing on the same tone. There isn't as much buildup to the chorus and I feel the song could be great with a little more effort involved. I just wanted more. "Lacrymosa" is easily the worst song on the album. I'm in the minority here because everyone seems to love it. The first verse starts off nicely; however, Lee holds the notes for so long that it actually gets boring to listen to. When the chorus does finally arrive it sounds half done. "Blame it on me, set yourself free..." sounds like pure whining instead of singing. How she sings it also makes it seem as if they slapped the chorus together in a few minutes just to finish it-with Mozart music in the background. It sounds incomplete. It falls flat. After such a build-up to the chorus, it sinks below the melody of the verses. A song that collapses on itself like that isn't worthy of being on an album, IMO. "Like You" is a nice ballad to Lee's dead sister. Slightly creepy at times (I still get chills listening to it.) It's an interesting piece overall though. Easy to get lost in. "Lose Control" and "Good Enough" both tend to drag on too long. The notes are sung at a snail's pace and the background music is nothing short of tiresome as it's the same thing as their other songs. I realize they wanted a dreamy sound; but I really didn't like that idea as much. At least Lose Control has a somewhat interesting chorus and a good ending especially when she sings "There will be nothing good left of you" and the guitar rifts come on which was an interesting addition. But it still doesn't make up for the 3/4 of the song that was a chore to listen to. the differing styles just didn't work this time. Sadly, the song sounds like a mess. Good Enough, on the other hand, is about finding love, yet willing to do anything for the other person. It's almost as if she went back to that ex-boyfriend or is allowing someone else to control her. This makes the first half of the CD seem very forced to me when she's talking about being angry and breaking away from this person. It doesn't seem serious or real, IMO. Overall, I wasn't really impressed with either song. "The Only One" still remains my favourite song on this album. It starts off slow, then about a 1:20 the chorus bursts in unexpectedly as the listener was lulled into what seemed like a slow song. Actually, Lee sings it with so much power in the chorus that the song demands attention. I actually rewound the song just to listen to the chorus again it caught my attention that much. From the chorus and on, the song sticks with the powerful vocals, guitars, and drums, stopping only for a couple moments where the verses die down to build for the chorus. I could feel the tension rising as the soft spots allowed the song to crescendo and reach an impressive level then ended in true Ev style. It's some song...I love it. "Your Star" is an odd song. It's just different. I can't really explain it. I like the chorus, though the verses are dreary giving the song a mellow feel that we don't need after listening to some already mediocre songs. The bridge is really well done, however, and deserves a mention. "All that I'm Living For" is another powerful song that's interesting to listen to...can't really say much about it that hasn't been said already. But, the ending of the song is very unique and I enjoyed that. It puts some power back into the album. Overall, the album is an okay addition to Ev's work. I liked it overall; but I think it could've been way better. The new styles are aptly used and combined with others to make a nice melodic sound. However, the songs still sound similar, which brings the album down. A variation of themes, as seen in their earlier work, would be great to see and I could seriously see the album being loved even more by the fans. The potential is there. Shame they didn't use all of it.

RIYL Evanescence Amy Lee; Cindy Steiger, Her Alibi:
Evan aren't really goth but were punted into that classification by mainstream Top 40 media. If you seek real goth stuff, look elsewhere. When compared to other female fronted rock bands, then this is more fair. If you like Amy Lee's vocals, listen to CINDY STEIGER at soundclickdotcom/cindysteiger , a very talented lead singer for Canadian rock band Her Alibi and a beautiful upcoming solo artist also that's going places. Support local indie talent instead of lining corporate pockets!

• Sweet Sacrifice
• Call Me When You're Sober
• Weight of the World
• Lithium
• Cloud Nine
• Snow White Queen
• Lacrymosa
• Like You
• Lose Control
• The Only One
• Your Star
• All That I'm Living For
• Good Enough