At this point, I still can't say that this is my favorite Evanescence album to date, and I don't know if I will ever be able to say that with any truth. It is not as good asThe Open Door, and I'll be the first to say that I don't agree with those negative reviews criticizing it for being "overproduced," because something that I absolutely love about The Open Door is that it embraces its title; with Ben having left the band, it does everything that it can to break away from Fallen, to break away from structure and be something different. It expands into new dimensions, and I would say that with the exception, perhaps, of just a couple of songs - like maybe "Sweet Sacrifice" and "Weight of the World" - any song from The Open Door would stick out like a sore thumb on Fallen. Although Evanescence is probably closer to the Fallen sound than The Open Door sound, it still embraces a sound of its own. The primary reason, however, that I would say that I will probably never consider this my favorite Evanescence album is because, in the past, there have always been at least two wildly epic songs on the album that feature choir - "Haunted," "Whisper," "Lacrymosa," and "Your Star," just to name a few - and this album features only one song that features choir ("Sick"), and even then, it is only faintly present in the chorus.
The album opens with "What You Want," again, the album's first single. Placing the song at the very beginning of the album is not a decision that I would have made, since there isn't much of an introduction to the song. There is, perhaps, one measure before Amy immediately begins to sing the chorus ("Do what you, what you, want..."), so it really doesn't do a great job of opening the album. I would have opened it with something like "Sick" or "New Way to Bleed," and "New Way to Bleed" is actually how I do open it on my edition. "What You Want" is fun and kind of poppy, and what I really love about it is that it doesn't try to pose as something more than it is, if that makes any sense. Like I said, the album, in comparison to previous albums (especially The Open Door), is a lot edgier and more raw-sounding, and this song is a prime example; it is heavy, but it doesn't necessarily try to be heavy. It sounds both poppy and metallic in a very natural way. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of "Call Me When You're Sober," but even "Call Me When You're Sober," arguably one of the band's poppiest songs, has a fuller sound than "What You Want" does. Although I wouldn't have opened the album with the song, I think that it's a perfect choice for the first single, considering that it was written about needing to cut the break short and get back to the studio, since Amy said that she needed time to rediscover herself, and that took her some time.
"Made of Stone" is the second song on the album, and it was originally written during an era that didn't make complete sense to Amy; she was writing music but wasn't sure what would be done with it, maybe nothing, maybe be placed on a (then talked about) solo album, maybe be placed on the next Evanescence album, which is obviously the decision that was eventually made, and unless she was working with the band even then, I'm thinking that it was probably expanded and/or altered, because the entire band is credited as having written it. "Made of Stone" kind of does stick out on the album, because whereas a majority of the album is about tragedy and its aftermath, "Made of Stone" returns to the older lyrical content, as it is a big "f-you" to a scornful lover. Melodically, it reminds me very much of We Are the Fallen. "The Change" is very full, and there are parts of it that sound very much like a song that Kelly Clarkson's more alternative sound would produce. Kelly actually tweeted not too long ago that it is now her aspiration to sing a duet with Amy, and Amy definitely saw it because she retweeted it, so maybe that's booked for the future, which would be absolutely awesome. "The Change" and "Say You Will" are both songs that would be perfect for them to perform together, assuming that they wouldn't perform a completely new song altogether, which would be just as awesome, if not more so. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for that duet.
"My Heart Is Broken" is the fourth track on the album, and it has been selected as the album's second single, planned to be released to mainstream radio on the first of November. I absolutely love this song, and it is one of my absolute favorites on the album (alongside songs such as "Sick" and "Swimming Home" and "Secret Door"). I recently lost a gerbil that I loved very much, and in fact, I lost her the day that this album came out, so the song has really helped me deal with that grief. The piano melody is immensely beautiful, and the song, as a whole, is immensely beautiful. Parts of "The Other Side" remind me very much of Korn, and I haven't been the only Evanescence fan to have said that. It's about, as are many of the songs, losing someone that you love and wishing that you could find him/her again, and it's very heavy and very groovy. "Erase This" features a climbing and descending piano melody that rapidly crawls its way through the chugging guitars, the fast beat, and Amy's wistfully powerful lyrics; it is arguably the fastest song on the album. "Lost in Paradise" is a beautiful song that begins on the piano but moves its way into a mess (I use the word "mess" in a positive way) of heavy guitars and strings. To me, the song speaks of the denial stage of the grieving process (like "Bleed"), feeling blissful despite the demon staring you in the face. It really reminds me of "My Immortal," and in fact, when I first heard the MTV snippet over the summer, I said that it would be the new "My Immortal," and now that I have heard all of it, I would say that I was fairly accurate.
As I said, "Sick" is definitely one of my favorite songs on the album, featuring distorted guitars that remind me very much of Repo! the Genetic Opera and chilling chanted lyrics in the chorus; it is, to put it simply, killer. "End of the Dream" is very heavy and is comparable to "Going Under" in many ways. More so than ever, it is a bit "post-grunge," and this is another one that really reminds me of We Are the Fallen. Consider "Bury Me Alive," and I'm sure that it will be easy for you to agree with me, as the songs sound strikingly similar. Amy's voice soars throughout the song, begging listeners to enjoy life while it lasts, before "the end of the dream" falls upon us. "Oceans" is another one that I adore, and "big and lush" is how Amy described it. It starts with a very quiet, electronic synth that quickly builds to an amazing wavering melody and a very demanding chorus - "Cross the oceans in my mind!" - that is sure to have your head bobbing. "Never Go Back" is the heaviest song on the album, and, in fact, when I first heard it, I called it "crazy and wild," because it was simply not what I was expecting from a song written about the Japan catastrophe earlier this year, but the "crazy" guitar chugging is very chaotic, as the earthquakes and the tsunamis were. To put it simply, with lyrics such as "It's all gone;/the only world I've ever known/sleeps beneath the waves," it is epic and emotional on a tearjerking level, and my favorite part is definitely the piano and strings break near the end.
The standard edition of the album closes with "Swimming Home," a very satisfying way to close the album. It is a hauntingly beautiful "electropop" song that serves as a sequel to "Never Go Back," dealing with the hopeful aftermath of a tragedy. In fact, I really do tend to think of "Oceans," "Never Go Back," and "Swimming Home" as a "three-part arc" on the album, since they seem to, together, tell a story and are placed back-to-back on the album, but that is not meant to suggest that the songs are not valuable on their own, as they certainly are. My hope is that "Swimming Home" will be released as a single, because I think that it would probably be "Good Enough" done right; I could hear it on the radio, especially since you can hear a bit of "soul" in it. The deluxe edition moves forward with "New Way to Bleed," which is a steady metal track that sounds strikingly like Lacuna Coil, something that I said as soon as the song began the first time that I gave it a listen, and it features a very small amount of the harp. I tend to pair "Say You Will" and "Disappear" together just because they are both kind of poppy, but like "What You Want," I think that they are naturally metallic in their own rights. As I said, "Say You Will" reminds me very much of Kelly Clarkson, especially the chorus, which Amy screams out in a passionately powerful manner much like Kelly would; it's very catchy, but it's actually one of my least favorite songs on the album, since it's a bit too playful for me to absolutely adore like I do other songs.
Evanescence fans should know Amy's cover of "Sally's Song" from The Nightmare Before Christmas, and "Secret Door" reminds me very much of it, even though I have had a friend and fellow fan disagree with me. "Sally's Song" features a bit of harp, and "Secret Door" relies heavily on harp (a lot more so than "New Way to Bleed") and I am absolutely loving it, as I think that the harp produces an incredibly beautiful sound. Amy just recently learned to play the harp, and her husband bought her one as a gift, which is just awesome. The song sounds like a dark lullaby, and in fact, Amy has said that the song is about that feeling that you have when you wake up from a really pleasant dream, wishing that you could revisit it. About a year-and-a-half ago (March 2010), Amy was tweeting a lot about the new album and said that she was looking for an album title that was linked to the themes present on the album, and a particular tweet reads: "Some inspirations: unknown worlds, the ocean's abyss, life within dreams, strength, detachment, love and liars...," so it's very likely that "Secret Door" is old; however, the "ocean" theme definitely stuck, as many songs mention water, waves, and the ocean, "Erase This" ("The water's rising around us..."), "Sick" ("Oceans between us..."), "Oceans" (obvious even without a line) "Never Go Back" (as aforementioned), "Swimming Home" (also obvious), and "Secret Door" ("My heart's high as the waves above me") all serving as examples.
I think that Evanescence is a fantastic album, featuring beautiful, intricate melodies that stick with you and haunt you, as per usual in regards to the band. "My Heart Is Broken," "Sick," "Never Go Back," "Swimming Home," and "Secret Door" all serve as highlights, but the album, as a whole, is really fantastic. I don't feel that it is as expansively creative and artistic as The Open Door is, but it is so much in its own way, very easy to love as each song begs and/or roars for its listeners' affection, and it has mine. I love the album art, as well; I recall Amy saying (before it was revealed) that in comparison to The Open Door, the album art of which is very Victorian and dream-like, this album art would be more mordern, but I would argue that it is has a futuristic feel, since it looks a lot like space to me, reminding me of sci-fi such as Star Trek and Stargate Universe. If you have the physical copy (which I do and always will when Evanescence is concerned), you are probably more inclined to agree since you have seen the back cover (as pictured below), which is very "spacey," if you will. Evanescence is, by far, my favorite band (and artist, for that matter) and has been for eight years, which is actually approaching nine. As I mentioned when I wrote my sample review, Evanescence saved my life in so many ways, giving me an outlet to feel like I never had before, and that hasn't changed, and I don't care how melodramatic that may sound because it's the pure truth. I couldn't possibly be any happier that they are back, and Evanescence, already #1 on iTunes (which, in fact, it was within a couple of hours after its release), definitely makes the comeback a poweful one.
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