'The Open Door'

(CREDIT: to Evanescence.)

Rank: 1.8 out of 5 <-- VERY wasted potential

Ah, Evanescence, I remember like it was only yesterday when you introduced me into rock and heavy metal. Thank you for leading me to the path of enlightenment and blunt honesty. As much as I am grateful to you, you are not as important to me as you once were.

Don't ever get the impression that I despise the band because Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, and After Forever kick them in the behind and bury them in the mud. The highest praise I can give Evanescence is that they are a perfect gateway for anyone interested in gothic metal and its fellow siblings in spirit. Amy Lee can deny it for all eternity, but that is the truth. My problem with Evanescence lies more in their atmosphere and execution, both seeming artificial, overdramatic, forced, and fake. Maybe that is part of what some define as "mainstream."

At this point, I am almost completely uninterested in this band anymore for reasons already mentioned. Another sign of my growing apathy is my forcing myself to listen to an entire album, which has been more noticeable in the past several months. I sure am grateful, but I'm outgrowing my musical diapers - if I put it that way.

As for The Open Door... I cherish it because a transfer student whom I befriended years ago gave it to me for Easter. That's pretty much where my praise ends. Don't misunderstand, there are great tracks ("Lacrymosa," "Lithium," and "Snow White Queen"), but there are far more that are bland or just plain old rotten eggs. "Lose Control" and "Your Star" are the lowest points of the album, bringing down the quality so much that the last half of the album is 90% unlistenable. "Good Enough" is okay, but it's not worth playing when everything between that and "Lacrymosa" are terribly forgettable and lazy. Even when I listened to Evanescence frequently, I still never could finish beyond "Lacrymosa."

To better explain the "laziness" and "blandness" of the album, let's just say that it's like a person who is used to eating incredibly salty food has to eat plain rice with a subtle, bitter flavor. As a person who likes salt, I would have a terribly hard time liking something bitter. Sure, over time the flavor might improve, but there are other people you can run to to make the same rice, but do something to make it more likable. The second half of this album is like that. If I want a song that is seductive ("Lose Control"), I can just pop in HIM's Razorblade Romance or try out Moonspell's works. If I want a song about overcoming odds ("The Only One") I can just listen to Within Temptation's The Silent Force. If I want a song about badmouthing some jerk ("Your Star") Emilie Autumn does it better with Opheliac. Evanescence had lost their energy and will to keep you entertained at that point; although many bands can have an album with it being half good and half bad, I can't name many that are this intolerable.

I could go on and say how Amy Lee sounds more obnoxious than ever by singing so loud that you can't hear the actual music, but maybe I'm too used to less "mainstream" music. No, even Marilyn Manson knows when to tone down his loud voice in his music. As good as a voice as she has, Amy Lee needs to learn that from this album, Evanescence is not just her, but the BAND with GUITARS and DRUMS. The instrument department is rather lackluster and not worth noting at all.

To the album's credit, the imagery is very beautiful and polished, the latter being something some lesser known bands have difficulty with, maybe due to available resources. Also, a great friend gave it to me; I really miss her so much...

The worst part is that Evanescence has potential, but they sound too unnatural by trying too hard. Because of my current taste in music, I can see them as a cheap cardboard copy of better bands. Dommin, Lacuna Coil, Darling Violetta, and even I Am Ghost just do far better in melancholy, melody, emotion, and/or all the above. I'm sorry, but I don't care if you want to check this out or not. Check it out, but don't buy it because a half good album is not worth $10.00+ for.

That does it. I'm going to research some cool gothic rock and metal bands with albums I'm more willing to invest in...