Evanescence - The Open Door
 

Well the new Evanescence album will be out on October 3rd with the debut single being aired next month titled "Call Me When You're Sober". After Ben Moody left the band the new album should be less commercial sounding and more experimental. The track list is:

1. Sweet Sacrifice
2. Call Me When You're Sober
3. Weight Of The World
4. Lithium
5. Cloud Nine
6. Snow White Queen
7. Lacrymosa
8. Like You
9. Lose Control
10. The Only One
11. Your Star
12. All That I'm Living For
13. Good Enough

I'm expecting an barrage of "evanescence are shit", which is fair enough if you don't like them, but is anyone else excited for the new album?

I hope they kept the the same poetic angst with their songs. I haven't heard of many bands that have the same feel as Evanescence. There's been a large space of time between the first CD and this one. However, I am afraid that this CD may be even more commercial than the last one since that's the normal trend of music. However, I'm waiting until I hear the single to see whether or not I'll consider buying the album.

It's been 3 years since the release of Fallen, the new songs will still have Amy Lee's poetic lyrics since she was the main lyricist on Fallen. Some of the lyrics that have been published are:
- from "Call me when you're sober" - "You never call me when you're sober, you only want it because it's over"
- from "Snow White Queen" -"You belong to me, my Snow White Queen"
- from "Good Enough" - "Am I good enough for you to love me"

The reviews that are coming from previews of the album are positive, it's heavier due to there actually being a full band recording the album and Terry Balsamo's songwriting on board, more dark and epic and it looks like there's a lot more of a piano performance from Amy throughout it all instead of every now and again in songs.

Yay. I loved Fallen. Amy Lee has a beautiful voice. I'm anxiously anticipating the release of this album (more like, waiting for it to be leaked online).

Where are you reading these reviews Sian?

If it's anything like Origin I'll definitely pick it up. Fallen was decent, but way too much Ben Moody need to make lots of money influence on it. Download a few of the following songs to see what I mean:

Where Will You Go
Lies
Before the Dawn

They're basically from magazines from all over the place, there's a French magazine that's done a full preview explanation of all the songs but obviously I can't read French and the translations are pretty poor.

Here's the translation that's been up, some of it doesn't make sense though

Someone explain this to me? I know a lot of people think she has a terrific voice - but it has no pitch or range. It's like she had her vocal chords tuned by Phillip Glass.

I'll avoid stating my incredible dislike for the band - but can someone tell me why they think she's a good singer? She's flatter than one of VG's fantasies.

Personally I do think she has quite a good vocal range, but I think what people like the most about her voice is because she puts a lot of emotion into her singing. I guess you can either view her voice as beautiful and emotional, or whiney and flat. I think on the Anywhere But Home recording her voice did sound flat, but I have bootlegs where she sounds amazing.

I wouldn't call her singing whiney - the lyrics, yes, but not her intonations. But it's like she keeps the same notes through out - and just raises or lowers how loud she's singing. It's like AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAaaaaaaaaaa AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Theres no change, theres no variation, theres no counterpoint.

I've heard bootlegs of her as well and she sounded even worse - though I can't discredit her because in this day and age, you only need to make it in the studio, not live. (Nelly anyone?)

I think her range is awesome. And her voice sounds like water, it's so clear.

Maybe it's her music you don't like, not her voice.

I can see your point, but I agree with Alice that she sounds crystal clear and does have a good range although you may not be able to pick it out. But it would be good to see if she experiments with her voice on the new album if she can pull it off. I find Evanescence bootlegs hard to come by and the quality is usually shite, but her acoustic performances seem to be the best since she's sitting still and not jumping around like she would be on stage.

Does Nelly even play live? I didn't realise that type of music could make it onto a stage...

The only person in the band that knew anything about music or writing songs left. Must be interesting stuff in the make now! Not that they were that great to begin with.

Or they might dig out some external talent to make songs for them... but that's unlikely.

Are you talking about her sustaining notes? I guess on an album you can say it leaves room for variation live, but if she doesn't do it for you live I can see where you are coming from. I don't understand when you say she has no pitch or range. Are you saying she only sings one note?

I like to listen to Amy Lee but I have only the Fallen album. I wouldn't say it was mindblowing, she's no Mariah Carey but she can't be THAT bad.

Mariah Carey was a lot better before she started singing in falsetto all the time.

You can't actually back that up without hearing the new album, because for all you know it could be stronger than Fallen with Amy and Terry Balsamo as the core songwriters

She sings in one key, stretches notes out to where my glassware starts to shake and basically just runs that same idea into the ground over and over and over. For lack of a better word, it's monotone. It's like typing everything in caps lock or listening to nothing but 80s power chords.

It's dull, uninteresting and unentertaining. At least fire alarms have that little squak to get your attention over the buzzing.

I didn't like how Ben Moody left. Seriously, was this guy not annoyed by his lack of recognition in comparison to Amy? Whether he had more input or not, he should have foresaw it was going to be more difficult to be more recognised when you look like another guitarist, and that Amy was the singer who played piano and is hardly as ugly as sin.

Sian, you wouldn't happen to have the original French that was translated from would you?

Alice - I dunno. Mariah Carey still sounds spectacular. She only bothers me in the odd track where she sings so high that she sounds like a bell...

That's called a "whistle voice," and my sister-in-law (who is a voice coach and has a master's degree in music, so she's pretty reliable) told me that there aren't many people in the entire world who can do it.

So respect the bell!

Nothing wrong with going high (I heard her delivery live can be off) but I can see what you mean now. It sounds like you have listened to a lot more Evanescence than me anyway, though I can somewhat agree with the lack in variation on Fallen at least.

It could be, but why didn't they write songs before this then, if they could do better than the basist?

You mean guitarist don't you?

I don't listen enough E to care which.

Yet I still post in this topic, imagine that!

You might not listen to much Evanescence, but you obviously know a few things about the band.

It's called knowledge. I don't listen to Pink Floyd either, but I know who Roger Waters is and basically what he has done.

You're confusing intelligence with pop culture bullshit.

Yes, I seem to be.

And to clarify. I just thought there were no grounds on thinking that the next album might be any better than the two first ones, just because of a change in band dynamics. Moody leaving might be a good thing for the band too, who knows what's to come, but I wouldn't be expecting anything groundbreaking.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...oorpreview.jpg

If you're talking about Amy Lee and Terry Balsamo writing together before Fallen it's because they didn't even know each other and Terry was apart of the band Cold before he left to join Evanescence when Ben Moody left.

I'm telling you listen to Origin. That disc has much less Ben Moody pop influence on it and Amy Lee sings in more than one note. Promise :P

Is that the first album yeah? I have listened to Lies many times and that's my favourite Evanescence song. Unfortunately they do not have that album over here and can only get it online.

Well Ben Moody was still a core songwriter during Origin, but I bet he wasn't phased with becomming a mainstream rock band at that time before they got the deal with Wind-Up.

No, Fallen is their debut album, Origin is a demo that was spruced up and made to look professional for record companies. They've had 2 EP's before Origin, Evanescence EP and Sound Asleep EP.

Awesome Sian. The text is kind of hard to read, but I can make out most of it. Do you want anything re-translated?

Ah. I guess I should have done a bit more research. In any case, the songs on Origin are, for the most part, superior to those on Fallen, IMO.

I've put stars next to my personal favorites

1. "Origin"
2. "Whisper"
3. "Imaginary"
4. "My Immortal"
* 5. "Where Will You Go"
* 6. "Field of Innocence"
* 7. "Even in Death"
8. "Anywhere"
* 9. "Lies"
10. "Away from Me"
11. "Eternal"

There were only 2,500 copies pressed so don't kick yourself if you can't find it. Do, however, download some of the songs from it.

Just a basic sum up of each song would be awesome =D

I've had a copy of it for about 3 years, it was Origin's version of Imaginary that made me look into the band more. Even in Death is very much Amy's song on the demo, so expect more like that on The Open Door.

I wasn't even aware that Evanescence was still around. About Ben Moody's leaving and influence, I'm sure the record labels had just as much influence over the band as anyone else in the band. Why else would they have that shitty guy from 12 Stones singing on their single? To make money and to make the band! Evanescence is just a generic run of the mill pop rock band that will not be remembered in a positive or any light after 5 years.

Whoa. I had forgotten all about them. A new cd coming out, huh? I didn't know she played piano. If there's going to be more piano in the new cd, then that's awesome. I love the piano. cool cool.

I am anticipating the new cd. I have a thing for female vocalists in rock music. Their voice doesn't have to change the world for me to like them, but female vocalist add a lot to music in the rock/metal world, at least to me.

I really enjoyed their first release, and I listened to it all the time. I probably played it most on my Xbox with Grand Theft Auto to run people over with from time to time. I think it's a very enjoyable album.

Of all female fronted bands I don't like much is Lacuna Coil, their music gets boring REALLY fast to me. I listened to their Karma Code cd 3 times and found myself completely bored with it, I might have to give it a few more tries, but it's just not that interesting.

Didn't you already post translations of that? Wasn't there some of them that you wanted clarified? I'm too tired ATM to translate the entire article.

Well probably "Like You" and "Lose Control" are the ones that haven't been clarified so those would be cool.

Here's the best that I could do with those two. I couldn't make out everything.

Like You - Lethal (?) is omnipresent, the guitar is insidious and the vocals are murmured and sad. Terry does a good job of making it sound like you're disappearing in a dream (not sure about that sentence...). The song is short, slow and rich.

Lose Control - New *something* with a piano base, electric drum, loud guitars and tripled vocals, with everything blended nicely together by Dave Fortman.
Amy - " Dave perfectly understands our music, like if he was in my head. It's good to work with a well known producer, but your group can end up sounding like somebody else if he doesn't understand what you want and feel. Dave always pushed me to write *something* and to surpass myself."

Oooh thanks for that! These song descriptions make me even more excited >_>

Here's a small 30ish second preview of the Mozart cover of "Lacrymosa" taken from "The Open Door".

I like Evanescence, but unfortunately I was late on hearing Fallen. After I finally got to hear the whole thing, the best songs were already released as singles and whored out on TV and radio stations.That CD could almost be considered a Greatest Hits, as every other song on the album was a hit at one point.

Thanks for the preview Sian! Interesting track I must say.

And I like to add something about Amy Lee's voice. I think the reason we liker her singing cause of her unique color tone and voice, while perhaps some more vocal training will do her good, so far I hardly met many people who can even imitate her voice and the way she projects.

Most people in the end listen to the color tone of the singer's voice in pop music, rather than listening to her training like Opera singers do, cause no one can sing Opera well when they are born, but their voice tone and color tones are born. For example, I take voice training, and my vocal coach says my voice is sweet, so its more suited for songs that young maidens sing in operas, those sweet sounding ones with the high young girl voice rather than the booming Opera larger sounds sung by singers in Carmen. I could TRY to train up for those songs, but my color tone will always prevent me from getting the job of singing those songs, compare to the people who are BORN with that voice and had lots of training.

For Amy Lee, I listen to her unique sound rather than her range in singing, in the end, after all, shes a singer in a band, not some musical actress who has to shift her voice and tone to fit whatever musical she's in. Just like how I listen to Utada and Angela Aki, cause they sound unique from each other. People nowadays get tired of the Britney sounding girls and want something unique, Amy Lee came along and people loved it. And I personally liked the fact she projects better than the quivers most singers have in their voice.

Just my two cents on it.

Lithium? Is that going to be a Nirvana cover? I hated their last one. . .

Hmm. I probably won't buy this, although I'll probably give it a download. Embarassingly enough, I'm somewhat interested.

Yeah, at the time I got into Evanescence I was about 14 and all the shit I was hearing on radio and tv was just so bland and then all of a sudden I hear her voice and it was like "wow...I can actually feel the emotion in her voice". She does have a unique sound to her voice that's very captivating, nicely said :)

Nope it's a "power ballad" of some sort.

I like to think that everyone could go about building a unique voice, but you can't disregard the range. Expanding the range usually helps the singer building this voice. I think it's important that she can still work on it and improve perhaps her live performance (one area of criticism). The problem with such a short range is that, there is not a lot of room for expansion for future songs begin to sound alike if you know what I mean.

Is your colour tone got anything to do with your range? As in, if you had the lower range, there will be more of a chest voice coming through or something?

hey, almost forgot about Evanescence. My first exposure to them was Fallen and I still love that album. I have been anticipating what they got brewed up next.

It all depends on what style I'm singing, if its more of a modern song, like say, an Angela Aki song, or one of the songs from Silent Hill, its more of a firmer deeper chest voice and I belt it out. If I'm singing more classical stuff it will be more like, I dunno, Charlotte Church in her early days I guess. I myself tend to imitate different voices while I sing, unlike most singers who have a distinct vocal color. It prob stem from trying to imitate cartoon voices when I was a kid.

Amy Lee should work on her range if she is gonna sing different styles yes, but usually thats more important if you're an actress in musicals or something, when you're in a band or a solo artist in the pop and rock industry, well, people tend to stick to how they usually sound like and rarely go over the edge. I mean, Avril, Michelle Branch, Utada and many others all have distinct vocal colors.

Now unless the band wants to do a variety of styles like some other artists do, I doubt Lee is gonna need to work on her range that much.

What specific range were you referring to anyway? Emotional? Cause thats like acting, and not everyone can cut loose that easily and sing their heart out. I know my weakness is unable to potray emotion when I sing. Vocal color ranges are difficult cause its like doing voice acting.

Range as in like soprano, mezzo-soprano the like.

As far as singing and voice is concerned etc, I'm on a completely different boat from you, I've never really worked with these color range terms. I don't really know anything about and I suck at singing anyway.

It's hard for me to think of singing as emotional. I see it as coming across as desperate (not strictly), but of course, supposed modern punk would be one example of singing which would not appear this way. I guess it's just what we believe in, I just loathe to say I found a supposed music, song emotional, it's just a no go zone for me, a convenient barrier in my deployment of language.

Probably just ignore what I said. =(

Woah woah woah, if THATS the range you're referring to then wow, your reasons for critising Lee's voice is not exactly that, well, good. Cause not everyone can sing in Soprano. You do realise Soprano is the range of pitch, and that you are BORN with the voice you have, you can't train to be a soprano if you have a low voice and the highest it can go is, well, a E that is two octaves above middle C. I can reach a High A , two octaves above middle C easily because I'm a Soprano.

In other words, whether or not you can be a soprano , or just be a mezzo Soprano, depends alot on what voice you're born with, usually training can't help your voice go higher, and we all know all voices, even women's go lower as they grow older. Really the only thing that can make your voice sound higher is helium. And guys with voices broken are never Sopranos, only little boys get to be Sopranos.

Singing is very capable of being emotional, just look at any musical or Disney song. Scar betrays his evilness in "Be Prepared". "Part of Your world" shows Ariel's wonderment and curiosity with the human world. Even pop songs can emote as well, (If done right.) Maybe you haven't listened to enough range of styles to realise it yet.

Sorry but I do not feel as if I criticise her because of her range. I know everyone is born with a range and of course a tenor does not deal (unless in the rare case) with songs written for a bass. I know the voice does not go higher but it does not mean it cannot be extended at either end.

I'm not saying she has to sing so high for something new. Anyone could sing within their working range and this is the comfort zone. I have heard her singing live has come into criticism and this is perhaps because of her notes nearer the end of this comfort zone. If she were to keep working on training then maybe she can gain a note and these supposed troublesome notes will fall into the zone. Saying that, I have never heard her sing live but you can look at it as some sort of maintenance.

I never said singing can't be emotional, I said I hate to describe it in that manner. Too many times I read "ooh, that song is so much emotional than that one" you know? I would hate something to entirely rule out another by such a factor, when given in the context sometimes this may or may not seem entirely necessary. There is so much more scope I just see it a shame that these depths are not properly examined that's all.

It's teeny tiny, but here's a small preview of the upcoming single "Call me when you're sober"

I didn't know about Evanescene until Daredevil came out, and I fell in love with her voice purely from the short snippet of Bring Me To Life in the trailer.
I guess you could call me one of the followers of pop culture bullshit, but I honestly don't care.

I loved Fallen.
Then I got Origin, and I loved it too.
Fallen definitely sounded better for obvious reasons, but the songs in Origin had more feeling to them.
If The Open Door has stuff like in Origin, with the recording finesse of Fallen, then it should be nothing but awesome.

DEFINITELY looking forward to it.

...

...

yes.

Well done =p

i was expecting something more along the lines of "lurk more" but yknow.

i actually don't dislike evanescence, they're pretty good. i recently wrote a piano arrangement that is a mix of My Immortal and New Beginnings by Finch... so i'm not just hatin'.

I think most of Lee's live critisism comes from the fact she doesn't sound as good as the CDs, especially in the more harder rock songers like "Going Under", she sounds better in acoustic songs like My Immortal, but when shes prancing on the stage and tryin to belt it out, she strains her voice. Whether or not she was able to reach a higher note shouldn't be a major issue. I have heard the live album and she was defintly straining at the rock songs, even to the point of going off key.

Though a person is capable of extending their range, it usually doesn't go far enough that you can tell a huge difference.(Unless you're a soprano and had extensive classical training, you can go up to 5 higher notes or more) So again, not really an issue.

I don't know about it being ~5 notes, but I was thinking along power singing perhaps, I don't know if in classical they kinda use that sort of range. Anyway it's probably kinda lame for me to go on about range, but as you pointed out, with a bit of work her singing performance can be more balanced out.

EDIT: Here's a better version and lyrics:

Call me when you're Sober (204 kbps)

The rest of the album wont be a repeat of that song, so don't worry. There's going to be songs that have a dark feel to them, and with choirs so you can't go wrong =p.

well I really like that song. I like the chorus with the piano at the beginning. Thanks for the sharing. And the first single is never the best song of the album. I always wonder who will choose the next single. The most "commercial" song might be the one I guess. Anyway I'm not disappointed. I was expecting something more downer than that.

I find the lead singer's voice absolutely excruciating. It might be just me, but her voice actually causes me physical pain and makes me want to leave the room that I'm in. A lot of people think it's beautiful but I just don't hear it.

At least I have an original reason for disliking them. I have about twenty more, too, but I'll keep them to myself.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...0/Opendoor.jpg

I'm almost certain that this is the official cover for the album since on the popular fan sites it's been taken down due to some sort of request (probably from wind-up).

Call Me When You're Sober is, quite frankly.....annoying.

I hope the other songs are an improvement.

This should be it, as it's also posted on the official site (www.evanescence.com).

I just saw the video for "Call Me When You're Sober." I wasn't too thrilled about it, except for the beginning portion, which actually sounded pretty nice. I really hope the other tracks are better, though. Well, this one wasn't bad or anything.

Either way, I'm definitely looking foward to this album! I was originally planning to pre-order it, but oh well.

Hah! My mom pretty much said the same thing. :p

Why are you wasting your time saying how much you hate the band and how Amy's voice causes you physical pain. Last time I checked when I don't like something or HATE it, I don't waste my time on it.

I for one happen to love Evanescence and cannot wait for their new album.

I just saw the video...it's ok nothing amazing like some of Marc Webb's other stuff but it's not too bad. I love the dancers though, and "wolfie" as people have been calling him is pretty hawt.

People who don't like Call me when you're sober, don't panic! The whole album isn't going to sound like that one song, lets not be too quick to judge the entire album based on one song.

Just saw the video... Evanescence just kicks ass. That's all there is to it. So the song is a bit whiney (blah, blah, me... blah,blah, me.... ETC), what do you expect from a radio tune. The reason Evanescence rocks is because they have a unique sound and she's got great pipes, more specifically great vocal control. Will be picking this CD up ASAP.

For others who question Amy Lee's vocal talent, I have seen them live BEFORE "My Immortal" hit radio, and even before "Bring Me To Life" was big. Amy had one of the most commanding, emotion-ful, and impressive vocal performances in rock bands I've seen. She poured soooo much guts into that show... She is a great singer but has gotten ALOT of rap for some bad TV performances (which most bands suck at BTW because of horrid TV live monitoring). She doesn't have a huge range, but it is enough. Did you ever listen to the song "Hello"? There is enough of a range there to show she's got a decent range. And like I said earlier, control is her key... control and texture. And texture is something that is fairly unique.

Well, needless to say, Evanescence isn't for everyone. So if you don't like them, or just can't stand liking something "popular", then get the hell out.

I remember seeing Evanescence back when no one knew anything about them, she sounded fantastic and really knew how to work an audience. When I saw them again a year later she sounded just as good, and her stage presence was still amazing, despite the crowd being stiff. Which was why I was surprised when I heard Anywhere But Home and thought how poor her voice sounded, but still her stage presence was on peak. I always loved how she looks as if she's putting her heart and soul into every word she sings in a live setting, and that's what makes her an incredible performer.

If track 7 is Lacrimosa... I would love to hear their version of it. Sweetbox's version was pretty good but I've never actually heard the original. I've always like Evanescence so I'll get the CD. *puts it on her x-mas list*

The original is by Mozart, and Evanescence released a teaser trailer for the album using a 30 second clip of their cover, which you can view here =)

I was a huge Evanescence fan about 3-4 years ago when Fallen came out. I went out and downloaded all their demos and previous eps etc, but over the course of 4 years with no new music, I lost interest. At first I didn't really like this new song but I just saw the video, which I thought kicked ass, I think it might be growing on me. I love the scene where she's walking along the dinner table all Dark Phoenix style.

I caught the music video yesterday as I was watching "Evanescence Makes A Video" or something on MTV2 (the only time I've watched anything MTV related in a long time). I'm more of a fan of Nigel Dick's video style, but I decided to give this video a chance. When Amy was talking about a "Little Red Riding Hood/Big Bad Wolf" theme to the video, I became very excited about it...yet, the video wasn't what I was hoping for.

Don't get me wrong, it's a good music video, but I was expecting some shapeshifting or darker theme to the video. The table scene was awesome, and the actor that played the werewolf was very, very hot IMO, but I was expecting something a little more darker and story-like. The part where one of the wolves took a bathroom break during shooting of the video was funny.

I've yet to see the making of, and yeah I know what you mean I was expecting more story to it. I was imagining it'd be like the fairytale, but with a darker more sexier twist. Like the hot wolf guy luring her into a loving relationship then A UBER DARK TWIST. Man I should be a video director :p

Heh... I have a feeling it's going to emo extreme compared to Jade's pop version. It's not that bad though <3 I made a MV out of it.

I'm planning to get my hands on the japanese version of that album just to get the bonus track and the DVD. Yay. BONUSESSSS

Well it seems that if you preorder the album from iTunes, you get a bonus track as well. The song is call "The Last Song I'm Wasting on You". I wonder if it's the same bonus track the japanese version will get... Anyway, all hail to Limewire, we'll get that iTunes exclusive bonus track anyway.

i think the bonus track, if I correctly remember an old article talking about that sond, is about ben moody.

Have any of the other songs leaked yet?

Well it'll be a hell of a lot more dramatic than Jade's version yes =p. The lyrics from the clip I think are "to let you fail it on me"? "I don't wanna hold you back now". But the clip has been taken from random parts of the song so it's just a mash of lyrics methinks.

I tend to just download bonus tracks, I always feel they ruin the flow of the album because they're just stuck on at the end. I always just download bonus tracks and b-sides =p.

It was an interview with Blender where she was showing the journalist a diary that had notes of the new songs and mentioned something about a song called "The Last Song I'm Wasting On You". She didn't confirm it was about Ben Moody, so it may not be right but it could possibly be about him.

People are saying Lacrymosa leaked and the people who claim to have it aren't sharing it, so I doubt they even have it. It's too early for leaks anyway, expect them next month about 2 weeks prior to the realease.

Yeah, there's tons of people that hate Evanescence. I myself am not a huge fan of Evanescence, but I still like them. Amy Lee's vocals suit the music nicely and that's all I can say. The lyrics can be deep too. I listened to "Origin" and that's probably my favourite recording by them, although it's not an official "album." "Fallen" was pretty good too. I remember playing it nearly every day back when it was first released, mainly for the song "Going Under." I'll check out their new stuff when it comes out. They haven't really disappointed me. I see a lot of people comparing their sound to Linkin Park, but I don't see the connection. "Bring Me to Life" is probably the only song that comes close.

The Linkin Park comparisons were purely on the fact that they had someone rapping in "Bring me to Life", and since it was their first single and their biggest people naturally assumed they were mere copyists with a female singer. I think people shut up after they heard the other singles or if they bought "Fallen", because they only had the male vocalist on the one song.

While I didn't hear such comparisons, I wouldn't have been surprised that people misconstrued the band's so-called "sound". (Then again, people don't bother to notice that it said "featuring" in the song credits)

I don't think people shut up though. The usual complaints against the band still hold true.

i hate when people trash evanescence. I love her voice and the mixture of the orchestral and hard rock instruments. Plus, as far as mainstream music goes, they are on top of the talent pool. The only thing I think that warrents critisism is the lyrics; and this seems to be true for many "dark" bands. How many times can you use the word bleed, breathe, lie, etc. I cringe everytime i hear them.

I hate it when people aren't able to make a valid arguement for the side they believe in. Simply saying "I don't like it when people don't like what I like!" is as snide and self-involved as it is back-patting. Get over yourself - some of us like a little talent and challenge with our music.

As opposed to, what, the dozens of other bands who did it decades prior? Perhaps you've never heard of John, Paul, Ringo and George?

Lehah,
I know you've got your strong opinion that is worth alot because you are knowledgeable in the musical arena. But seriously, get off your soap box.

For every compotent musician/critic that hates Evanescence, there are at least 1 if not 2 or 3 that disagree. Now, I will agree with you that the general american populace knows jack shit about good music (Paris Hilton getting an album verifies this), but that doesn't negate the fact that Evanescence is one of the more widely accepted, appreciated, and CD purchased bands in recent history. They did win Grammy's for their work, and this proves that there is at least some musical merit to their work thus far no matter how screwed up the Grammys might be.

As to talent and challenge... Evanescence's talent has been in question due to Amy Lee's vocals. Some people think she sings flat and whiny. Others think that it is strong and smooth. I tend to favor the latter as I find very few pitch issues in their recorded music. Many of the complaints I believe, center around how she scoops up to many of her notes instead of hitting them directly. I account these as part of the style but others see it as poor singing. To each their own.

As to challenge, this to me means "technical" challenge. Frankly, technical challenge is the last thing that I have on my personal list of measures. You can have the easiest song ever, but that means nothing on whether the music is great or not. I could reference everything from the Beatles to Mozart to back that point up. I my mind, technical merit is only so much of a great thing, because the greatest music is so because it cannot be contained in the sum of its parts, it cannot be measured or built by sheer calculation or logic. Music is at its finiest when it moves inside someone, and that is something that Evanescence has achieved on a grand scale whether you like them or not.

I'm sure this won't convince you to like Evanescence, and this post is really not meant to. What it is meant to do is to hopefully have you become a bit more accepting of other's opinions and the fact that because others opinions differ doesn't make them intellectually inferior to yourself.

Didn't know you errected a fucking monarchy where we're not allowed to speak our minds, oh ye king of faggotdom. How about you shut you fucking gob instead of pissing down my leg?

Please quantify "accepted" or "appreciated" without using "CD purchases".

So wait a second...

You said that the Grammy's are screwed up ... except when you agree with them? What the hell kind of standard is that to hold?

While I can only speak for myself in this - I say they suck for many other reasons. It's just so happens that Amy Lee's vocals is one of the reasons they're awful.

Yet you chide Paris Hilton; which makes me wonder if you have no understanding of standard, what "recorded" music delineates or how to form a simple opinion. If Paris Hilton can make an album that sells, what does that tell you about Amy Lee?

I've never paid to hear either person sing but sure as shit, I'd ask for my money back.

You change your stance more often than square dancers on fast-forward.

You're attempting to compare three completely different things. Thats like trying to say the ape who used a stone tool is as important as the first women behind the wheel of a car or the creation of the 8-Track.

One is obviously far more important than the rest - but not only that - they have nothing to do with each other at all.

I don't respect any opinion that is stated as poorly as yours.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...=Google+Search

So you're yet another person who finds himself so important as to not even bother to dissuade my opinion - but continues to type just to see himself speak?

You're certainly an exception to that statement. You certainly are inferior to me.

The statement said "get off your soap box" which means quit beating a dead horse, or re-stating multiple times your opinion which has already been stated multiple times in this thread. You are more than welcome to keep your opinion.

If you are claiming that the three are never equatable, you are the one that doesn't have shit for brains. Many very talented artists and bands have sold extremely well ever since albums have existed and you know it.

I didn't say the Grammy's were screwed up. I said that no matter how screwed up anyone could think they are, winning a Grammy does show artistic musical merit regardless of any cynics opinion. There was a conditional word "maybe" at the end of the statement.

My point wasn't that Amy Lee's vocal is bad, I said it is questionable, or up for debate in other words. There are so many differing opinions on Amy Lee's vocal talent, even among those that are musical aficionados. My point now is that you still can't accept that other critical musicians whose pitch retention is as good or better than yours could possibly like Amy Lee's voice, when this is simply not the case.

Absolutely nothing. Eric Clapton sold millions of albums. So does John Mayer, so did the Beatles, so do thousands of other talented musicians and bands. I chide Paris Hilton because she is not an artist, she is a rich and slutty bitch.

Thanks for stating your opinion once again. BECAUSE I DIDNT HEAR IT THE FIRST HUNDRED TIMES!

Again, I never said I thought her vocal was bad, I stated that it is debatable because of varied opinions.

I won't belabor this point because you won't see it even if it hit you square between the eyes and rested on your bloody nose. Technicality does not make greatness, and you know it.

LOL. Stooping to referencing a simple typo is low even for you. Stop grasping for straws.

I like how you reference Schoenberg like I wouldn't know who he is. You are unbelieveably arrogant sometimes. I've studied his scores and heard his pieces played live by a string quartet. Yes, they are created using math and logic, and yes, they are great "musical" works. But everyone knows that these pieces are more study material and great experiments then they are made for ear consumption. Anyone can tell that the music sounds random or mechanical.

I'd love to change your opinion. But because you are one stubborn ass, I am confident that no amount of logic or fact would dissuade your opinion. I've stated that the point wasn't to change your opinion. You are entitled to it. I was hoping you might start to give others that have dissenting opinions the respect they deserve by stop throwing your opinion consistently in their faces and catagorically claiming their inferiority.

Haha. You are quite the self-righteous egotistical prick. You don't even know me, and you assume you do based on a single post. At times like these, it's easy to see why you can't handle differing opinions. You can't stand being challenged. Fine, you can keep being the self-proclaimed authority, but no one's giving you that respect.

I'm absolutely certain you wouldn't say this if my opinion agreed with yours.

"Accepted" and "Appreciated" have nothing to do with "album sales". People accept and appreciate any number of works that do not sell. Not to mention, according to your logic - Ashley Simpson is better than Mozart because she sold millions of albums.

I also know that the sky is blue and water is wet. But you can't quantify talent with sales. However, you could certainly question taste with sales.

You can't even remember what you said in a previous post. You wortheless sack of shit, you're not even worth my replying to at this point. Do us all a favor, find a Rabbi and have him chop off your prick to keep you from knocking up some poor, unsuspecting girl. I don't need more of your kind in the world; I have a problem with all the ignorance already.

Just LOL.

Lehah, you have the most closed mind I have ever seen. You can't take constructive criticism, hell, you can't even read statements in paragraphs. You have to tear each sentence, or more true even, each set of subject + verb couplings apart to misconstrue every statement. Why can't you listen and reason with someone, instead of claiming their ignorance, shoddily tearing apart their posts, and trying (failing) to beat them over the head with their own statements?

I, like you, am not going to keep railing on you or the points that I've been trying to make to you. But unlike you, I'm not gonna call you a "wortheless sack of shit" and tell you to "chop off your prick". I respect your opinion. Just don't be so self-righteous and stubborn about shoving it in people's faces repeatedly. You come in this thread consistently, just to bash on them like you are trying to pick a fight. Just tell us once what you think of them and why, and be done with it.

Take your own advice.

Like it or not, the album has been leaked since yesterday. I'll post the sendspace link once I finish the upload, or if anyone else has it, please share it =)

Got it today. Well have to say that it sound like most of the old tracks they made but it's ok for me since I like this style =D Sweet Sacrifice, Lithium, The Only One are one of my favorite tracks from this 13 tracks album. Shame that version that leaked is only 192 kbps.

Where'd you get it? It hasn't been posted on Oink's :(

I love the album, I got it tonight and it's the most beautifully haunting album i've heard. I'll post up a detailed review when I can think straight =p.

when you all say you have it, you mean a rip of it, right ? not the actual CD ? ;_; I thought the japanese would got it first on sept 26...

Double Post:
There you go:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/aggn8f

Thanks to qubed, I finally got to listen to this. Having listened to ALL Evanescence's discography, I find this album's works to be alot simpler. I listened for the guitar scores, and it's really simple compared to the previous releases. Furthermore, the melody is really bland, and takes much longer to sink in compared to the previous songs. They did not utilize Amy Lee's voice to the fullest. I do hope they continue to produce new songs though, hoping for an improvement in the next album.

[edit] Don't get me wrong though, their work are still awesome. It's just that this album has less impact; requires more time for the songs to sink in, and the score seems much simpler.

I'm not feeling this cd either. There is too much slow heavy blandness. Plus, her voice doesn't even sound natural in many of the songs..........perhaps the band really did need Ben Moody to make their music and not just Amy Lee. I guess I'll have to see if further listens will change my mind.


EDIT

Actually, I'm going to update my opinion of the album and say it's rather terrrible. There might be more filler on this CD than on Christina Aguilera's "Back to Basics" and that had over 20 tracks.

Downloading it as I post.

Massive thanks to cubed.

Not a whole lot of memorable songs, I liked CMWYS, Lithium, Lacrymosa (the choir is awesome) and Sweet Sacrifice, but in my opinion, Fallen was a stronger album. Some of the songs are kinda dull, kinda dissapoiting =(

Just in case anyone wants to download the songs individually: http://lolvampires.multiply.com/music (some other rock goodies there as well =O)

The choirs in Lacrymosa reminds me of the ones used for "Anything for you"...

For people who expected Fallen mark 2 are going to be really disappointed. Sure The Open Door doesn't have striking catchy tunes, but personally I really didn't want that. I think their sound has progressed and they've experimented with a new darker atmospheric sound with lots of layered vocals and sound effects. If you don't really appreciate that kinda thing, then the album will sound a bit dull. Me however, I love the new sound. My favourites are probably Call Me When You're Sober, Lithium, Snow White Queen, Like You, The Only One and Good Enough.

Don't know if any of you guys noticed, but here's what I observed from listening to the album multiple times:

-The song Lacrymosa is arranged from Anything For You. The melody is basically the same thing, just arranged and added in new set of lyrics.
-Each song have very similiar scores, ranging from multiple instruments. That is why there aren't any catchy tunes.
-Each song has Amy singing almost every single beat of it, just to let the song's melody stand out more. I'm not sure how to say this, but Amy tried cover up the bland score with her voice.
-Amy Lee on herself, isn't very good with composing. Ben Moody played a major part on the composing before.

To answer what Sian wrote, having layered vocals and sound effects doesn't make it any darker. It is to cover up the plain score and some of the arranged/revised pieces on the songs. Basically, this album is bad without Ben. Ask anybody that's actually into music and they'll tell you the same. What you said was simply from a consumer's point of view.

I seriously hope Amy will pick up Ben's style a little more and improve before the next album.

Haha well whatever mate, I meant with the style of the layered vocals and the melodies, that combined with the dark lyrics gave it that more atmospheric feel to me. What you're saying is very technical based and that's just not how I look at things. If you're talking about me when you say "anybody that's actually into music" then I really don't like your attitude and I get the impression you're looking down on me. I don't believe you have to be an expert in the technical side of music to be into music in general.

I'm interested in your opinion on Fallen, to me with my "consumer's point of view" I thought that most of the songs sounded the same.

Look, it was never my intention to "look down on you", more like, to each their own. If I made you feel inferior, I'm very sorry. You have to understand, I just ventured into the composing/song writing field, but I'm quite familiar with music scores through listening alone from ear training, particularly the guitar's. Technical or not, people that study music for their future will eventually catagorize music. Compared to Dream Theater or even Nightwish, this album's scores are awfully simple. Which is why I said what I said.

Also, anyone can be into music. There are no significant difference between those who study music, and consumers. The ONLY difference is that, those into music actually knows what to look for, how to catogorize it, and what music terms to be used. I'm no pro, but what I said wasn't just the technical side of music by the way.

If you want my "consumer's point of view", this album is still a disappointment, as I've liked their work for a long time. The music simply sounds the same, where Amy's vocals have little fluctuations, which gives a plain melody in the long run. The instrumentals have very little variations, and they have most of it on a loop. Unlike their previous albums, where songs like Going Under, Haunted, Tourniquet or Whisper (all from Fallen), where Amy's vocal actually have distinct pauses which produce distinct melodies. This album, in addition to her little fluctuations, she doesn't have much pauses, which seriously kills the song. Imagine a person reading a text from a book without punctuations.

I can go on forever when it comes to music, so I'll stop here. Also, about Fallen, I rip all the albums into tracks for my iTunes, so I delete repeated tracks already present in other albums. Those 4 tracks I listed are what I remember from Fallen so far, and in general, Eva's individual songs before this are much more unique on their own. I can go on further about how they are different, but I'll end up writing an essay and you probably won't read it. The notes/pauses/scores are very different in Fallen, at least more than Open Door.

Also, to prevent a two person arguement (which will eventually lead to having our posts deleted/split), please PM me if you have further comments and we'll carry on there.

Finally, sorry again if I offended you.

PS: If you know any professionals in the music industry, try talking to them; you'll be surprised how pissed they'll get if you actually use simple terms/consumer's point of view while discussing music with them. I know a couple and even for me, it's a hell of a task just talking to them about music.

My apologies for taking it the wrong way, I get touchy when it comes to music I like =p. Having said that, I can see why people don't like Evanescence and I can also appreciate your point of view of the new album. I do listen to a lot of varied music, and I do have more knowledge than most but I have a huge gap where I could educate myself more. When you started talking about scores and the such I thought it was getting technical >_>.

I'd never try and argue with someone who knew what they were talking about, because my hippy feelings of music would just make them laugh =p. I'm more of a person who listens out for themes and being able to relate and more experimental music than actually being able to pick out little things and be able to describe what they are etc.

Well if you ever feel the need to write an essay on you opinion on Evanescence's music, feel free I would read it. I wouldn't necessarily agree with all of it, but nevertheless I would be interested to read anyone's opinion if it was more than just "they suck" or "this shit depresses me".

No worries there.. If you really like music, you could pick up an instrument for starters and study theory and practicals from there. ^^

Your ability to relate themes are already better than nothing. Everyone has to start somewhere. ~_^

Ahaha, if I partially proved my point, then there's no need to write an essay. I would never call gothic rock "depressing shit" as these are one of the more melodious rock types out there. Standard rock are still fine, but I don't particularly like heavier rock/metal, just because most of them have too much distortion, or focused too much on their practical performance; and the songs aren't melodious enough to enjoy them. No harmony to it at all.

Don't worry, I'm a fan of Eva myself, and I'd never insult their works if I don't need to.