Evanescence - The Open Door

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.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

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.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

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.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

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.

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