Genre: Alternative Metal
Label Number: 60150-13120-2
© 2006 Wind-Up
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
© 2006 Wind-Up
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
It seems like a minor miracle that Evanescence
released their second album at all, given the behind-the-scenes toil
and trouble that surrounded the aftermath of their 2003 debut, Fallen, turning into an unexpected blockbuster. Actually, so much drama followed Evanescence that it's hardly the same band anymore. Certainly, pivotal songwriter/guitarist Ben Moody is no longer with the band, leaving not long after Fallen
had become an international success, and sometime after that, they lost
their bassist -- leaving behind Amy Lee as the indisputable leader of
the band. She always was the face, voice, and spirit of the band anyway
-- dominating so that it often seemed that she was named Evanescence and not fronting a band called that -- but by the time the group finally released their long-awaited second album, The Open Door, in October 2006, there was no question that it was her band, and she has learned well from the success of Fallen. Pushed to the background are the Tori-isms
that constituted a good chunk of the debut -- they're saved for the
brooding affirmation of a closer, "Good Enough," and the churning
"Lithium," which most certainly is not a cover of Nirvana's
classic (that song never mentioned its title, this repeats it
incessantly) -- and in their place is the epic gothic rock (not quite
the same thing as goth rock, mind you) that made Lee rock's leading
witchy woman of the new millennium. And she doesn't hesitate to dig into
the turmoil surrounding the band, since this truly is all about her --
she may artfully avoid the ugliness surrounding the lawsuit against her
manager, whom she's alleged of sexual harassment, but she takes a few
swipes against Moody, while hitting her semi-famous ex, Shaun Morgan of Seether,
directly with "Call Me When You're Sober," as blunt a dismissal as they
come. To hear her tell it, she not only doesn't need anybody, she's
better on her own. Yet artists aren't always the best judge of their own
work, and Lee could use somebody to help sculpt her sound into songs,
the way she did when Moody
was around. Not that she's flailing about necessarily -- "Call Me When
You're Sober" not only has structure, it has hooks and momentum -- but
far too often, The Open Door is a muddle of affections. Sonically, however, it captures the Evanescence
mythos better and more consistently than the first album -- after all,
Lee now has no apologies of being the thinking man's nu-metal chick, now
that she's a star.
tags: evanescence, the open door, 2006, flac,
