I don’t normally do music reviews, but I love Evanescence and I’ve been waiting for their new album for months, ever since I heard “What You Want” a few months back. I really, really loved 2003’s “Fallen” but I was so unimpressed with “The Open Door” that I didn’t even bother to buy it. I really felt like “The Open Door” relied too much on the success of “Bring Me to Life” and didn’t bring enough originality to the party. Even if this album was a flop for me, there is one thing about Evanescence that cannot be denied. Amy Lee has an incredible vocal talent. I don’t care who you are, if you disagree with me on that, go get your head examined. Her vocal talent should always be the showcase of an Evanescence album, that and it should always have a drummer that really enjoys his job and that powerful, throbbing bass or a piano thrown in there for some additional auditory interest. On this issue, the album does not disappoint.
I am not going to do a track by track run down here, what I will tell you is that there is more good here than bad, and there is some good to be had in every track on this album. This album is track for track better than “The Open Door.” The stand out tracks here are “My Heart is Broken”, “Lost in Paradise”, “The Other Side”, “End of the Dream”, “Oceans” and “Never Go Back” and the hauntingly beautiful “Swimming Home”. I love “What You Want”, but it’s pretty typical fare for Evanescence. Even so, this will be the song I am blaring when I’m blowing down the back roads at potentially illegal speeds in the middle of the night. This many winners on an album beats my usual requirements for purchasing an album in its entirety. It has to have more than four tracks that I will listen to all the time in order for me to spend 10$ on it.
If you go buy the Deluxe Version of the album from iTunes, it comes with four extra tracks, which, IMO are well worth the 3$ premium you pay to buy this edition of the album. “New Way to Bleed” by itself is worth the three bucks. “Say You Will” is a higher energy entry into the album than I expected. It’s much more upbeat and has a majestic, classic rock sort of feel to it. “Disappear” is not my favorite, but it’s still good stuff. My favorite of the four bonus tracks is “Secret Door”, but I’m a sucker for strings. Here, you can find some painfully beautiful harp, cello, piano and violin paired with Amy Lee’s vocals. It’s truly a beautiful piece and worthy of your time.
To make a long story short, I don’t feel like my thirteen dollars were wasted. I have purchased more than one album in my life that I listened to and felt like I’d just wasted an hour of my life. I’ve spent the last two hours listening and re-listening to the tracks on this one and I feel as though it was time well spent.
My recommendation?
Click on the album cover below and buy it.
