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Evanescence
The Open Door
(Wind-Up/Warner)
Massive success. Nasty breakups. Allegations of sexual harassment. Life-threatening illness. Toss in a murder plot, an evil twin and some incest, and the story of Evanescence would make a pretty interesting soap opera.
Far more interesting, in fact, than The Open Door, the band's bid to recapture the lightning-in-a-bottle success of 2003's multi-platinum debut Fallen. Actually, calling Evanescence a band these days is naive -- while a couple of members managed to hang on for the roller-coaster ride of the past few years, it's obvious singer Amy Lee is now the franchise. And maybe that's the problem here.
While there's no denying the power of her spooky, spine-tingling voice, it's equally obvious the 24-year-old's budget and pretension outweigh her songcraft. Most of these gothic-metal tracks are overproduced, bombastic epics assembled from the same parts and instructions:
1) Turn on the scratchy, scraping beatbox;
2) Fade in Lee's witchy tones and mournful piano;
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3) Bring in the chugging detuned guitar riffs and piledriving live drums;
4) Cue the symphony and choir;
5) Slowly build up to the anthemic, soaring chorus;
6) Go to black;
7) Lather, rinse, repeat. Maybe these songs will work better as singles, playing over the credits of the next superhero blockbusters. But strung together, they blur into a long, monotonous blast of self-indulgent Evanonsense.
Some doors are better off staying closed.
Track Listing:
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