Published on Aug 7, 2003
Evanescence’s lead vocal Amy Lee is already on her way to
becoming the metal version of Britney Spears. (Oh, Avril! I didn’t
see you.) She dresses in stereotypical Goth (girl-talk mode: “Like,
is that even her own hair?”) and “soars” over the instrumental
tracking singing about how she isn’t being appreciated. Evanescence
is another excellently produced junior act that promises be the
vehicle for countless vicarious fantasies by millions of
middle-class teenagers (with the money to buy oodles of CDs).
(Oh and, I really want to get this out in the open. No! Jason!
Duke! Don’t stop me. Let me GO. Listen, girls. When you’re in a
mature and adult relationship with a man, you don’t whine at him
for not giving you enough attention. You go back to your aircraft
designing, your business consulting, your childrearing, your
Proust-reading. You give him a gentle reminder if you feel like it.
You love him for what he is. If you don’t like what he is, dump
him. You do NOT write epic imitation-metal songs whining about how
he can’t read your mind. Ask yourself if what you want from him is
a LOVER or a FATHER. Women, while still faced with many obstacles,
are now empowered, educated, and factored into the many equations
of society. Equalize relationships: cease being a daughter and
become a WOMAN. OK. I’m ready to review.)
If you listen to pop radio, you’ve probably heard Evanescence’s
songs, or songs that sound similar to them (think of Linkin Park
with a female vocal). The songs are basically metal, because metal
is cool, yet they maintain a juvenile dimension in the lyrics in
order to reassure those naughty suburban kids that what they’re
doing isn’t really evil. It’s like smoking pot without inhaling.
Amy Lee’s voice sounds suburban-clean, and the instrumentals only
sound loud and chaotic at first because of their allusions to heavy
metal, but draw the curtain behind the wizard and lo! They too are
obsessively produced for that clear, satisfying pop sound.
It takes a lot of craft to pull this off, but what gets tiring
is its consistent repetition track after track. Their entire album
Fallen sounds basically like the opening track “Going Under”
or the first single “Bring Me to Life.” I’d really love to write a
review that is more track-by-track – a rule Chris Thelen outlined
very early on in this site’s inception – it’s just that, and I
apologize for committing the reviewer’s cardinal sin of dipping
into cliché, all the tracks sound the same. I smell a
formula (and so do many others, judging by the overall lukewarm
reaction by critics). On the upside though, if you like “Bring Me
to Life” (and as a pop song it’s quite refreshing, really) you’ll
like the entire album.
But I’ll point out two standouts before I go: “Immortal” goes
briefly into Tori Amos territory (piano, vocals in pain) and almost
teeters into banality, but it could be saved with a good video.
They try to repeat the ambiance on a later track called “Hello” but
it just sounds like leftovers. “Tourniquet” dips into some dark
Christian images in the lyrics to create a cathartic rock anthem
about salvation. It’s quite good, but has raised confusion in some
circles that Evanescence is a Christian band; Amy Lee, on the
official website, would like to clear it up and say that they are
not.
Like, yar.