Published on Feb 7, 2005
The Grammy season is upon us, and I as I sat pondering this
years nominees, my thoughts went to years past, specifically last
year. Last year was really the first ime I started taking note of
the Grammys, and actually had listened to music nominated. One such
example is Evanescence. They ended up winning the award for Best
New Artist, and Best Hard Rock Performance based on their
performance on
Fallen. Were they deserving of those accolades? I can’t say,
but nevertheless
Fallen is an enjoyable piece of music.
Fallen was an album of firsts for me — it was the first
album that led me to realize there was some good music out there
that was made after 1976, and it inspired me to go to my first
concert where the band members weren’t collecting Social Security.
So, you must be thinking to yourself, “Man, he must have really
liked this album then.” Hold on there sport. It isn’t that good. It
merely awoke the sleeping giant.
The first thing that struck me when
Fallen got its first play in the discman was that Amy Lee,
lead vocalist/pianist, could flat out sing. Granted, my knowledge
of female singers is very limited, but of all the women lead
singers I have heard, Amy Lee is the best. She has an incredible
range, something lacking in the female pop stars today (Take that
Britney Spears!). Whether it is a creepy, haunted vocal on
“Haunted,” a heart breaking song of loss, “My Immortal” or balls
out rock “Going Under,” Lee can do it all.
See, that covers the vocals, what about the rest? Well boys and
girls, that is where the album falls down a bit on the job. I like
some of the production techniques used, there are a lot of backing
strings, ancient monk-style chants and drum loops, the latter of
which is very reminiscent of Linkin Park. However, after the
seventh song that uses these sounds, it gets old quick. The same
goes with the There are two gorgeous piano ballads from Lee, who
again proves that she is unquestionably the rock of the band. The
backing band of lead guitarist Ben Moody, guitarist John LeCompt,
and drummer Rock Gray are adequate, though Moody does come up with
a few good riffs.
The big single, and award-winning song off
Fallen is “Bring Me To Life,” which despite its blatant
commercialism, is a good song. It features arguably the best guitar
riff off the album, as well as one of the more compelling Lee
vocals. However, the inclusion of Paul McCoy of 12 Stones annoyed
the hell out of me. This duet should never had happened; the
contrast of the voices is too distracting. Yes, I know the point of
a duet is to have two vocalists, but the band/producer, whoever
should have found a better complement to Lee.
The big controversy over
Fallen and Evanescence was whether it was goth rock, or as
some though, Christian rock. Lyrically, there are numerous
references to God, and religion, but not enough blatantly scream,
“Hey, singing about Jesus here!” The rest of the album deals with
pain, sorrow, sadness, and ____(add synonym of previous words
here). People tell me that this is standard “goth rock” fare,
however I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and hope they come
up with better material on the next album.
If Amy Lee wasn’t present on this album, it would get a D+, or
maybe if I was feeling generous, a C-. However, because I find her
performance so enrapturing and amazing, she ups the Grade to a B-
(Conversely, it’s a good thing my teachers don’t grade me based on
my singing ability, I’d probably be at home eating Cheetos watching
American Idol). Evanescence can do better than this, they
just need to incorporate some new styles into their original sound,
and with Lee on the lead mic, anything is possible.