Review Summary: The arrival of Evanescence has sparked a decent sound, but the fire just isn’t present in this work.
Whoa now, hold on just one minute. You mean to tell me, that Evanescence actually debuted successfully? Sorry, I just find it hard to believe that Evanescence, until their recent self-titled album, held this to look back on. With "The Open Door", it seems as though the inspired debut "Fallen", has been left where it stood for no one to look back on for inspiration. In spite of misunderstanding of the bands intentions, this is nothing really compared to future releases. This album is the lost generation for Evanescence.
Don't get me wrong, this is by no means a crowned jewel, it has its ups and downs, and expires its point after a while. However, for what it’s worth, this album, along with the members who constructed it, should be a given a lot more credit just for their efforts alone. It is apparent that the band is at least trying with this album, and has undertaken a simple aspect of standard rock. With implied elements of hard rock, and some sort of pop aspects, this album was constructed under the heavyweight force of a very stereotypical group. But, it at least gives way to a more generic style, rather than just hypocritical lies.
Everything on this album is something that we've seen before by someone. The guitars are pretty standard, and really don’t offer that much excitement. But, they do employ a good backdrop for Amy Lee, who is the genius singer for the substantial craft. The bass really isn’t made apparent by any means, and really represents itself as nothing more than typical thunderous affect, just grooving in the background. The drums are a lot to be desired as in the fact that while the beat is good; it doesn’t match up with anything lead guitarist Terry Balsamo has to offer.
The most influential aspect on the label is without a doubt the vocals. Amy Lee has definitely stood up and taken her spot in the spotlight, with her halfway decent voice, and piano skills, she marks her territory on the stage. Unfortunately for her in this album, her style can get very dull after a while. Don’t get me wrong, Amy definitely has a good voice, but the pop rock influences on this album forbid her from using her voice to its mass extent. But in harmonious breakdowns, and most choruses, you get a good taste for her awesome vocals.
Evanescence has now permanently established them with this debut. While they haven’t really created anything new, or inspired a new genre of music, they have undertaken an influence of inspirational, rationalized composing of a decent portion. But otherwise, they really aren’t anything that should be undertaken by just any person who has nothing better to do, or music addict.
