Not since Australia's Suze DeMarchi (late of Baby Animals and a too-short solo career) have we heard such a talented female vocalist who seems like she can sing anything.

She makes it sound easy. If you buy it, go ahead and stash your other CDs away for a few weeks. You won't need 'em.


This CD is NOT an answer to EURO-GOTH   April 9, 2003
 14 out of 41 found this review helpful

This CD is pretty terrible. The fact that this music has been around for years and it just now becomes a hot item to own. That is BS. Closed minded people only buy music they hear on the radio. All I have is two words for Evanescence - LACUNA COIL. True there are other EURO-GOTH bands like Lullacry for example and many others. But in my opinion when it comes to GOTH music, Lacuna Coil takes the cake. They have great, heavy guitars, 2 singers 1 male and 1 female and good mood settings in their music. Lacuna Coil has been doing for years what Evanescence is trying to do now. If Lacuna Coil was played on the radio then all of these Bandwagons would jump all over something else. Basically what it comes down to is Evanescence is not the American answer to European Goth Metal. I am American and proud to be, but in music, the Europeans just now how to put songs together better. If you like Evanescence, look for Lacuna Coil or even Lullacry. They are both ten times better and more enjoyable to listen to.


Hugely overrated   January 15, 2004
 14 out of 24 found this review helpful

Oh, please kill me. Surely one of the biggest bands of the year would be the worst. This year, that statement was amplified tenfold with this absymal album. Sure, the girl can sing, but the whole thing reeks of sickening corporate manipulation and formula. It's all so typical, and has been seen so so often. The whole shtick just gets tiring. The sensitive, angry teen diary lyrics; the artsy pained screaming and bellowing; the generic sludgy guitar riffing. Wait a minute, this is Linkin Park? When did they get a girl to sing their songs?
What about their videos? Horrible concepts, for sure, but none as much as "My Immortal": cue the black-and-white, the weepy girl suffering from painful memories. Pass the Kleenex please. How many high school yearbooks and diaries are adorned with lyrics from this band's poison pen? I'm getting depressed, but the nightmare is only starting. How about them racking up almost four million in sales throughout the year? How about their backstabbing of the original Christian rock foundation they were built upon? How about the hilariously prissy reaction to the guitarist realizing the band is terrible and leaving the in the midst of their huge tour? Sure, it's pretty cold-hearted, but no less than the music.
Simply put, there is no amount of bashing I could lay out on this band for the depressing, formulaic, grating, sickening garbage they heaped on the radio in the past twelve months. Wake me up inside? No no, shoot me in the head. If this is the music that is selling the most copies, we are living in a truly sad, pathetic world.


About as Gothic as haggis   September 18, 2005
 14 out of 19 found this review helpful

I hear a lot of people comparing this band to Finnish metal band Nightwish, which is really unfair. The two bands are of separate genres and cannot really be compared. A better way to say it would be, if you like Nightwish, you'll hate this. If you hate Nightwish, you'll still hate this. Basically, you'll hate this.

Among several (dubious) accolades afforded to Evanescence, one of them is that they helped bring "Gothic Metal to the mainstream", despite the fact that they are neither metal nor Gothic (unless you go by the typical teenager's definition, whereby "Gothic" apparently means "whining about how horrible your life is"). Perhaps more relevant is the praise heaped on vocalist Amy Lee.

Now, I will admit that Amy Lee is an above-average vocalist, especially compared with contemparies such as Avril Lavigne. She's certainly not in the same class as Tarja Turunen of the aforementioned Nightwish, Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil, Sharon den Adel of Within Tempation, or Floor Jansen of After Forever, but she's not bad. So what's the problem? Quite simply, the band backing her is horrible. There are no memorable guitar riffs, just repetitive power chords typical of the (thankfully dead) nu-metal scene. I'm not going to review each individual track, because frankly they all sound alike. "Bring Me to Life" is quite possibly the worst track on the album, with horrid "rapping" unpleasantly reminded me of that other "whinge rock" band, Linkin Park.

But you know what the worst thing, the absolute WORST thing, about this album is? The lyrics. Every song is dripping with the same kind of cliched, whiney, "look at all my pain" poetry you would expect to find in some sad-sack high schooler's diary. It's the kind of angsty, non-specific malaise infesting mainstream music that's calculated to appeal exclusively to teenagers going through those turbulent years. Nothing on "Fallen" sounds genuine or heartfelt. The lyrics are pitifully self-indulgent, and are at best maudlin. "Save me from the nothing I've become?" Please. I can only imagine what those who think this album is "depressing" would think if they ever listened to something like My Dying Bride. Very bad trips would ensue.

My recommendation? Amy Lee should find a band more appropriate (read: talented) for her abilities. Until then, stay away from Evanescence.


Buy something else. Please.   November 27, 2003
 13 out of 32 found this review helpful

I have possibly never heard something so amazingly painful to the ears. The horrid nu-metal guitar riffs with the incredibly bad, overly dramatic vocals, and not to mention the annoying wannabe goth attitude Amy Lee just radiates. What the hell is a Christian band doing flirting with the Gothic sub-culture? Give me a break. The two do not walk hand-in-hand.
Even through her appearance, Amy Lee appears to resemble a country singer. Her singing gives off the same impression; the long, drawn out, melodramatic tone of her voice just makes me want to rip my hair out. I've seen some of these kiddies, who I imagine find the Linkin boys and Avril amazingly interesting, comment on how depressing this album is. Ha.
Yes, it IS depressing. Not in a way that makes you want to cry, but in a way that makes you ponder where our good music is really going. Poison the Well and Nine Inch Nails wont be common name for long, soon it'll be hardcore christians with mohawks screaming out with cracking teenage voices about the degradation of society and conformity. Oh wait, there already is a band like that.. Sorry, Good Charlotte.
I've gotten so much response about my views on Evanescence, mostly other opinions. "They're not christian!", "They're not Gothic!". You see kids, the band themselves have admitted it. You can't deny something about them when they've said it's true themselves. For crying out loud, they play for the same label as P.O.D. and Creed. Both of which are Christian bands, and both of which sing at the poor quality of Amy Lee.
Another point I'd like to make about them being "Gothic". What the heck is a gothic band doing on the teen choice awards? Have any of us seen Skinny Puppy performing with the likes of Jennifer Lopez and 50 Cent? Maybe it has to do with Skinny Puppy's lyrics not being written as badly as teenage poetry.
I'll be expecting to see Amy Lee kissing Madonna on MTV soon enough.