In 2003, Amy Lee burst through the glass ceiling of rock and roll with the heavy metal noise of Evanescence’s major label debut, Fallen. Forget the numbers (nearly 14 million sold), the singles (the rap-rock “Bring Me To Life,” and über-ballad “My Immortal”), and the accolades (2 Grammys). Evanescence lives and dies with Lee’s powerful pipes. After enduring the loss of founding member, guitarist, and co-songwriter Ben Moody following Fallen, as well as a much-publicized breakup with Seether’s Shaun Morgan, Lee has resurrected Evanescence with much to prove as an artist, a songwriter, and rock’s most cathartic voice. The Open Door succeeds in many respects. “Call Me When You’re Sober,” the album’s first single, picks up where Fallen left off, a bombastic fuck you to past hurt, lies, and betrayal. “Lithium” is a slow burn of melodic piano and driving guitars, and features perhaps the album’s best one-liner (“just didn’t drink enough to say you love me”). Elsewhere, “Lacrymosa” is as every bit as big as its string line and gospel choir will allow, while “Cloud Nine” uses similar choral vocals to entirely different and haunting effect. Thankfully, Evanesence dials down the crunching nü-metal guitars that were so prevalent on Fallen, and with that opens the door (no pun intended) to a greater breadth of musical experience. This is most evident on the album’s final track, “Good Enough,” five and half minutes of solo piano, voice, and understated strings that is an empowering ending to a collection filled with heartache, loss, and emotional retribution. Overall, however, The Open Door could benefit from more of the subtlety that makes “Good Enough” so affecting. Often, the album rides along a Titanic, melodramatic wave, and Lee isn’t too many octaves away from becoming rock and roll’s Celine Dion; one can almost imagine her bandmates standing with their instruments, arms outstretched at the railing of a boat, like goateed Leonardo DiCaprios, announcing their status as kings of the world. Still, Lee is the ultimate victor of The Open Door, over her past and her present, free to choose her own future, unencumbered. With this album, she proclaims, vehemently and assertively, that this is her band and this is her life. She should be quite content to remain the queen of rock and roll.
~ Frank Valish
Release date: October 3, 2006
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