Metal Reviews

I am so glad you're here to help me with myself!


Considering that you're a fellow Iron Maiden fan I'll draw this parallel. Maiden was on quite a roll from NOTB ot SSOASS would you agree? I think so. When Adrian Smith departed NPFTD was considered a very sub-par Iron Miaden CD. It still had all the signature Iron Maiden overtones...harmoized guitars, Bruce, Steve's song structure, and so on but it was really awful in comparison to the previous 5 CD's they had released. Blame it on Adrian's departure, the recording, the arrival of Janick Gers, whatever. Overall it was just a very poor Iron Maiden CD.

That's how I feel about "The Open Door".

I'm glad you feel otherwise EYESORE. I'm very happy that you enjoy it so much.

Happy Listening!!

You know... you're not making much sense. And you might also have a condition for always having the last word.

What doesn't make sense to you? Now my grammar is challenged?! What is going on around here????

And someone who didn't really care would not keep replying after saying they don't care.

And it's he who thinks OTHER people have issues.

+ That too I mean I also meant that too! (I was maybe a little vague to whom I was referring)

You've never proven or shown me anything that would have me believe for an instant that "The Open Door" is similiar and/or the same as "Fallen". That's ok though, because you're entitled to believe whatever you want. If you think you schooled me on these two CD's....good for you.....I hope you sleep better at night. I will still continue to feel that "The Open Door" is a terrible CD, Personally for me it's like the example I gave above concerning Iron Maiden. It also reminds me of Def Leppard jumping from their "Pyromania/Hysteria/Adrenalize run and then they release "Slang" This to me is Amy's "Slang".

I'm very sorry that you don't agree. I hope you continue to enjoy the CD.

Cheers!

I have issues........thankfully someone noticed!

.....and I still don't care!

Not at all. Like my forum comrade EYESORE so explicitly details above.........

This is how a forum works. People debate.

I'm just following everyone's lead.

This is not debating.

Sure it is.

Now we can debate how this is not a debate.

The Open Door is, in fact, very similar to Fallen. There was TONS of piano, orchestration and electronics on Fallen; on virtually every song. If this sounds incorrect you should go listen to Fallen again.

As for liking/disliking it—not a problem. You dislike it. I like it. Not a big deal. As for the Slang reference—you're way off. Slang was a huge departure for the band, very stripped down and subtle. The Open Door is like Fallen but there is a thicker coat of the piano work and orchestration.

Also, for those that have heard the pre-Fallen material, The Open Door is much like the early Evanescence material. Fallen was Evanescence's Slang. And considering that Ben Moody is now a professional songwriter, having written material for Avril Lavigne, Bo Bice, Anastacia, Lindsey Lohan, and Kelly Clarkson, I'd say that he was the reason Evanescence changed on Fallen; he is the one who brought a more "pop" aspect to the band—because Fallen is far more stripped down, radio-friendly, and "poppy" than The Open Door. But again, I don't care that you hate the album.

Does anyone else find it funny that in the past on this forum I had people telling me I was a fucking idiot for liking Fallen, and now months and months later I have people telling me I'm a fucking idiot for liking The Open Door because Fallen is a great album, much better than The Open Door—which sucks?

I dislike both Fallen and The Open Door. I win!

I'm grateful that you've recognized the point I've been attempting to communicate about the importance of Ben Moody's involvement with Evanescence. For most of the radio listening world, (who were not lucky enough to get a copy of "Origin" or whatever other demos that have been released) you have been fortunate enough to hear those recordings, so, for the majority of the millions who bought "Fallen" world wide they only know Evanescence as what was presented to them on "Fallen". Now with that being said I find it amazingly interesting that we're listening to the same material on "The Open Door" and we're arriving at totally different ends of the spectrum.


I don't hear it sounding fuller and darker. I find it sounding very watered down and uninspired. Now this could very well be because I'm coming at this from the point of view of the guitar player (because I've played for the majority of my life) and I think I focus alot of my attention on that. That's why I had said previously that the hooks, riffs, solos, dare I say "radio friendly arrangements" are gone. That is what I think made Evanescence great on "Fallen" Their (Amy and Ben) fusing of both those elements made it very enjoyable music.

In fact, perhaps a better comparison would be if Nightwish returned from "Once" with a follow up CD that consisted mostly of songs like "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" which is entirely piano, orchestration, and Tarja. Now of course that would be assuming that Tarja would be returning which of course, sadly she is not. Those key Nightwish elements would be there but gone would be the big guitars, driving drumming, and thundering bass. It would be watered down and thinned out. That's how I feel "the Open Door" sounds.

I felt the same way when Journey released "Raised On Radio". Steve Perry assumed the majority of the song writting and arranging for that CD. He kicked out long standing bassist Ross Valory and the god like drummer Steve Smith. The entire rhythm section was replaced with studio musicians and guiatrist Neal Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain were relegated to the sideline. That CD in no way stood up to "Escape" or "Frontiers" both cd's that produced a huge amount of "hits". I feel that Amy has done the same with Evanescence. She has ruined an immensley promising band.

I'm glad you like it but that's really where I'm coming from. I apologize to anyone who I may have insulted in this exchange. You caught me on some very bad days. I should not have taken things even slightly personal. In fact, I really didn't. I'm just dealing with an unexpected lower back issue which has been causing me terrible pain if I''m sitting or standing. Perhaps over the past few days of hardly being able to walk and dealing with the pain I lashed out here. I am sorry. I'm very quick to sarcasm. It's my defense mechanism. I am sorry.

Take care metalheads........

The Wizard

Just popping in to say that I completely glazed over on those last twp pages and that I appear to have been right again. I am now King of the Block! Someone fetch my slippers.

This one has gone way beyond the expected 4 pages now

It's all good, bro. Trust me; people don't take to my words very well when they first encounter me on this forum. I love music, and I love discussing music. It gets heated ocassionally, but take it in stride (like when leee and I argue). At the end of the day, leee and I love each other deeply.

Anyway, I still hear Fallen under the layers of The Open Door. The guitar is heavy, and in some cases heavier. It's just got a thick coat of the orchestral symphonic shit.

Personally I don't know if Ben Moody is the reason Fallen sounded as it did or if it was a label decision. I don't imagine the pre-Fallen material was mostly written by Amy Lee, so it's hard to assume that Ben Moody stepped up and took control on Fallen. "Bring Me To Life" has no male vocalist on the original Fallen version—you can find it on the single as "Bring Me To Life (Bliss Mix)." The label made the decision to put that guy from 22 Stones on the song. The original pre-Fallen version had a lot of electronics and orchestration. So I think maybe the label persuaded the band to stip things down. There's an old song called "Lies" that has some semi-death metal male vocals on it. Very, very different. I honestly think Fallen is much more stripped down than The Open Door; and I'm not sure how much Moody had to with it. Of course, considering what he's doing now, maybe he is the reason as he seems, to me, to be much more attuned to the "pop" side of things. But there's no sense in going over this again.

If you like Ben Moody, he's got a solo album coming out called "You Can't Regret What You Can't Remember." If I were a betting man I'd say that's a reference to Amy Lee and Evanescence. And you should check out the early stuff; they've got a few albums' worth of pre-Fallen material.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Seven Pages - Well fuck me!!! Man do I like some controversy. Been kinda busy the past week so haven't joined in, but I have been keeping an eye on wht's been goin on. Okay, so I'm a crap reviewer - noted, and will try harder in future. Giving it 60 was too high as I took into account the album had went platinum. Here's the thing - I'm just me and what I wrote about "The Open Door" really is my heartfealt opinion, yet, it sold over a million copies. Maybe I missed something cos I'm sure a million people can't all be wrong. In the scoring system of Metal Reviews 0-30 usually gets 'Crap Of The Month', 0-50 is 'Buy At Your Own Risk', 60-69 is 'Try Before You Buy'. So that is what the album reflects - Try it before you buy it!! You see, everybody has their own taste in music and 'The Open Door' isn't mine and to be perfectly honest, isn't really Metal. 'Fallen' was kinda Metal cos it had a few chunky guitar riffs but even it was kinda borderline. But I digress. The album selling a million told me that somewhere out there some people liked it so, giving it a 60 put the onus on you to have a listen to it before shelling out your hard earned cash. So I didn't feel I had to give it 60 cos it sold a million, it was to tell you you don't have to take my word for it that the album is crap - that is only my opinion - check it out for yourself and you decide. After all, only you know what music 'Floats Your Boat'.

That goes for all my reviews; all I can give you is my honest opinion of what I hear. I can say this band or that band is the second coming of Iron Maiden and you can bet your sweet ass some fucker will come out with the tired old one liner - They suck!!! Hopefully they'll expand on that one liner and explain why they think they suck and it will progress into something like this thread. 7 Pages - fucking excellent people clap, clap, clap - I applaud you all for taking part in this discussion, for keeping it real and not letting it degenerate into a dreaded Flame War. Tempers have no doubt been stretched but a certain modicum of coolness has been maintained.

Keep Your Rock - Rollin!!!!

Shoegazer Ross

I think since you are the reviewer you have to ignore what "the million" say and just honestly review with only your own viewpoint. The reader recognizes it is "only your opinion" but that is what the reader is seeking.

But perhaps I understand your lack of confidence as a Mr. Shoegazer.

Actually Eyesore, the reason I keep coming back to Moody being the crux of "Fallen"s sound is due a few written and taped interviews with Amy Lee shortly after his strange departure. She directly laid the blame on him for the strong guitar role in the music and the shortened radio friendly song lengths. She said she was looking forward to writing the new Evanescence without him because she felt stifled by him in the writing process. It would seem that Moody had a strong will and knew what he wanted these collaborations with her to sound like. She felt like she was constantly losing to him in the studio. Further, the record guys seemed to always fall on Moody's side. Now with Moody gone and the success of "Fallen" she was free to do as she pleased.

I still say Moody was insane for leaving. However, we all have no idea what happened behind closed doors or in his head.

Thank you for dealing with my terrible behavior and abysmal etiquette.

Rock on!!