Born Again Goth Rock (Fallen - Evanescence)

Member Name: Bryn Pearson

Product:	Fallen - Evanescence
Date:	28/07/03 (1501 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great lyrics, musically interesting

Disadvantages: none

I have a friend who makes it his business to buy me modern music for my birthday, and this year it was Evanescence. Needless to say, being someone who seldom dips into pop culture, I hadn't heard of them. They are very good though, so I've no complaints. The band consist of three blokes and a female vocalist (more on this later)

I'll start with a track breakdown I think.....

'Going Under' - blasts in with heavy guitar chords and intense vocals 'now I'll tell you what I've done for you, 50,000 tears I've cried'. There's lots about falling and reaching the bottom - classic angsty goth material, but with a good tune. There's a lot of 'dirty sound' on this track though and being a bit of a purist, a cleaner sound would have suited me better. A good opening track though, lots of energy and bite.

'Bring me to life' - this rang bells, I can remember feeling like this during my teens (and still do some days, but not so often thankfully) 'wake me up inside, call my name and save me from the dark, bid my blood to run before I come undone, save me from the nothing I've become.'There's a lovely mellow piano opening, the guitars sneak up on you, there's strings and then the rhythm starts to build, eventually its screaming lyrics sung against some very potent snips of rapping. Brilliantly structured, very catchy, a real toe tapper this.

'Everybody's fool' is, I think a song about growing up and realising that you've been misled about shed loads of stuff, that the glamourous illusions are just fake, that you can't really trust anyone. It's a song about the sense of betrayal that comes with finding out how the world actually works. This is another one with a mellow intro, a bit of more sensitive guitar playing and on the whole a more rock than goth sound here.

'My Imortal'is just stunning, a really brooding track, mostly ju
st voice and piano with some strings in the background- shades of Enya put with a much more interesting tune. This song angsts beautifully over a troubled relationship - it never slides into being cheesey. The singing is amazing.

'Haunted' - has an opening that might make you think of a bad b-movie horror flick - echoey effects on the voice, slow, haunted indeed. Not one of the most memorable tracks on the album, but good and solid none the less. A close read of the lyrics shows it to be quite disturbing, but I'll leave you to discover that for yourself.

'Tourniquet' - normally anything resembling Christian rock leaves me cold - expereince to date indicates that this is a seriously cheesey genre, all very happy clappy. Tourniquet owes nothing to the Christian rock genre. This is an aguished appeal to a deity who might not even be listening, this is a soul in torment crying out for healing and peace, and its bloody potent stuff. Whether you believe in any god, Christian or otherwise, this song can't fail to touch a nerve. I think it's my favourite on the album, and every time I hear it, I get shivers down my spine.

'Imaginery'- is good, although its hard to follow Tourniquet with anything. A song about dreams and escapism, its cool, not the most musically diverse, but good.

'Taking me over' - another slightly Enya-esque piano intro and then in with the guitar again - seems to be their trademark opening. This song moves between mellow backing with exposed voice, to a bigger sound with more of a rock feel - it does have something of a ballad quality. It's a good track but not when I end up humming.

'Hello' - Voice and piano Enya style again (although Amy knocks spots of Enya if you ask me). It sounds like there's a lot fo story behind this one, the song doesn't tell you much directly though, and its enough to make you wonder. Another haunted, haunting song.
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'My Last breath' - if you'd succumbed to the mellow previous track, then this oen will wake you up again - it rocks. fave line - 'Look for me in the white forest, Hiding in a hollow tree'. Tune sounds a bit like some of their other tunes, but its not a bad track.

'Whisper' - is a heavy number to round off with, nothing like a whisper at all - another appeal for rescue, it's a song about trying to stand your ground no matter how scary it gets, about contemplating death. A good finishing track on the whole. There's some excellent layered vocal stuff towards the end of the track, very cool indeed.

There isn't a bad track on this album. There are some patterns - the mellow intro that kicks into something rockier more often than not, but on the whole its quite musically diverse for a mainstream product. What really makes the album for me is Amy Lee's voice - amazingly expressive and versatile, she can draw you intot he worlds of the songs and make you feel like you are bleeding with her. The lyrics are pure goth angst, but imaginatively handled, with some strong images and memorable phrases.

If your musical pallett includes rock or gothy stuff, this album is a must have. If you only like mellow stuff, find a friend with a copy and listen to 'My Imortal'.

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