Music Notes
In this last week I got Evanescence's new album, The Open Door, and Within Temptation's older album, The Silent Force.
My thoughts?
It's SO GOOD when your husband gets advance copies of really cool shit because he's a music reviewer for a metal website.
It's SO BAD when you decide that The Silent Force is a better Evanescence album than The Open Door is. Seriously. "Stand My Ground" is such an Evanescence song, only Sharon Den Adel doesn't have the same wounded howl that Amy Lee has.
And the new Evanescence . . . it's good, but Amy has picked up some R&B influences on her vocals, which I don't care for, and the songs aren't built around the riffs anymore, they're built around her vocals. You'd think that with a vocal style as strong as hers this would be a good thing, but actually the whole album is far less driven, yearning, and heartfelt than the last. The songwriting is solid but as a whole the album is unremarkable; there are only one or two standout tracks, and they don't match the earlier stuff for impact.
I've found myself skipping over Evanescence on my playlist to get to Within Temptation, which kind of makes me feel bad. I loved Fallen so damn much, I feel I owe them some loyalty. But I keep pushing that button, because The Silent Force kicks major ass.
Ah, well. Can't hit 'em out of the park every time.
My thoughts?
It's SO GOOD when your husband gets advance copies of really cool shit because he's a music reviewer for a metal website.
It's SO BAD when you decide that The Silent Force is a better Evanescence album than The Open Door is. Seriously. "Stand My Ground" is such an Evanescence song, only Sharon Den Adel doesn't have the same wounded howl that Amy Lee has.
And the new Evanescence . . . it's good, but Amy has picked up some R&B influences on her vocals, which I don't care for, and the songs aren't built around the riffs anymore, they're built around her vocals. You'd think that with a vocal style as strong as hers this would be a good thing, but actually the whole album is far less driven, yearning, and heartfelt than the last. The songwriting is solid but as a whole the album is unremarkable; there are only one or two standout tracks, and they don't match the earlier stuff for impact.
I've found myself skipping over Evanescence on my playlist to get to Within Temptation, which kind of makes me feel bad. I loved Fallen so damn much, I feel I owe them some loyalty. But I keep pushing that button, because The Silent Force kicks major ass.
Ah, well. Can't hit 'em out of the park every time.