Maybe its because I am disgusted with the Colts and football right now, but I decided to let the Women of Metal rock out a little bit today here at the Music Pill, so I thought I’d share my thoughts.
Evanescence just released a new self-titled album that fans had been waiting for for over 5 years. Amy Lee proves on this album once again why she has been so successful in the music industry. Her powerful voice, extreme talent behind the keyboard, and great song writing deliver another great album that Evanescence fans will really enjoy. In addition, she continues to push the envelope, adding full orchestral instrumentals to some of her songs to make them bigger and even more impressive. All in all, a solid album, and I look forward to the opportunity to see them tour it next year. Check out the new single What You Want, or check out My Heart is Broken for some great work by Lee on the keys.
However, while Amy Lee continues to add dimensions to her music and show off her talent, I’d be remiss if ignored the fact that this Evanescence is not the same one that produced the genre-defining album Fallen in the early 2000’s. Shortly after that album dropped, all of Amy Lee’s bandmates, including co-founder and back up vocalist Ben Moody, left the band due to “artistic differences”. Since it’s inception, Evanescence intended to focus the band on Amy Lee (as she is THAT good), but something about Moody’s input into the songs (both writing and execution) made their early material great, and that is something that Lee has been unable to recreate without him. Moody was an essential cog in Evanescence’s perfect storm, and without him it’s not the same band. Lee’s good enough to make Evanescence continue to be solid…..but it was the combination that made them great.
So, I was curious as to what good old Ben Moody was up to now, and was delighted to discover that he and the other original Evanescence members had picked up former American Idol contestant Carly Smithson and created a band called We are the Fallen. I went out and grabbed their 2010 album called Tear the World Down to see if they could pull off the magic. While I do like several songs off of the album, including Bury Me Alive, We are the Fallen simply tried to duplicate the early Evanescence material with a lead singer that’s not nearly as strong. Moody’s songwriting is still great, but I can’t help but mutter “I wish Amy Lee was singing this” under my breath the whole time.
Unfortunately, all this investigation did is make me even more irritated that Amy Lee and Ben Moody couldn’t reconcile their differences and continue to make music like they did when Evanescence first started. (For a great read explaining why they split, check out this blabbermouth article). As fans, we’re left with these two bands, which are decent (or even really good – in Evanescence’s case), but can’t touch what could have been…
Best of luck to both bands as they continue on their paths. We are the Fallen has some real potential.
Thats all for now. Side Note: Just booked tickets and hotel room for FFDP’s Share The Welt tour in December in Ft. Wayne. Get excited.
“Hello, hello remember me? I’m everything you can’t control. / Somewhere beyond the pain there must be a way to believe we can break through”