Wow, this is surprising!

[Jake of Bodom]

I'm sure nobody probably frequents [URL=www.metalcrypt.com]Metal Crypt.com[/URL] (the best metal review site on the NET!). They are very picky about their metal (even more so than [I]me[/I] :eek:). They tear down EVERYTHING nu-metal (because they are posing as metal bands :mad: ) and everything else pretending to be metal, including stuff just confused as metal. I mean EVERYTHING.

I was reading their section titled "Not-So-Metal Reviews" (reviews on albums put out by bands that aren't metal). I found this, and was almost shocked!

[[I]By the way, if you see the term "mallcore", it's referring to all the nu-metal and alt-rock "wannabe metal" bands that people tend to consume in mass proportions because they wear a certain fashion or MTV tells them its great or whatever[/I].]

[QUOTE]By now, everyone knows about this band, as they have mushroomed from a local act in small-town America to a big name band in just a year or so. Since that was mostly on the strength of the rap-infested single "Bring Me To Life" and then the ballad "My Immortal" a lot of metal fans have no doubt written this band off as a chick-fronted mallcore band flavored with ***, and that would be a mistake, as there is a lot more to them than that.

Firstly: the terrible rapping part on the otherwise fine tune "Bring Me To Life" was an addition made by their label, in an effort to push one of their other acts, some horrible mallcore band that has hopefully been flushed into the toilet of obscurity by now. But anyway, there is no more of that **** on the rest of the album, and "My Immortal" is the only ballad, so it follows that the rest of the CD has plenty of room to be killer, and a lot of it is.

Say what you will about Evanescence: say they are not metal, say you don't like them, say you hate Goth music in general and this band in particular, but you can't say they are not any good, because they manifestly are. Amy Lee is the obvious focus of the band with her haunted, tortured voice. There are plenty of singers with more range, and more technical skills, but she has a marvelous tone and puts a lot of emotion into her vocals - sometimes a scary amount, as on "Taking Over Me", or the stunning "My Last Breath". And the music behind the vocals is worth hearing too. Despite getting tagged as a Nu-Metal band, main songwriter Ben Moody lays down some killer riffs on "Tourniquet" most notably, as well as on "Going Under" and "My Last Breath", and contrary to what you will be told or assumed, there is some good leadwork on this album too. Leads! Imagine that!

Evanescence are not a metal band, not really: they pull in too many non-metal elements, and the attitude, the ethos behind their music (which is patently Xtian in feel, but never explicitly stated - the word "Christ" appears once on the entire album, as opposed to about 200 times on the average Marduk CD) is all wrong for metal. But this is still an excellent album that has no doubt been unfairly dismissed by many metalheads because of the songs released from it and the general image cultivated by the promo material. If you doubt me, at least give the song "My Last Breath" a listen - smoking riffs and a stomping, catchy chorus make this a highlight of the album - Lacuna Coil would sell their limbs to write a song half this good. Much as I might hate to admit it, "Fallen" is a really good CD, and those who enjoy heavy Gothic music would do well to look past the hype machine and check it out. [/QUOTE]

Wow. I visit this site daily, and I never, EVER expected something like that! Now personally I love Evanescence (strange, I know), so I was [I]very[/I] pleased when I saw this.

I know a lot of people hate them just because they got so popular, but I think this review shatters that perception.

Whatcha'll think?

[DeadSeraphim]

[COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial]I can't listen to that album often. It sounds way too samey too me, and Amy Lee seems to have only one setting for her voice. Also, their live cover of 'Thoughtless' was deplorable, I've never heard a worse rendition. Evanescence are okay, but they're nothing spectacular.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Ailes de Velour]

[font=arial][size=1][color=darkorchid]I'm sick to death of people labelling Evanescence as a gothic band, which they're not. (I'm also weary of people calling Nightwish goth, but at least they're closer to it than Evanescence is). I'd say Evanescence is some kind of alternative rock, not metal, definitely not goth.

They might be one of my guilty musical pleasures, but Amy Lee's voice pales in comparison to other singers. I.E. Tarja Turunen, Liv Christine (I think that's her name, whoever's in Theatre of Tragedy), and Sarah Brightman (who isn't in a rock band, but her voice is ten zillion times better than Amy Lee's).

So, as I've said, I don't mind Evanescence, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't call them goth. Please.

And their cover of "Heart Shaped Box" is vomituous.[/font][/color][/size]

[Semjaza]

I don't know that this review shatters the "I hate them because they're popular!" perception as much as it is someone realizing there's other decent bands out there that don't happen to fit in their favorite genre.

I don't really care for this band myself... Others have done similar things before and better, but have been largely ignored. On the other hand, I don't think they're bad by any means, although I think everyone should hate that single with the rapping in it lol.

[Ezekiel]

[COLOR=#F84C20][SIZE=1]I try not to label styles of music now because I either end up getting flamed for it or utterly confused. Example: I've bought two Jimmy Eat World albums from two different stores in the last week; both of them were in the metal section. Never in my [I]life[/I] would I have considered Jimmy Eat World to be metal. Not that I don't like most of the things classified as metal (in the shops, I mean) I just never expected this band to come under that genre.

Now, onto the topic at hand.

I like Evanescence; I have one of their albums, though I don't listen to it often. I'll admit I haven't heard any songs that aren't on the Fallen album, so I'm not going to say "OMFG!! You suck Evanescence pwn you!". I did, however, go to one of their concerts and I thought it was excellent. Now I'm not putting them in any particular genre, I just based the music from the sound of it and it sounded great. They are a band who I could go to see live more than once.

(As I side note, I adore Nightwish, but I'm not even going to attempt to classify them)

Why does music need to have these labels anyway? It's all different, so why can't we just listen to what we like instead of arguing over what kind of genre it should be? Just a thought.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Kamuro]

[SIZE=1]I'm not a big fan of Evanescence really. I am just as surprised as you that an extremely metal based site gave them props on the music. I thought it was funny how they busted on 12 Stones though lol.

There's way to many genre's and way to many rules pertaining to each, it's impossible to learn them all and be able to classify every band under a certain one. Evanescence is definitely not metal, but I think it's nice that they've been recognized for their talent. Although they aren't a metal band, they're good at what they do. I'm not particularly a fan but I'm able to give them props for the music they've made. And as you all said, they've become quite popular, so that means something (or it use to, anyway).[/SIZE]

[Jake of Bodom]

[QUOTE=Ailes de Velour][font=arial][size=1][color=darkorchid]I'm sick to death of people labelling Evanescence as a gothic band, which they're not. (I'm also weary of people calling Nightwish goth, but at least they're closer to it than Evanescence is). I'd say Evanescence is some kind of alternative rock, not metal, definitely not goth.

They might be one of my guilty musical pleasures, but Amy Lee's voice pales in comparison to other singers. I.E. Tarja Turunen, Liv Christine (I think that's her name, whoever's in Theatre of Tragedy), and Sarah Brightman (who isn't in a rock band, but her voice is ten zillion times better than Amy Lee's).

So, as I've said, I don't mind Evanescence, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't call them goth. Please.

And their cover of "Heart Shaped Box" is vomituous.[/font][/color][/size][/QUOTE]

First off, Tarja and Liv are definately technically better than Amy (and both of their bands are way better). I do, however, agree with the reviewer Amy's emotion and passion. Granted, she'll never, EVER live up to Tarja or whatever, but at least she means what she's singing.

[QUOTE]There are plenty of singers with more range, and more technical skills, but she has a marvelous tone and puts a lot of emotion into her vocals[/QUOTE]
See? There ya go.

And don't worry, I didn't call them Goth - the reviewer did. I was always under the impression that Goth music was started by bands like the Cure, which means that Evanescence isn't a Goth band.

And the reason you see Nightwish called a "Goth" band is because they are in fact a Gothic Metal band (or at least mixes Gothic Metal with Neo-Classical/Symphonic Metal). Gothic Metal is VERY different from Gothrock, so don't worry, they're not intruding on your beloved genre (because that sucks, I know how it goes!).

[QUOTE]I don't really care for this band myself... Others have done similar things before and better, but have been largely ignored. On the other hand, I don't think they're bad by any means, although I think everyone should hate that single with the rapping in it lol.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I think we all kind of wish the vocals had just been left to Amy. :laugh:

[Retribution]

[SIZE=1]I like one song by Evanescence. God I love [i]Going Under[/i]... but I have no idea. I think it's the airy-sounding chorus.

In any event, I will give them props for being popular -- it means you have something the masses want. I'm not really a big fan of them, but I will definetly hand them their due props.[/SIZE]