The metal community have never been that warm when it comes to Evanescence, so I'm not surprised that metal critics are generally harsh towards them, especially when it comes to their "generic-pop/rock" record.
Anyway this is from a French metal radio site, they gave it a lukewarm review, giving it praise then degrading it (probably to keep their reputation in the metal community). Hell I don't mind about bad reviews (well because Evanescence have never been critical darlings but their albums always slay me ), it's just that he kept repeating the same s*** over and over again, you'll get what I mean when you read the review.
Quote:
Radio Metal: Evanescence's new album in depth
We had the opportunity to listen to the new Evanescence album that’ll hit the racks in France mid-October, and we share our impressions just below because we’re always thinking about you! This album won’t disorient the fans of Amy Lee’s band since it was completely made for the radios. “Commercial” metal fans will like it, and haters of this kind of music will probably forget this record as soon as they finish listening to it!
You don’t listen to Evanescence to hear a new sound, you listen and like Evanescence because of their catchy melodies. Melodies that can be easy or even dull, let’s face it, but pleasant nonetheless. This fourth record plainly entitled Evanescence totally confirm this. The chorus gets easily stuck in your mind and that’s what we expect from a band like Evanescence: they do what they do best – melodies – and leave the musical Revolution with a capital R to other artists who’d rather experiment and explore foreign fields.
This Evanescence record is sometimes quite tedious, but that doesn’t make it a bad one, far from that.
Explanations:
01 - What You Want
Relying on the track list we got, the single “What You Want” is the track that opens the band’s new album. A catchy riff, some piano and Amy Lee’s voice mixed: here’s a track that exposes what we’ll find on the rest of the album. The chorus is incredibly melodic, and there’s a traditional bridge with some orchestral touches. This is undoubtedly a song made for radios that gets easily stuck in your mind, and that is just like the rest of the record.
So if you don’t like it… You should stop reading here.
02 - Made Of Stone
A heavy riff with a dirty sound reminding of Alice In Chains leads, just before flights of piano. We are just in the middle of the troubled waters of modern metal, with some small guitar riffs that sounds quite nu metal. Problem: we already heard that thousand times. Staying in the spirit of the previous song, “Made Of Stone” highlights Amy Lee’s vocal talent. An ethereal atmosphere prevails at 2 minutes 10 thanks to the singer’s voice in perfect harmony with the piano and the keyboard. At that moment, Amy Lee feels absolutely freed, masters perfectly her voice, and reaches the peak of her vocal technique. A very beautiful moment followed by a too short guitar solo. There are very few soli in this album by the way, and if this solo had been a bit longer, the whole composition wouldn’t have felt that formatted and squared up.
Yes, this album is gonna be made for radio from start to finish.
03 - The Change
Some very Tool-ish guitar notes open the third track of the album. But the chorus will actually rest upon an easy but still catchy “Ohohoho”. “The Change” proofs that this “Evanescence” titled album really is a continuation of the previous records, even if you can hear some electronic sounds here and there.
In short, “The Change” doesn’t have any real contents, and relies mostly on atmospheres.
04 - My Heart Is Broken
Amy Lee’s voice comes in just after a piano opening. Is this the first ballad of the record? Well, no! The melody is played by the piano, but soon riffs join in. The listener can get bored pretty quickly listening to this record since the compositions are all really homogeneous, and thus, finally sound all alike.
The fact that it gets quite hard to tell the tracks apart makes the whole record sound very standard. “My Heart Is Broken” is still a potential hit. No wonder then people say it may be this record’s second single.
05 - The Other Side
The drums open the track, and we get a very conventional chorus, in the purest Evanescence tradition. With “The Other Side”, the listener doesn’t have much to get his teeth into… Detractors will probably call it hollow and artistically empty, but we won’t be cruel just for fun. Let’s just enjoy this track as a background one, because Evanescence is the kind of artist you can listen to while doing something else.
You may think it’s a shame, but that’s the way it is.
06 - Erase This
The lively rhythm of a piano/drums duet opens this song. It will be the underlying theme of this good composition that would probably had been better with a catchier chorus. The emergency feeling conveyed by the piano highlights the true character of the verses. At 2 minutes 34, Amy shows off her pretty voice, and that beautifies even more “Erase This”, undoubtedly one of the highlights of the album.
A beautiful success.
07 - Lost In Paradise
The piano is still here, and this is at last the album’s first true ballad. The well-know moment when all arms are up and moving from left to right during the show. The album needed one! So, moving or not? There is an orchestral aspect that suits perfectly with this calm atmosphere. A drums/guitar duet chimes in at 1 minute 51 though, to bring some power to the whole thing.
As far as ballads goes, we’ve seen better, but the fans are going to like this quiet track.
08 - Sick
The guitar chords on “Sick” promise a more rock-oriented track. “Sick We Are ! Sick We Are !” says the chorus of this catchy song that fits perfectly into the tone of the whole album. “Sick” isn’t actually that warm, but it’s still very effective.
09 - End Of The Dream
During “End Of The Dream”, you can’t help but notice that obviously, everything revolves around Amy Lee’s voice. The listener indeed feels like the music is here to accompany the singer’s voice. Thus, listening to the track, you feel some kind of bewilderment, because there is nothing much to remember about it.
10 - Oceans
With “What You Want”, “The Change” and “The Other Side”, “Oceans” is the fourth track of this album to be played live during the shows of the current North American tour of the band. The keyboard (which sounds more synthetic at the beginning of the track), Amy Lee’s voice and the “ahaha” in the background that mixes the voices are the main characteristics of this tracks.
11 - Never Go Back
On this song “Never Go Back” just like in the whole album, the piano is very present. The track ends on a long guitar note and is still a standard for the band, pretty much like the whole record, as you must have understood.
12 - Swimming Home
You can find more pronounced electronic sounds on “Swimming Home”, the track that ends quietly the record. An ethereal last track that can remind of the path taken by Linkin Park on A Thousand Suns. Despite obvious electronic aspirations, the whole thing remains quite dull.
With “Swimming Home”, we feel one more time like Amy’s voice is supposed to be everything for the listener.
According to Wikipedia France, MTV would have written about the track “What You Want” that it was “probably the more intense Evanescence song even made. The guitars roar like a hornet nest, the drums are wild and heavy, and the strings grow, then strike. Add an undoubtedly massive chorus and Amy Lee’s vocal acrobatics, and you got a song powerful enough to shake every radio station down to its foundations.”
It wouldn’t be surprising that this record exhilarate both rock radio station and their listeners. Still, if this album is undeniably OK, it’s also totally predictable. Since they gave this album the band’s name, Evanescence don’t exactly strained themselves, but it is true that this title depicts perfectly the record’s compos: Evanescence made a straight-up Evanescence record.
Evanescence’s fourth album will be out the 10th of October in France, and the next day in the US.
SpazioRock met a very talkative Amy Lee, Evanescence frontwoman, who talked about the upcoming record entitled “Evanescence”. The interview took place in Milan at EMI Music headquarter. Enjoy the interview!
How was working with Steve Lillywhite? Did he guide you or influence you during the creative process or did he let you free to express yourself?
Well, actually the producer we ended up making the record with was Nick Raskulinecz. He produced Deftones’ last record, he produced Foo Fighters records and a lot of really cool stuff (Rush and Alice In Chains too), and he absolutely did! Totally creating, passionate music fan. It was cool because in the studio, really, the energy never fell. He was always ready to keep going, keep rocking out and getting excited and dancing around playing air guitar. He had a lot of really good ideas too. Definitely I would love to work with him anytime again!
To what extent is “Evanescence” different from previous works and what should we expect from it?
I think it’s different, yeah. I think that it has some groove, it’s interesting. I really wanted to make a little bit of a departure, you know, and we experimented with a lot of different things. When writing the record, we went through kind of a lot of phases before finding the sound for the new thing. But, at the end of the day, especially since it had been so long, you know, I had the chance to really remember and appreciate and find my home again within the band that I’ve always been a part of. So I think that this record is a departure, is a little bit different, it’s a new attitude, it’s uptempo, it’s rocking and it’s kinda bad ass (laughs, ndr), but at the same time it’s absolutely an Evanescence record and I think it wouldn’t be right, especially for the fans, to call it “Evanescence”, if it wasn’t a true Evanescence record.
I think that this new album is very groove-oriented and the rhythm is one of the key elements. I think, you said it right, it’s an Evanescence album, but I think it’s definitely different compared to “The Open Door” and “Fallen”.
I think (actually I know you didn’t really ask a question), but you’re right on! I think that part of the reason the rhythm and the drums really were such a big part of the record is that we have a wonderful drummer. This is the first record that we’ve made with Will; he’s been in the band for a while, when we toured and everything together, but this is the first time he’s playing on a record. He’s an incredible drummer, but also all the songs were formed as a band. You know, with the drummer and the guitar player in the band, and the bass, all working together creating the feel of the song at the same time rather than just sort of, you know, the chord progression of the piano with keyboards or whatever, really it was driven more by the band. So, yeah, you’re right, thank you!
Your videos and your music are always so dark… Nothing to say about the power of the music, but what makes this darkness? Sadness?
Well, Evanescence are sort of my place to put my biggest feelings, my diary. So it’s not that at all sad, I wouldn’t want it all to come across that way, for sure. But so many times, you know, these are the biggest feelings that you have when you’re going through something that’s hard, and our music has definitely had a lot of that. It has been the center of a lot of that, kind of outpouring of emotions, you know, it’s just passionate so… I’m not a sad person, I’m a happy person, I have a good life and I still want our music to still maintain hope so I hope that that comes through as well.
You said the single “What You Want” is different from how the others sound. What kind of freedom are you talking about, if the lyrics talk about freedom?
Yeah, for me, the better way to say it, it’s about overcoming fear. It’s about don’t be afraid to go, live your life, because life doesn’t last forever and you shouldn’t waste it being afraid to try because you are afraid to feel! So do what you what you want! (laughs, ndr)
Is it true that you used to write down some of the new songs on the harp and which ones?
Yeah, there’s not harp all over the album, just a little bit. On the deluxe edition with all the songs, which are sixteen, there are three with a little bit of harp on them, but on the regular cd it’s actually only one. One song, “My Heart Is Broken” (have you heard the music?), that piano part… Actually I wrote that on my harp but the song was much slower when we first wrote it. It was me and Terry and Tim sitting around with their guitars and I was playing harp. It was really fun to write that way cause it’s new for me, it kinda makes you create in a different way, because it plays differently! So that’s how that part was written but then, when we got to making the record and working on the songs as a whole band, with the drummer and everything else, the song got faster and faster and faster as we did it and then by the time we got into the studio I was like “Right, let’s do this! Got the harp, here we go!”… Way too fast! It was very very hard to play, like impossible for me, so now it’s a piano part (laughs, ndr). But, yeah, I think that, if I hadn’t written it on the harp, it wouldn’t be that part because I wouldn’t made all the notes going up like that.
In 1998 you released an EP called “Evanescence” and now a new album with the same name. Does it mean something? Is it like going back to the origin?
I think what you are talking about is probably something put together by fans. There’s a lot of little CDs and things out there in the universe that are really compilations that the fans put together and put a cover on. They’re really just old demos from when the band was first starting out, so I think that there’s just a coincidence there.
You started writing new material not little time ago, but few years ago and the album is just out now. So what did you do in the meantime, what happened?
In the meantime between tour or in the meantime between…?
No, between you started writing new material and now…
I’ve just been writing the entire time, every single day pretty much. Haven’t taken a vacation in years (laughs, ndr)! Honestly, once I got to the point where I felt like I had the mission and I knew that I wanted to make a record of some kind. I just started really really focusing on that and writing all the time. We really have been working on the songs for this album for two years (laughs, ndr). Definitely some of the songs on the record are that old, which is really cool because I think it’s very dynamic, you know. A lot goes on in your life in two years or three years, so there’s a lot of different things to talk about and a lot of different elements to use in the music taken from experimentation.
And how is an Evanescence album created? Where do you start from?
Every time’s different. Sometimes I just sit at the piano by myself and just start coming up with ideas. That’s where a lot of my rude ideas come from. Then I would come and share them with the band and we would create the full song together; but it’s good for me sometimes to just start by myself so I can get the idea of the song and then we can make it full. But other times I would come from a guitar part that somebody wrote or even just drums, honestly. Some of the songs on this record we really sat as a band and then “Who has an idea? Ok, check this out! What do you think?” and then, you know, it becomes what it is from everyone putting a little bit of input. I think that collaboration is something that is new for this band, to work that way. That’s part of the reason of the self-titled album, it’s a little bit more band-driven like that. I think that’s really cool, I think it really gives it a special energy. But I do write a lot by myself as well, especially the lyrics. Lyrics always come at the very end, almost always, when I’m by myself. So we write the music and the melodies and then “Ok, bye”! Lock myself in the room and get serious.
There’s a song in the album, “Swimming Home”, that reminded me of Björk…
Thank you!
Yeah, and also, I see you like electronic music and that genre, did it inspire you that much for the album?
Yeah, actually there was a phase that I went through, I didn’t know really if it was an Evanescence record yet or if it was solo or what it was going to be and that song came from that time. You know, I really like to be able to create without any rules. I don’t wanna make a plan like “Ok, we’re gonna make an Evanescence record, it’s gonna sound like this and bla bla bla”… I don’t like to make a plan. I like to just write and see what happens and see what is inspiring and then… I kept saying everyone who was asking me for a while “What is this? Is it a solo? Is it Evanescence or what?” and I was like “I don’t know, don’t push me! I’m gonna write the music and then let the music tell us what it’s supposed to be”. So for a while there was a lot of music that was sort of in the same between world. I really love that song, I’m really proud of it and for a while I thought that it wasn’t going to be on the record because it didn’t fit. I loved it, but I thought that it was maybe too different. But then the more that I’ve gotten re-familiarized with what I believe Evanescence is and all the things that it can be, it’s a very big canvas. It doesn’t have to be only one way, our music has always been a little bit dynamic. So I thought that it was cool to be able to use that song as sort of the ending because the song before, “Never Go Back”, is a big epic finale. We’re imagining that at the end and then to drift into like the calm after the storm, you know. Like that peaceful, kind of bittersweet goodbye. I think it’s really great, it works really well, actually.
How has the relationship with the fans changed all over the years?
How has it changed? Like since records or just over time?
Since the beginning of Evanescence…
Yeah, I remember when we were first touring, our first record and our first going to other countries and meeting our fans over the places and, you know, it’s cool because it’s a new experience but we didn’t know them yet, you don’t know what that really means. I feel now that I really have learned that we have fans that are fans for life, that are true fans of this music and of this idea, and of this band, not just one song for one year and then after it something else. They really really truly care about the whole work and follow us and support us and it’s an amazing thing to be coming back now the third time and feel like we have a core group of supporters that are really for us. That’s not about judgment, they’d better not “Live up to our expectations and give us the record we love”. And… It’s all over the world, but especially I feel that love with our fans in Italy and we’re going to see some of them at the end of the day. I remember them as a group of friends from oversea and we come to see them everytime we’re here. The fans are a huge part of the reason that we’re able to still do this. So I feel like our relationship with our fans, at least for me, is just better than ever. It feels like an old strong relationship.
Someone wrote that “What You Want” has a new sound and we think that it’s more commercial compared to what you’ve done before. What do you think about this?
I don’t know, I think that in some ways absolutely because the vocals are sort of more sassy and pop like it sometimes but, on the other hand, the music itself is heavier to me. I think the easiest bridge that I can make from the last record to this one would be like “Call Me When You’re Sober” to “What You Want”, you know. It’s got some of that same flavour, but the difference is that “What You Want” is a lot heavier. So, I don’t know, on the one hand yes and on the other no.
Evanescence as a band has gone through quite a lot of line up changes. How are you getting on with the current band members and how is it working together with them?
The other guys are awesome. This is the first time that we’ve all really been able to collaborate as a group and it’s awesome. This is the same band that we had on tour the last time that we were out with “The Open Door” and I remember by the end of touring and everything just feeling like “Wow, this is the best live band we’ve ever been”. This is the strongest we’ve been as a band and when we were pulling back together “Ok, this is an Evanescence record, we’re doing this”, I more than anyone else in the world wanted that exact group to be who made this record. I’m so glad that it worked out and that everyone’s still on board and that we’re able to just have that same team. I just feel like it’s gonna be great playing shows and everybody in it is a real musician who brings something truly meaningful and unique to the table. So when we sit in the room and work together, like we’re all able to play off each other… You know, sometimes in the past for me the most common way of writing was sort of between me and one other member. So for this time we’ve had all of that: the drums, the bass, the guitars, the piano and the voice all working as one thing and it’s a great feeling, it’s a really really good felling. It feels like a band!
Did this major line up change effect the creativity and the songwriting of the band?
Yeah, I mean, like I was just saying, I really think that it makes the difference when everybody’s working as a unit. Sometimes that works and sometimes not, and that’s totally fine. This album was written between Tim, Terry and I. It’s really cool having Tim being part of the writing team. I think he really really brought a lot to the table that wasn’t there before.
Ok, this was the last question. Thank you, Amy!
Thank you!
Source SpazioRock.it
Amy went to Italy to preview some of the songs and here is a track descriptions from one of the fans who was lucky enough to get to the listening session. Thanks to +broken+ for the descriptions
Quote:
MY HEART IS BROKEN – the first brand new song we listened to. It starts very softly, and in few seconds here they are: guitars, bass and drums. Besides any expectations, the guys sound a lot harder than before. Lyrics are very pretty although the title may let you think of a standard ballad about a love letdown, but it’s not that case; the chorus is very catchy, and while Amy was singing “My heart is broken, sweet sweet returning”, I had chills down my spine!
Quote:
THE CHANGE – I’ve heard it before with the new live shows, but the studio version is a completely different thing. The song is harmoniosus, loud, with very deep lyrics “Say it’s over, yes it’s over! But I need you anyway. Say you love me but it’s not enough!” with a crescendo before the last chorus that we couldn’t hear live. You can hear the drums very well and I’m pleased to say that Will brought new lymph to the band.
Quote:
LOST IN PARADISE – This song is very hard to describe, but I can hazard that it’s going to be the pearl of this album, and that everyone will like it, both the lovers and the haters too, cause it’s a very beautiful song, I’ve never heard something so emotional at the first listen. It starts with very slow piano notes, with Amy whispering “I’ve been believing in something so distant, as if I was human”, slowly the guitars, drums and the rest of the orchestra come in, for a breathtaking chorus! The rest of the song is very well balanced, with all the instruments matching with the piano sweetness, and Amy singing words that seems very hurtful, but at the same time so pure and honest that you’ll be catched unprepared. While the song was playing, I closed my eyes and started dreaming, this song can make you feel really good. When the song ended, no one was able to do or say anything for at least 10 seconds, but we all broke up with a big applause, for Andy’s satisfaction and happiness, as he was sitting on a couch in front of me for the whole listening session.
Quote:
NEVER GO BACK – It was very difficult going on after lost in paradise since we had to suffocate all of the emotions for the other songs, but this one is a smash hit! I’ve never heard a louder song by Evanescence before, it’s the rockest track they’ve ever made. Guitars and drums follow one another for the whole song, the sound is carefully prepared, and considering the inspiration for this song (The Japanese tsunami), I was expecting a much slower song, but it works very well, everyone was thrilled, and the lyrics are very deep “They are lost, they’ll never go back”. It ends with a very long guitar note and while it was about to finish, Amy entered the room shutting down our applause and screaming “Hey, it’s not over yet!”, this said she pushed herself down till the very end, taking the risk to crash down from her boots LOL.
Quote:
SWIMMING HOME – it’s the experimental track, the song that represents the true evolution of the band. It’s full of electronic elements (it will remind you of a much better version of Halfway Down the Stairs) and it’s the only song of album’s standard edition where Amy plays harp. I can easily confirm that harp, piano and electronic elements together are pure magic! Lyrics and melody are very funny, this is a song that you won’t expect from the old Evanescence, but I have to confess that I was a little distracted during this song, cause Amy stayed in the room for this listening, sat with us on the pavement (you would never expect a 2 grammy winner with 25 million album sold around the world sitting on the floor with you, but it’s Amy, and she is special!) and pretended to play harp in the air and was like ‘Can you hear the arp?’ while she was moving to the rhythm of the song. I have to say that listening to a new track while the one who sings it is right next to you is very very difficult!
I've heard the album is influenced by Depeche Mode and Massive Attack. Definitely looking forward to that. What You Want is fantastic.
Actually, that didn't work out as they've wanted so this album is going to be more rock oriented although Amy said that some song from that session made it on the album but they tweaked them to fit the album more. However, she said that she still plan on releasing those electronic inspired songs sometime in the future.
Deluxe Edition tracklist
Quote:
Disc 1
01 What You Want
02 Made of Stone
03 The Change
04 My Heart Is Broken
05 The Other Side
06 Erase This
07 Lost in Paradise
08 Sick
09 End of the Dream
10 Oceans
11 Never Go Back
12 Swimming Home
13 New Way to Bleed
14 Say You Will
15 Disappear
16 Secret Door
Disc 2
01 What You Want (Video)
02 Making the What You Want Music Video - Day 1
03 Making the What You Want Music Video - Day 2
04 Behing the Scenes In the Studios
05 Behing the Scenes At the Photoshoot
06 On the Songs: Secret Door
07 On the Songs: The Change
08 On the Songs: Never Go Back
09 On the Songs: Made of Stone
10 On the Songs: Disappear
11 On the Songs: What You Want
12 On the Songs: My Heart Is Broken
13 On the Songs: Oceans
14 On the Songs: Lost in Paradise
), it's just that he kept repeating the same s*** over and over again, you'll get what I mean when you read the review. 
The wait is almost over. 