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The Open Door
Evanescence
Retail Price (not our price): $18.97
Release Date: 2006-10-03
Manufacturer: Wind-Up
Format: Audio CD
Discs: 1

Track List
Now here, for your listening pleasure, the tracks...

Disc 1

Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com
There's nothing like a breakup to focus your muse. This follow-up to the stunning, multi-platinum Fallen was penned as singer Amy Lee's troubled romance with bandmate Ben Moody was spiraling out of control, impelling her to craft an anxious record full of recriminations, revelation, and self-flagellation, as she questioned everything that kept her whole. It's a fascinating journey for the listener as she ventures into her own personal heart of darkness, her stricken, perfect voice suspended on an unsteady precipice between breakdown and breakthrough. Despite the loss of two members, including guitarist Moody who left mid-tour in 2003, the album has a maturity, sophistication, and a singular vision that wasn't found in their earlier work. Stately and as exotic as Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, with its intricate instrumentation, disturbing imagery, and disembodied chorus, The Open Door shows exactly what this band is capable of. "Snow White Queen" is a goth-y alternative to Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together," equally anthemic, but with much more grit and pain. --Jaan Uhelszki

2) Album Description
The follow-up to their Multi-Platinum Debut Featuring the hit single "Call Me When You're Sober"

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5

1) My Door is Open!!!   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
OH MY SWEET LOVE!!! I love this album so much. I bought it (from Amazon) and I just got it this past Monday, and I must say that I'm already addicted to this album. I'm listening to it right now as we speak, and I love it!!! Especially "Cloud Nine". Evanescence caught my attention when I first heard "Bring Me To Life", and now they've still got me at hello!!!

2) Excellent vocals as usual.   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
Amy Lee has an amazing voice and can fill her songs with emotion that is rarely matched. I purchased Open Door for my husband since he is an even bigger fan of Evanescence than I am. He was not disappointed and listens to it in the car on his way to work. Her best song on the disk is "You Never Call Me When You're Sober" in my opinion as it showcases her to her best in my opinion the music video for it is great as well.I didn't rate it a 5 because I felt it fell just slightly short of her previous release. While it was better artistically that artistic vision suffered for the lack of consistency on the songs in meter and length. A few of them felt disorganized and difficult to follow or just incomplete, as if they needed another verse or two to be finished. I hope that their next release will receive that additional polishing that this one was lacking. Either way you can be sure that I will purchase it and find out for myself since even with it's flaws "Open Door" is worth every penny.

3) The difficult 'sort of' second album   [Rating: 3 out of 5]
Having picked up this album within a couple of days of it's release it has taken me this long to get around to reviewing it. Which isn't a good sign admittedly. After the release of Origin and the explosion with their more `proper' debut Fallen this band certainly built one heck of a vehicle for world domination. 14 million copies and counting is impressive by anybodys standards and I felt compelled to give it no less than five stars... So after getting a live album out of their systems the reconvenced and rebuilt Evanescence certainly had a lot to prove in terms of their ability to follow up the huge success of Fallen. And on the strength of this release it would seem that they both did and didn't achieve it. This album is thirteen tracks of music that is recognisably from the same band that produced the world dominating Fallen. However a number of changes have occurred and one is an alteration of guitarist which has meant that the band are effectively running a bit short in the grunt department. No offence to Terry Balsamo who was Amy Lees' main songwriting partner on this album but his riffs are less insistent, less biting. And the situation is that the production does not help matters as it appears more dense, like your listening to the album with the stereo in the next room. That's about the best way I can think of to describe it. Having said that the claustrophobic feel to the production certainly suits the effect Amy Lee is aiming at in many of these songs as she delves deeper into her miasma of depressive subject matter. As Classic Rocks stated in the last line of their review of this album `lighten up woman!'. Yet it is this very feel that leads to track three, Weight of the World, being so effective. And certainly the albums opener Sweet Sacrifice could almost of been on the earlier Fallen as it rides an excellent vocal melody. And as the album wears on the band show themselves willing to take chances with slower paced structures and more frequent use of piano based passages, something which gave the band more opportunity for changing up and down the gears when I saw them on the tour for this album. Other highlights of this album are the way it all feels like it fits together. Sure, as stated above the band plays around with some different time signatures and heaviness levels but it all seems to fit which speaks of a single minded focus tying it all together. Some studio trickery on tracks like Lose Control show the band more in control in the studio environment and that augers well for the future. Lowlights would comprise the single minded unhappiness of the album. For a band that seemed so fresh and empowering, admittedly with a somewhat similar lyrical bent, on their first album they somehow sound flat here. Melodies are often strained or totally unmemorable which leaves one struggling to pick out great songs whereas on Fallen it seemed everything had that midas touch. Evanescence have here succeeded in extending their muse somewhat and have built a more dank and difficult listen. Also the lyrics - which everyone knew would be scrutinised to the nth degree in light of the interpersonal issues striking the band - are kept pretty generalist to my mind with the exception of lead single Call Me When Your Sober. The band have not been able to reproduce the vitality of Fallen however nor have they been able to master the huge recording budget thrown their way by making the production values work for them. A must for fans but the casual listener should approach this with caution.

4) Adee   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Evanesence Rocks Man An Awsome Second Cd Im Not Suprised Its Only Whats Expected Of Them To Be Soo Good Man

5) Good CD, Good price!   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
I bought this CD as a Christmas gift for my sister and she loved it! Although I was expecting the Digipack edition for the price, it was still reasonable AND came with free supersaver shipping. Would recommend to any fan; Good CD, Good Price!