Evanescence: The Open Door Album Review

 Three years after Evanescence's first album, "Fallen" was released, the band released their second album, "The Open Door".  This was their first album without one of their founding members, Ben Moody.  Here' my track by track review of "The Open Door".

1) Sweet Sacrifice: The third single from the album.  Originally it wasn't going to be a single because the band's label wanted them to release "All That I'm Living For" but after fans and even the band themselves requested, the label changed it to "Sweet Sacrifice".  It's my favorite song on the album.  Amy Lee has said that she wrote the song about the same abusive relationship that inspired most of the songs on "Fallen".  10/10

2) Call Me When You're Sober: The first single from the album.  The song is about Amy's ex-boyfriend Shaun Morgan from the rock band Seether.  The video used references from the fairy tale, "Little Red Ridding Hood".  10/10

3) Weight of the World: The fifth overall single from the album.  Like "Imaginary" from their album, "Fallen", this song was released as a promo single.  Great song!  10/10

4) Lithium: The second single from the album.  Amy has said that she wrote the chorus when she was 16.  Like "Call Me When You're Sober" her ex-boyfriend Shaun Morgan inspired this song as well.  The video had a winter theme.  10/10

5) Cloud Nine: Ironic title for a song so dark.  The beginning part used to scare me.  The song is about breaking up and Amy has said that it was the hardest song to sing on the album.  8/10

6) Snow White Queen: This is sung from the perspective of a stalker.  The title for the song comes from Evboard (the Snow White part) and the queen part because that's how the stalker idolized the one they were stalking.  i really like this song.  10/10

7) Lacrymosa: This song was originally written for the movie "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" but for whatever reasons it wasn't included.  It was inspired by Mozart.  8/10

8) Like You: Like "Hello" from "Fallen", "Like You" is about Amy's sister who passed away.  Amy has said it is the most intimate song on the record.  8/10

9) Lose Control: "Mary had a little lamb, his eyes black as coals.  If we play very quiet little lamb, Mary never has to know."  Very strange.  Is it weird that whenever I hear the song I think, what doesn't Mary have to know?  8/10

10) The Only One: Apparently this song was originally called "Tuna Afternoon".  How weird.  I find the song to be kinda weak.  6/10

11) Your Star: It was the hardest song that the band had ever written.  Vocally amazing but like the last song, not memorable.  5/10

12) All That I'm Living For: This song was supposed to be the third single but it was scrapped in favor of "Sweet Sacrifice".  I hated the song at first but over the years it's become a favorite of mine.  I love the second verse and the "lock the last open door, my ghosts are gaining on me" part.  10/10

13) Good Enough: The fourth single.  Unlike most of the band's songs, this is a happy song and it feels like a song Sarah McLachlan would've sang.  9/10

 The album also had three outtakes called "The Last song I'm Wasting on You" (which was a b-side for "Lithium"), "Together Again" (it was released on iTunes in 2010) and "If You Don't Mind" (it was performed live in 2012 before a studio version of the song leaked a year later on youtube).  My favorite songs on the album are: "Sweet Sacrifice", "All That I'm Living For", "Weight of the World", "Snow White Queen", "Lithium", and "Call Me When You're Sober".  Out of 130 points I give the album 112 which 86%, a B.  Don't be surprised if I review their live album "Anywhere But Home" or their third album "Evanescence" one day!