Evanescence's follow-up to their major-label debut Fallen is titled as The Open Door. As some of you may already know, the door definitely has been open, since there were some changes in the line-up of the group. The founding member Ben Moody got replaced by Terry Balsamo (ex-Cold). In addition, Will Boyd left the band because he didn't want to tour. Nonetheless, the music of Evanescence has remained the same (or at least quite similar to their previous works).

The song material on The Open Door is quite good, though some tracks are better than others. For example, one song that definitely stands out from the rest in my view is Lacrymosa with its moments of Mozart. One thing that I crave for when listening to Evanescence, however, is diversity. Their songs sound a bit too similar, and I can only wish that they'll be more adventurous on their future releases. There should be more experimentality like the mixture of major and minor chords on Good Enough. Those chord progressions were realised with taste causing the song to flow effortlessly between hope and despair.

The Open Door was mastered at Sterling Sound by Ted Jensen, so it doesn't surprise me that the production on this record is rather good. However, perhaps the biggest letdown in regards to sounds is the guitar tone. The distorted rhythm guitar just sounds boxy and cheap. In addition, on few random moments the autotune (or some other vocal tuning effect) wasn't too subtle with its processing. For example, at 1:25 on Lacrymosa and at 0:45 on Like You, one can hear slight tuning artefacts. Other than that The Open Door sounds pretty good.

As a whole, Evanescence's The Open Door is fairly good album that grows on you with more listens. I've been listening to it on and off for a week now, and I still haven't grown weary of all the tracks. However, I wish the band will aim for versatility on their further endeavours, since monotony has little to commend. Regardless, this album should please the fans of the band.

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- MAGE (October 22nd, 2006)

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LINE-UP:
Lee, Amy: Vocals, Piano & Additional Programming Balsamo, Terry: Guitar LeCompt, John: Guitar & Additional Programming Boyd, Will: Bass Gray, Rocky: Drums with DJ Lethal: Programming Harris, Bon: Additional Programming Lee, Carrie: Background Vocals on "Call Me When You're Sober" Lee, Lori: Background Vocals on "Call Me When You're Sober"
Producer:	Fortman, Dave
Mixing by:	Fortman, Dave
Mastering by:	Jensen, Ted

	TRACKLIST:
	01. Sweet Sacrifice 02. Call Me When You're Sober 03. Weight of the World 04. Lithium 05. Cloud Nine 06. Snow White Queen 07. Lacrymosa 08. Like You 09. Lose Control 10. The Only One 11. Your Star 12. All That I'm Living for 13. Good Enough Length: 54:15