Album: Fallen
Artist:
Various Artists
Release Date: 3/4/2003
Genre: Rock/Pop
{^Fallen} is the major-label debut of {$Evanescence}, a Little Rock, AR-based quartet led by the soaring vocals of 20-year-old {$Amy Lee}. Emboldened by the inclusion of its single {&"Bring Me to Life"} on the {\soundtrack} to the hit film {#Daredevil}, {^Fallen} debuted at an impressive number seven on {~Billboard}'s Top 40. But {&"Bring Me to Life"} is a bit misleading. A flawless slice of {$Linkin Park}-style anguish {\pop}, it's actually a duet between {$Lee} and {$12 Stones}' {$Paul McCoy}. In fact, almost half of {^Fallen}'s 11 songs are piano-driven {\ballads} that suggest {$Tori Amos} if she wore too much mascara and recorded for the {@Projekt} label. The other half of the album does include flashes of the single's PG-rated {\nu-metal} ({&"Everybody's Fool,"} {&"Going Under"}). But it's the symphonic {\goth rock} of groups like {$Type O Negative} that influences most of {^Fallen}. Ethereal synths float above {$Ben Moody}'s crunching guitar in {&"Haunted,"} while {&"Whisper"} even features apocalyptic strings and a scary chorus of Latin voices right out of {&Carmina Burana}. {&"Tourniquet"} is an anguished, urgent rocker driven by chugging guitars and spiraling synths, with brooding lyrics that reference {$Evanescence}'s Christian values: "Am I too lost to be saved?/Am I too lost?/My God! My tourniquet/Return to me salvation." The song is {^Fallen}'s emotional center point and defines the band's sound. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide