When I first bought The Open Door by Evanescence just a day after my 24th birthday (November 12), I thought it was going to be better than their previous album, Fallen. It was kinda odd when The Open Door was released only a month before former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein got the death sentence (November 5, 2006) for crimes against humanity, committed in July 1982. Of course, I was a little unaware of that; I read that Ben Moody broke up with the band group in 2004, and Amy Lee broke up with ex-Seether band member Shaun Morgan because of alcohol abuse (the first single off The Open Door, "Call Me When You're Sober", is proof of this, and something that Morgan is unhappy with, yet it helped him check into rehab on July 2006). But with three years of working hard, the wait is over, and The Open Door is in stores and going platinum, and I could hardly wait until I listened to the whole album.

Oh, did I say I could hardly wait? What I meant was that I was totally unprepared when I first listened to it. The first few songs were kinda okay, but then the rest started to get very sad when I first listened to them, and I literally cried my eyes out on these songs (except, perhaps, "Good Enough", which was kinda okay). I guess it must have been one of my mood swings, then. After that, I thought I never wanted to listen to them again... until I first got the report at the end of 2006 when Saddam was executed by hanging (December 30). After I posted the news in topics about Saddam's death in forums, I first thought up a song that could remind me of his final hours; the one song that came to me was "All That I'm Living For", which I posted in one topic. After that, I decided to listen to the whole album again, and this time, I didn't feel sad about it. By then, I started memorizing almost all songs off the album that Lee has sung to, especially songs like "Lacrymosa" (with a touch of Mozart), "Snow White Queen", "The Only One", and "Sweet Sacrifice".

So now I'm thinking that when Hollywood decides to make a biography movie about Saddam Hussein, I want them to use these songs from The Open Door in its soundtrack. Here's a list of songs that I like so much and really want in the soundtrack (in order, apart from songs by other artists, like the Beastie Boys' "In a World Gone Mad"):

1. Like You- A song about Lee's fallen little sister, it could also remind me of the deaths of Saddam's two sons Qusay and Uday (I once thought of "Never Gone" by the Backstreet Boys, but I nixed that idea when I heard this song);
2. Lithium- A second single off The Open Door (not Nirvana's song), this one could remind me of Saddam's guilty verdict and death sentence;
3. All That I'm Living For- Definitely could remind me of his final hours or minutes before the execution;
4. Lose Control- I'm thinking, not the original one, actually, but I want it to be all acoustic piano and all "ooohs" and "aaahhs" by the ladies, because it could remind me of Saddam's death;
and 5. Good Enough- The one with the rejected "Narnia" song in the intro, and with its happy tone, yet has Lee's funereal appeal, this could be played when it may remind me of Saddam's funeral (December 31).

Overall, The Open Door is a must-listen for fans of Evanescence or other gothic-style music, if they're really up to the challenge. I was gonna give it a 2 pre-December 30, but after all that listening post-December 30, a 5 out of 5 should be "good enough".