The Open Door is the second studio album by American rock band Evanescence. It was released on September 25, 2006, through Wind-up Records. The initial date for the record to be made available for purchase was in March 2006, but was changed as a result of guitarist Terry Balsamo's stroke, the loss of the band's former manager, and Will Boyd's and Ben Moody's departure from the group. The record symbolizes a new beginning for the band, incorporating new elements into their previous musical styles, including gothic rock and symphonic metal as well as the use of choirs on several songs. The writing process for the album took over 18 months to complete; most of the songs were written by Amy Lee and Terry Balsamo, while production was handled by Dave Fortman.
The Open Door received mixed to positive reviews from music critics, who generally praised its lyrical content and the instrumentation accompanied by Lee's vocals. Some critics gave negative reviews regarding the band's sound, which differs from that of the band's last album, Fallen (2003). The record was nominated at the 50th Grammy Awards for Best Hard Rock Performance for "Sweet Sacrifice". The band also won in the category of Album of the Year at the 2007 MTV Australia Video Music Awards. The Open Door debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling more than 447,000 copies in its first week. It topped the charts in Australia, Europe, Germany, Greece and Switzerland, and charted in top five in over fifteen countries. The album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) just over a month after its release, and has since been certified double Platinum. The record has sold more than five million copies worldwide.
"Call Me When You're Sober" was digitally made available for purchase as the first single from the album on September 14, 2006. It peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and charted in the top 20 of several charts internationally. "Lithium" was released as the second single on January 1, 2007, and "Sweet Sacrifice" was released as the third international single from the album on May 5, 2007. "Good Enough" was scheduled to be released on December 14, 2007, but was ultimately cancelled. The Open Door was supported by two worldwide tours, The Open Door Tour and the Evanescence Tour.
Video The Open Door
Background, title and artwork
During an interview with MTV News, Lee revealed that Evanescence would being writing material for their sophomore record in March 2004 after finishing their tour in support of Fallen. She further explained it was impossible to write on tour and that "everybody's going to go to their house and write material". While saying the group would assemble to record new material, Lee announced the release of The Open Door to her fans during a post on an unofficial Evanescence website, EvBoard.com. The album progressed slowly because of Lee's desire to maximize the creative process and not rush production, other band members' side projects, guitarist Terry Balsamo's stroke, Will Boyd's and Ben Moody's departure, and the loss of their former manager. Lee said on a fan's internet forum the new recording would be completed in March 2006; the release was postponed because "Wind-up Records ... wanted to make a few changes to the upcoming single "Call Me When You're Sober". Talking about the development and inspiration of the album, the singer stated:
All the things that happened were really inspiring, because it was frustrating ... But for me at least, every time we get really frustrated and you're hitting a wall and everything is chaos, it just makes the music that much better, because you have passion--even if it's negative. That's sometimes better, actually.
When asked whether the album was thematically different from Fallen, Lee said that "all of the negative and hard, difficult experiences" that characterized the band's music still came across, but displays a less hopeless attitude. Rather than wallowing in "the hard stuff", the record's theme reflects on looking for solutions and happiness. In an interview with MTV News, Lee said about the album's title: I feel like I have the ability to do a lot of things I couldn't do before, for a number of reasons... ... A lot of doors have kind of been opened in my life--not just since everything has happened for us. The singer also felt the band "broke the doors" and tried doing different things, which was also an inspiration for the title. Simon Cosyns of The Sun labelled the record's artwork--which sees Lee in front of an open door--as "[keeping] the dark Evanescence image intact, with sinister fairytale scenes, elaborate Victorian gothic arches, illuminated typography and elaborate flowing dresses". Dane Prokofiev of PopMatters praised the album cover, calling it "[a] gother-looking piece."
Maps The Open Door
Writing and recording
The Open Door took 18 months to write. The new songs were written by Lee and Balsamo, who share credits for nine songs. Lee was the sole writer of "Like You", "Lithium" and "Good Enough", and co-wrote "All That I'm Living For" with guitarist John LeCompt. The singer confessed that after Moody's departure she had nobody to hold her back in the writing process and that Balsamo was lifting her up and pushing her to do something she would not have done with Moody. Regarding this, Lee said, "He's a great writer, and it was just like we were just having fun with it for a change. It was like, 'Let's stop taking everything so seriously and have fun,' and we wrote a lot of songs that I'm just totally in love with." The singer further told The Sun, "[Balsamo's] got this sort of spooky, surreal element to his guitar writing [...] It's really cool because it just works perfectly with what we do. He was really trying to create something so we were both discovering this new sound together and branching out [...] Writing with Terry was a unique experience in my life because I've never been able to just sit and write music with somebody and not be afraid of what they would say." Lee went on explaining that the making of the album was "really intense" and that she came out "feeling purified" while her writing partner, Balsamo, lifted her "to a whole new level of inspiration and possibilities". She said it was only about "writing great music".
The album was recorded at Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, California, and was produced and mixed by Dave Fortman at Ocean Way Studios. Jeremy Parker handled the audio engineering, Mike Houge and Wesley Seidman served as additional engineers, and Ted Jensen mastered the record at Sterling Sound, New York. The choral arrangements were finished by Lee and recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California, with the choir and strings being recorded in an old chapel near Seattle, Washington. DJ Lethal programmed every song on the album, and John LeCompt was an additional programmer on "Call Me When You're Sober" and "All That I'm Living For", which was also programmed by Bon Harris. David Campbell finished the orchestral arrangements, which were performed by Seattlemusic.
Music
Musical style
Lee told Rolling Stone the album would be "a complete spectrum of darkness and scary stuff and emotion". She told The Washington Post:
"I just wanted to create and do something different and branch out. At the heart of it I know it's still Evanescence and it's still me, but structurally it's a lot more fun. We went a lot of different ways with it instead of constantly sticking to the same structure and the same pop formula. I think it's more mature and more brave all around; it's like the instruments actually go together, the piano and guitar and vocals, since they're written together -- they intertwine. It's definitely even more personal. At least for me, because I was there, it sounds more fun because I was having so much more fun."
In an interview, Lee told MTV News that she pushed her own limits, doing things she didn't have the courage to do in the making of Fallen. She told The Sun the main themes of The Open Door are freedom and her personal life. The lyrics delve on "what was going on at the time" in her life and about "the experimenting and fun stuff" the band tried on The Open Door. Lee described the songs on the album as "very dark", and said they show how to pass the tough moments in life. When comparing the songs with the material from the group's previous album Fallen, she described them as "[...] very different. The chords are still there but it's just a more mature version." She also said her goal was to make a record that she loved even more than Fallen, rather than to copy the formula which made the previous record successful. Incorporating classical influences and several new elements in the music, the sound of the record was inspired by the works of Portishead and Björk.
Background vocals on "Lacrymosa" and "Your Star" were performed by The Millennium Choir, which worked with the band on several songs on Fallen. Richard Harrington of The Washington Post said the album consists of gothic rock songs with brooding lyrics and Lee's vocals accompanied by pianos, strings and choirs. Other genres present on the album are heavy metal, opera and pop music. Jim Farber of Daily News explained, "Evanescence's music again isn't quite metal (unless you think Creed qualifies). Neither is it exactly pop (at least not in the current R&B-leaning sense of the term). But the resulting hybrid offers a genuine alternative to everything else that's out there."
Farber further said he found similarities between the songs on The Open Door and the works of Mariah Carey, Sarah Brightman, Nickelback and Annie Haslam. The Sydney Morning Herald felt "the band's symphonic metal tunes and dark-hearted lyrics are gloomier than ever". Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times called the album "too pop for some and too hard for others", while describing the lyrics as "youthfully earnest and sometimes obvious". In his review of The Open Door, Jon Dolan of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "The music is still the same crush of chunka-chunka riffs, moody electronic churn, and Valhalla-bound metal slam, all in service of Lee's strikingly operatic singing". Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe said the songs on the album are similar to the band's "Bring Me to Life" (2003) and "Going Under" (2003), with the "mix of Lee's ethereal soprano, piano interludes, and layers of serrated guitar crunch that conjure visions of Sarah McLachlan fronting Godsmack". Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield compared Lee's vocals with those of 1980s "shoulder-pad belters" like Pat Benatar and Ann Wilson of Heart. Christianity Today's Andree Farias called the album "an extension of what the band has done before. Industrial backbeats give way to thick metal riffs, orchestrated grandeur, and ghoulish choral elements, all complemented by Lee's operatic soprano". Billboard said Evanescence has "translated [Lee's] heartache into another successful set of melodramatic goth/industrial anthems with touches of prog[ressive] and even classical [music]".
Songs and lyrics
"Sweet Sacrifice", the first song of the album, contains "rumbling guitars" and a string section according to IGN's Ed Thompson. The main theme of the song is recovery from an abusive relationship, which also inspired all of the songs on Fallen. Jordan Reimer of The Daily Princetonian and Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone said the song was written for Evanescence's former guitarist Ben Moody. "Call Me When You're Sober" is a rock song that starts as a piano ballad before quickly becoming an alternative metal song that uses elements of nu metal, symphonic rock and pop music. Lee said she wrote the song for her ex-boyfriend Shaun Morgan of South African alternative metal band Seether. Described as a "chick anthem", the song's protagonist explains the reasons the relationship between the pair will not work through the lyrics "Don't cry to me ... If you loved me, you would be here with me / ... How could I have burned paradise? How could I ... you were never mine". "Weight of the World" is a mixture of pop and metal, according to Stornoway Gazette. Inspired by the pressures of fame, it contains "Eastern motifs" and "distorted vocals" in the opening lines "Feels like the weight of the world / Like God in heaven gave me a turn / Don't cling to me, I swear I can't fix you" and in the chorus, "If you love me, then let go of me / I won't be held down by who I used to be".
"Lithium" is a slow-tempo rock song; the protagonist sings about the fear of lithium in a lower register while "embrac[ing] feeling over numbness". Lee originally wrote its chorus on a guitar when she was 16 years old, but the instrument was later changed to piano when the verses were written. The song is about the choice between the comfort of sorrow and the possibility of happiness, and shows the protagonist's sadness as an excuse to make music. Critics noted similarities between the "tinkling" piano introduction and the band's previous material, particularly "My Immortal" (2003). MTV News' Chris Harris compared "Lithium" with the songs of Tori Amos. Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield said the song was Lee's ode to Kurt Cobain and Nirvana's song of the same name. "Cloud Nine" was inspired by a break-up. It uses strings, studio effects and Lee's "layered moaning". "Snow White Queen", the first song written for The Open Door, was inspired by Lee's experiences of stalkers. According to Lee's experience, her privacy had been invaded to the point that she could not stay in her house. Entertainment Weekly's Jon Dolan found similarities between the song and Tori Amos' "Me and a Gun". Musically, it uses several industrial beats in its composition.
"Lacrymosa" incorporates the Lacrimosa sequence from Mozart's Requiem (1791). It additionally includes a 22-piece orchestra led by Dave Campbell and background vocals by The Millennium Choir. Inspired by the film Amadeus, the song contains electronic backing beats, symphonic string section, heavy guitar and a haunting choir. Its vocals make a contrasting representation of light and dark. Jim Farber of Daily News compared the song with the works of English progressive rock band Renaissance. "Like You" is written in memory of Lee's deceased sister, as was "Hello" on Fallen. Concerning this, the singer said, "I can't help but be affected by that, and if it's my place to express myself and all the things that have been most deep and the most painful and have just touched me, I feel like it does honor her". One of the most personal songs on the album, "Like You", contains lyrics which yearn for death so Lee can be with her sister. which are accompanied by heavy riffing guitars. Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield found similarities between the track and American rock band My Chemical Romance's song "Helena" (2005); other critics compared the song with Evanescence's earlier material on Fallen. "Lose Control" was inspired by Balsamo's loud guitar and contains influences from Portishead. The protagonist shows her anger through the lines, "You don't remember my name, I don't really care". According to Lee, the song is about wanting to be less apprehensive and looser.
"The Only One" was originally called "Tuna Afternoon" and lyrically delves on Lee's experiences with close-mindedness and people around her who seemed lost in a world in which they did not belong. It starts with a piano introduction similar to that of the band's Fallen era and songs by Sarah McLachlan. In the song, Lee "decries human guidance" with the chorus lines, "All our lives / We've been waiting / For someone to call our leader / All your lies / I'm not believing / Heaven shine a light down on me". "Your Star" was motivated by Lee's loneliness during the band's tour in support of Fallen. She was inspired to write the chorus in Lisbon when she looked at the night sky and could see no stars. Other inspiration came from the works of Pantera. Guitars and piano provide the track's instrumentation; while Lee sings about God according to Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone. "All That I'm Living For" was co-written by guitarist John LeCompt; it describes Lee's night-time writing process, which is showcased in the opening line, "I can feel the night beginning / Separate me from the living". It contains "power chords", elements of electronica, and abrasive guitars. "Good Enough" was solely written by Lee, and was placed at the end of the album for symbolizing its themes and those of the singer's life. While featuring a string section, it resembles Tori Amos' and Sarah McLachlan's songs. Inspired by her then-future husband Josh Hartzler, "Good Enough" has a similar composition to "My Immortal" because of their piano sounds.
Release and promotion
The Open Door was released worldwide; its first release was in Poland on September 25, 2006, Japan on September 27, Ireland and Germany on September 29, Australia on September 30, and North America on October 3. The digital version of the album was made available for pre-order on August 15, 2006, on iTunes. The pre-order, if bought before October 3, 2006, included an interview with Amy Lee and a bonus track titled "The Last Song I'm Wasting on You", which later appeared as a B-side track on the "Lithium" single.
Singles
The first single from the album was "Call Me When You're Sober", which had a limited radio release on July 31, 2006, that preceded a wider release the following week. Since the track leaked onto the Internet two days before its scheduled release to radio airplay, Wind-up allowed radio stations to play the song ahead of schedule. Subsequently, the recording was made available for digital download on September 4, 2006, and a physical release as a single followed on September 25. For the week ending September 9, 2006, the song peaked at number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100, at number three on the New Zealand Singles Chart, at number five on the Australian Singles Chart, and at number four on the UK Singles Chart. It also charted within the top 20 of several other national charts and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2009, and Gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).
The second single from The Open Door, "Lithium" was released in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2007. Commercially, it peaked at number 26 on the Australian Singles Chart, at number 32 on the UK Singles Chart and at number 16 on the New Zealand Singles Chart. The record's third single was originally planned to be "All That I'm Living For", but after considering the wishes of Evanescence and its fans, the label released "Sweet Sacrifice" instead. It charted in Germany, Turkey and on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. Although "Lithium" and "Sweet Sacrifice" charted within the top 40 on the United States' rock charts, both failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100. Bill Richards, senior vice-president of marketing and sales at Wind-Up Records, attributed the album's reduced airplay to not having "the hard rock [tracks] to solidify the base, and it wasn't melodic and poppy enough with big hooks to go to pop". "Good Enough" was to be released as the fourth single exclusively in Germany, but its release was cancelled for unknown reasons.
Other notable songs
"Weight of the World" was released as a promotional single in October 2007 exclusively in Colombia. "Together Again", a track recorded for The Open Door which was later rejected, was made available as a free digital download on January 22, 2010, to benefit the United Nations Foundation for their recovery efforts following the Haiti earthquake. Lee spoke of the recording, "I am deeply moved by the tragic loss and devastation in Haiti. We hope to be able to make a positive contribution to the UN's emergency response by teaming with the UN Foundation through our music." The song was released as a digital download by online retailers on February 23, 2010; it peaked at number 86 on the Canadian Hot 100. In a 2004 interview with MTV News, Lee said she was composing music for the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, where its producers had offered her a small role; regarding this, the singer said, "They were like, 'Do you want to do a cameo?' And I was like, 'Hell yeah! Let me die. I want to be somebody who gets murdered.' So I don't think that's going to happen." It was later also revealed that the album track "Lacrymosa" was originally written for the film but was not included in it. According to the film's producers, neither Lee nor the band were approached to compose music for the film. Reportedly, another track was completed for the movie, but was rejected due to its dark sound.
Tour
The first leg of The Open Door Tour began on October 5, 2006 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and finished on December 15, 2006 in New York City. After touring North America during October, Evanescence traveled to Europe during November before returning to the United States to play at large arenas. The leg of the tour continued on January 5, 2007, and consisted of appearances in Canada, Japan and Australia. When performing in the United States, Canada and Australia, Evanescence was supported by Revelation Theory, Stone Sour and The Black Maria, and Shihad, respectively. The tour's second leg commenced on March 16, 2007 in Fresno, California, and continued in North America, South America, South Africa, and back to North America, and finished in Europe. The United States gigs included support from Chevelle and Finger Eleven. In Buenos Aires, Evanescence played at a rock festival with Aerosmith, Velvet Revolver and Ratones Paranóicos. Between the European gigs, the band took part in the Family Values Tour 2007 alongside Korn. After Family Values, the band continued touring through Mexico and the U.S. The final leg of the tour began on October 23, 2007 in Coral Gables, Florida; the band was supported by Sick Puppies and Julien-K, while Shiny Toy Guns made a guest appearance during the December 1, 2007, show at University Park, Pennsylvania. After over a year of touring, the last show was played in Kingston, Rhode Island on December 9, 2007. New additions to the setlist of the tour's final leg include "Lose Control", "Missing" and "Understanding".
Critical reception
The Open Door received generally mixed to positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 61, based on twelve reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". IGN music reviewer Ed Thompson felt that "The Open Door is everything that you could ever want in a follow-up album--and more" and added that despite Moody's exit from the band, the remaining members "have not missed a beat." Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone gave the album three-and-a-half stars out of five and said, "When the pain takes over her corseted soul, [...] she just overdubs her big bodice-ripping voice into a choir." Additionally, he added that the "best songs are the creepiest", and concluded; "Obviously, Lee has got a touch of the magnetic and destructive herself. But that's what makes the breakup songs on The Open Door feel mighty real." Jon Dolan of Entertainment Weekly explained the record is "more personal and, by accessing a deeper emotional palette, maybe even more universal". Blender gave a positive review, confessing, "Denser and more scuzzed-up than Fallen, the album amps everything up to gloriously epic, over-the-top proportions". Billboard said, "Those who embraced Fallen will doubtlessly fall even harder into The Open Door." Spin's Mellisa Maerz rated the album with four stars out of five and commented, "A post-dysfunctional kiss-off that builds from ethereal Sunday-mass uplift into full-eff-you guitar dirges, revealing an angrier, more self-assured Lee who waxes sardonic [...] but still misses the comfort in being sad".
Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic wrote that "The Open Door is a muddle of affections. Sonically, however, it captures the Evanescence mythos better and more consistently than the first album - after all, Lee now has no apologies of being the thinking man's nu-metal chick, now that she's a star". Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times called the album "less fun", and said some of the songs are similar to each other. St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Sara Berry critiqued, "[Evanescence's] sound remains essentially the same: the strange but amicable marriage of churning guitar riffs to lead singer Amy Lee's silky soprano". Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe called the album a 45-minute "romantic piece" and said, "if [the album] featured more open-throated crooning and less teeth-gritting anger it would be a much more interesting record". She also added that the sound of the album gets "black and blacker" and, "Lyrics tend toward repetition of words like 'darkness,' 'haunting,' and 'rage'". Christa Titus of Billboard called it a "far more nuanced, moody and richly textured effort" than Fallen. Postmedia News gave the album three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying, "While it's similar in style and sound to its predecessor, The Open Door loses the punchy power rifts and instead persuades the listener with piano and airy vocals". Andre Farias of Christianity Today admitted that "The sound is loud, yes, but it's almost indistinguishable from its predecessor--a disappointment considering the opus was nearly three-and-a-half years in the making".
Some reviewers criticized the loud sound on the album and the lyrics. Jim Farber of the Daily News said the "jerry-built" sound the band used for the album "isn't anything to be admired". MusicOMH reviewer Alex Nunn, gave the album two stars out of five and said, "Musically it's power chords and big riffs-ahoy, generic, mundane, boring stuff. The Open Door is an exercise in how not to make a sophomore album." Darryl Sterdan of Jam! also rated The Open Door with two stars, highlighting Lee's voice and criticizing the "lather, rinse, repeat" formula used for making the songs on the record. He further explained the songs together make a "monotonous blast of self-indulgent Evanonsense", concluding that "some door[s] are better off staying closed". Andy Gill of The Independent also criticized The Open Door and said Lee's narrow vocal range was mirrored in the "restricted breadth of the band's musical and emotional range, which never strays outside the short distance from paranoid to apocalyptic, concerns addressed in as bombastic and tune-dodging a manner as possible". At the 2007 NRJ Music Awards, The Open Door received a nomination for Best International Album of the Year, and the album won Album of the Year at the 2007 MTV Australia Video Music Awards. One of the album's songs, "Sweet Sacrifice", was nominated in the category of Best Hard Rock Performance at the 50th Grammy Awards.
Commercial performance
The Open Door debuted at number one in the United States, Australia, Germany, Greece and Switzerland, and charted in the top five in Austria, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, South Korea, Sweden and the United Kingdom. On the US Billboard 200, The Open Door debuted at number one, selling over 447,000 copies in its first week and becoming the 700th album to top the chart. Additionally, the record opened at the top position on the Rock Albums chart and at number two on the Digital Albums. Two weeks after its availability in the United States, the album sold approximately 725,000 copies, and was initially certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on November 8, 2006. The Open Door became the 38th best-selling album of 2006 in the U.S.; it was the 52nd best-selling album for 2007. On June 24, 2009, the album was awarded double platinum certification.
On the UK Albums Chart, The Open Door debuted and peaked at number two on October 14, 2011. It was the United Kingdom's 81st best-selling album for 2006. In Canada, the album debuted at number two, selling over 43,000 copies in its first week. It was later certified double platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association. In Australia and New Zealand, the album peaked at numbers one and two, respectively. It was later certified double-platinum by the ARIA and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. As of June 10, 2008, The Open Door had sold nearly two million copies in the United States. As of October 2011, total sales in that territory have been brought to 2.1 million units, and an additional of two million copies worldwide.
Track listing
All songs produced by Dave Fortman.
Notes
- During an interview with Metal Edge, Lee confirmed that several outtakes, including for "The Last Song I'm Wasting on You"--which served as a B-side to "Lithium"--"If You Don't Mind" and "Together Again" were made for the album.
- The two-disc Japanese limited edition was released September 27, 2006, and includes the music video for "Call Me When You're Sober" and behind-the-scenes footage. The CD also contains an additional bonus track.
Credits and personnel
Credits are taken from AllMusic and the liner notes of The Open Door.
Charts
Certifications
Release history
References
Footnotes
External links
- The Open Door at Metacritic
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments