Not
surprisingly I first learned of Evanescence from a group of college-aged
girls in a sappy Lord of the Rings fan fiction forum. Then
I happened across Fallen, their debut album, on a shopping
excursion. I couldn't miss rows and rows of lead singer Amy Lee
staring balefully at me in shades of blue and black and white. She's
just so gosh darn cute; it kind of reminded me of my first grade
school picture. (More on the youthfulness of the band later.)
For a lark I went to the listening station and discovered from
the snippets of music that Evanescence is my very favorite style
of music: Jim Farber said in his New York Daily News review
that "Bring Me Back to Life," the most successful song, "sounds
like Sarah McLachlan singing over Nine Inch Nails." I'm stealing
his description because I can't possibly come up with anything
more accurate for the album overall, though I will add that on
"Bring Me Back to Life" guest vocalist Paul McCoy of 12 Stones
adds a flavor pleasantly reminiscent of Linkin Park, in my opinion.
Moreover snatches of Lee and Ben Moody's earnest and angst-ridden
lyrics struck a chord with me. Most importantly, the CD was on
SALE so I gleefully made my purchase and have shamefully overplayed
it ever since.
I'm not kidding when I say shamefully. According to press information
on the band, original and primary members Lee and Moody met and
began their musical efforts together when they were in their early
teens. With Lee at the ripe old age of 20, the youthfulness definitely
shows and forces me to ponder why exactly a Gen Xer like myself
would be so drawn to music whose lyrics aptly answer the theoretical
question, what if the Ally Sheedy character in Breakfast Club
had her own band?
Perhaps the answer is nostalgia. At times Fallen takes
me back to my angsty teen years but manages to express those overwhelming
and seemingly epiphanic emotions with a beauty and creativity
that I could never have achieved at that age. More to the point
the pain, frustration and despair of Fallen often translates
quite clearly into the world of adult disappointments and has
thus become the soundtrack my unemployment and writer's block.
Whether this speaks more of Evanescence's maturity or my immaturity
is certainly up for debate. It could just be that Generation X
is simply a Peter Pan generation, thus explaining the teen/adult
crossover popularity of everything from youthful music to "Buffy
the Vampire Slayer" and Harry Potter.
And unlike other young musical acts like Britney Spears or Christine
Aguilera et al., who are so desperately trying to project a sexy,
grown up image, Evanescence seems perfectly at ease with a youthful
demographic (perhaps not a coincidence given the expressive "Everybody's
Fool"). In this way Fallen's occasional triteness and melodrama
seems refreshingly true to its genre. For example suicide seems
to be a recurring theme, expressed with forthright kick-ass-ness
in the simple "Tourniquet" on Track 6, but by the time I get to
the last three more ponderous songs, "Hello," "My Last Breath,"
and "Whisper" I find myself wincing and thinking, "You know you
keep saying you're going to kill yourself and people will stop
taking you seriously." (In all honesty, listeners who are already
suicidal and underage, or perhaps just ridiculously impressionable,
should probably seek some counseling or prescription medicine
before, for example, playing this CD over and over for hours at
a time. Just a word of caution.)
Sadly, these more dramatic songs (complete with ominously chanting choral arrangements that will frighten God-fearing parents everywhere) tend come across with about as much serious impact as the musical episode of Buffy - entertaining, with fleeting sparks of poignancy, but also rather silly. And the difference is that while singing vampire slayers take themselves with a campy grain of salt, it is apparent that is Evanescence is perfectly serious. But, again, that's what it's like to be young and sad and on the outside. I don't think that there's a single creative loner amongst us who won't forgive them and indulge the shortsighted self-pity party, if only for the aforementioned nostalgia.
Plus, Evanescence is greatly helped by the fact that they sound darn good. The songs veer between guitar-driven hard rock and piano-driven ballads that thankfully fall just short of the weepy banshee realm. I suggest that anyone, regardless of age, who appreciates angst, secretly enjoys singing along with Michelle Branch or Avril Lavigne, and who isn't too proud to occasionally shop at Hot Topic, should definitely check out this young band. Besides, it's not like you have to admit it to anyone else.
About the Author:
Bridgette Parker is co-author of the Wraeththu Mythos novel Breeding
Discontent, as well as several other pieces of Wraeththtu fan fiction. can
be reached at bridgetteparker@hotmail.com.
