Everybody's Fool

by

Evanescence

Edit

Evanescence's dynamic and ethereal yet hard metal rock sound make them truly unique. When coupled with Amy Lee's heavenly vocals, Evanescence is really worth listening to again and again.

Everybody's Fool, the 4th single from Fallen, depicts a young girl's admiration for a glamour pop star whose hollow existance only leads others to follow blindly in the path of lies. The hard hitting lyrics make this track so special.

The two live tracks included are a welcome look into how naturally talented the group is.

The instrumental b-side of Everybody's Fool is nice because it shows that, even without amy lee's vocals, it's still amazing music.

Evanescence is the first artist or band in years whose singles I've collected to this extent. This single release suggests that the band is running out of B-sides. If you know anything about modern recording, you'd know that all you have to do to create an "instrumental version" of a song is to click and disable the vocal tracks in ProTools. So the inclusion of an"instrumental version" on a single suggests that the vaults are getting a little dry.

Good thing, then, that Amy Lee is a fantastic singer who doesn't need studio polish, so the live tracks carry the interest. Whether two live tracks and an "instrumental version" (seems like a karaoke tool -- good luck hitting Lee's vocal range, though) is worth the price of this single is your call, but I was able to find this single for under seven dollars. At this price, I'd say the live tracks are worth it. "Taking over Me" is Lee at her most quavery; her pitch is off, but it adds a more human, vulnerable dimension to her usually pristine singing. I wonder if her voice is fatigued from all the touring? I like this approach, though; it adds a touch of the ragged to Evanescence, much in the way Emmylou Harris' slightly cracked voice on Wrecking Ball actually enriched her voice. The world-music-influenced vocalizations on "Whisper" sound good and fit Lee's voice very well.

It should be interesting to see how this band fares without chief songwriting partner Ben Moody on its next record. Lee has proven her worth again and again; the next phase will be crucial, to see if she can lead this band alone.