Wilytank
During my years in the government school system, while I was checking out bands that would sculpt my present ideology as a Christophobic death and black metal fan, my classmates were listening to music that passed itself off as metal but I found rather irksome. One of the most irksome was "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence. I did not like that the alleged gothic metal tones weren't even there, I did not like the simple and commercially streamlined riffing pattern, and I really did not like Paul McCoy's hip-hop/nu metal flavored guest vocals. A couple of years later, I've decided it's time to kill the weed by strangling it's root and give the album 'Fallen' a listen.
And right away, I can see my dislike justified. I'm greeted with these boring, uninspired, unvaried chug chords. For some reason, some people have gotten the impression that this album is gothic metal simply due to the orchestral instruments and Amy Lee's singing style, but if those elements were taken away everyone would call this alternative rock. In fact, those elements might as well be taken away because they come across as a gimmick to cover up how lame the guitar work is: all chug, zero substance. It doesn't help that all the songs are in this mid paced tempo, further increasing the boredom.
Also not helping are the stupid, angsty, tear-jerker lyrics which are not entertaining in the slightest. For that reason, I don't just hate this album for what it is but also for what it represents: whiny angst. This is a teen targeted theme and the reason why I didn't like it then is because I was above the idea of self-loathing so I didn't like the idea of the commercialization of self-loathing.
But alas, this was March 4, 2003. I would have been in the latter half of my 5th grade year, and the world would be worse than the month before. Yes, I suppose Amy Lee has some pipes, but that means nothing to me when she's a poster girl for angst. 'Fallen' is a very vapid album that is not worth any attention.