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I feel good now. I feel free. That’s why the album is called The Open Door because I feel like all the doors in my life I pushed open, and now I can do whatever I want.
―-Amy Lee
The Open Door
The Open Door
Released September 25, 2006
October 3, 2006 (North America)
Length 54:15
Producers Dave Fortman
Label Wind-up Records
Discography
Anywhere But Home
(2004)
The Open Door
(2006)
Evanescence
(2011)
Singles from The Open Door
  1. "Call Me When You're Sober"
    Released: July 20th, 2006
  2. "Lithium"
    Released: January 1th, 2007
  3. "Sweet Sacrifice"
    Released: April 20th, 2007
  4. "Good Enough"
    Released: August 15th, 2007
  5. Weight of the World
    Released: October 13th, 2007


The Open Door is Evanescence's second studio album. It was released on September 25, 2006 in Poland and on October 3 in North America through Wind-up Records.[1]

In celebration of the album's 15th anniversary, a limited edition 2-LP release pressed on grey marble vinyl was released on July 17, 2021 for Record Store Day.

Background and development[]

Amy revealed in an interview with MTV News in December 2003 that once the Fallen Tour ended, they were ready to go back to the studio.[2] She also said that everybody would be going to their home to write new material, and then they would regroup and see what could be done with the material. She said in another interview in November 2004 that she writes by herself first, and she then shows the material to the people she's working with.[3] She learned to use Pro Tools to work on the demos for the new songs.[4] Writing took 18 months,[5] with Amy saying, "the best process of my life because I had free reign. I could do whatever I wanted without being judged or being told it's stupid."[6]

In a 2005 interview, Amy indicated the new material was "creepy, it's kind of sexy, it's groovy [...] It's sort of Portishead, A Perfect Circle, bands that take more artistic freedom", linking it to Portishead in terms of "weird, sultry vibe."[7] She added they were at the beginning of writing the album and it could "all change... It can be a completely different record."[7]

Recording of the album began in September 2005,[8][9] and was completed in March 2006,[10] being mixed in the same month.[11] The writing and recording of the album was slow for several reasons, including Terry suffering a stroke in November 2005,[12] the loss of Amy's former manager, which was reported as being sued by her for "financial and sexual misconduct",[13] and her wanting to maximize the creative process.[5][14] Additionally, the record label didn't like the recorded material at the initial meeting. However, Amy was encouraged by her father to fight for the album. During the second meeting, she pointed out that the album wasn't written for the label's executives, but for a younger demographic. She eventually won the label over and was given the green-light to move forward with the album.[15]

The choir arranged by Amy Lee and performed by The Millenium Choir was recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, and the strings arranged by David Campbell for a 22-piece orchestra were recorded at a chapel[5] in Bastyr University, Kenmore, WA, chosen for the acoustics.[16][17] DJ Lethal did programming on the album.[16]

Amy revealed that with Fallen, some of the songs sounded like she "was trying to prove [herself] and establish what [they] were and [their] sound". She further said, "I was trapped having to feel a certain way. But with the new record, I sort of went with everything. I am not afraid to feel happy sometimes, and I think there's moments on the album with sensuality, which is really fun and beautiful, instead of the last time, where I felt like I was only getting out part of me. This record embraces the whole me".[18]

Much of the album was inspired by Amy's break-up with Shaun Morgan.[17][9][19] After Ben left the band, she found a new songwriting partner, Terry Balsamo,[18] and regained her creative freedom.[17][20] Terry was supportive of her musical ideas and would push her to do something she wouldn't have done with Ben.[18][21] She incorporated her classical influences in the music,[20] as in playing with Mozart's Lacrimosa requiem in "Lacrymosa",[22] and organs in almost every song,[23] an instrument she wasn't allowed to use on Fallen because Ben didn't like it.[24] She noted that she wasn't a piano player on the previous album, and she "wanted to really know that I was the piano player and I wanted to prove myself in that way, so the piano parts are a little more classical and interesting."[23] She had the freedom to experiment in the music,[25][26][27] like looping an old typewriter to make a drum beat in a song,[28][29] incorporating homemade sounds in the music,[29] and using a toy piano and music box from her childhood on "Weight of the World".[30] The process of making the album was "really intense" and she came out "feeling purified."[31]

In June 2006 (four months before the album's release), Amy posted this on EvBoard.com:[32]

"I hope you all love the record, I know I do, but just one tip about it- each song really has a life of its own. It would be impossible to judge the record on one song alone. Some are much heavier than we've ever been before, some more soulful, some more fun- the only word that really describes all of them is "more." ...as I'm reading this I still think its all meaningless without hearing the album. Just be open minded, because I wasn't aiming to give people what they expect."

Title and concept[]

Amy said she came up with the title after two months she and Terry had been writing the album,[33] and she referred to the album's title during an interview:

I feel like I’ve got that out of my system. I’m happy. I feel good now. I feel free. That’s why the album is called The Open Door because I feel like all the doors in my life I pushed open, and now I can do whatever I want.[14]

On the September 2006 issue of Billboard magazine, she discussed the songs from The Open Door and how the lyrical content differs from Fallen:[21]

I feel like this album comes from a place that is not so hopeless. The first album, I was talking about the hard stuff, but I was also wallowing in it. I wasn’t strong enough to take a stand and say no in a lot of situations.

I listen back to “Fallen” now and definitely hear all the vulnerability and the fear and all the childish things in me that are just human. But I’ve grown so much now. The lyrics on the new album are looking for the answers, looking for the solutions, looking for happiness. It’s not, “I’m miserable, end of song.” It’s more, “I’m miserable, and what do I have to do to work this out and get out of this bad situation.”

She told Iceberg Radio:[9]

A lot of the songs were coming from the turmoil in [her] relationship [with Shaun Morgan] and sort of how I was feeling. But I wrote a lot about other things too, it's interesting. I think on Fallen all I felt I was writing about was relationship turmoil, like constantly, just the same thing over and over. And this time I wrote about different things, like one of the songs is completely dedicated to the way I feel about the band, how it's taken over my life, how it's like a love/hate relationship with me and the music.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the album's release, Amy was interviewed by Kerrang!:

What I remember most about The Open Door - what really lives in my heart - it was a break-up record with more than just a dude in a relationship. It was a breaking up with a lot of things and a lot of people. More than it being about that for me - about some relationship - I hear myself singing for freedom, and standing up for myself instead of being a broken little girl sitting in the corner, crying about how hard life is, which you can hear a little bit of on Fallen. It’s me standing up and taking control.[34]

Artwork[]

TOD Amy's sketch

Amy's sketch of the album cover, which was published on EvClub.

The album cover photo was shot at Angel Orensanz Center in New York and was inspired by Amy's sketch.

"I actually designed the album cover. I drew the door, and there's this waterfall - I'm gonna put it online, I keep meaning to do it but I've been so busy. But, I drew it and I showed it to my manager who showed it to the label and was like, this is my vision for the album, she's walking out the open door and I want to call it The Open Door. And when I showed up to the photoshoot, I thought we were just going to find a big door but they'd actually recreated and drawn a full scale picture of the door I had drawn!"[35]

The album cover was revealed through the band's official website on August 4, 2006.[36]

Singles[]

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".

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[]

No. Title Length
1. "Sweet Sacrifice" 3:05
2. "Call Me When You're Sober" 3:34
3. "Weight of the World" 3:37
4. "Lithium" 3:44
5. "Cloud Nine" 4:22
6. "Snow White Queen" 4:22
7. "Lacrymosa" 3:37
8. "Like You" 4:16
9. "Lose Control" 4:50
10. "The Only One" 4:40
11. "Your Star" 3:48
12. "All That I'm Living For" 3:48
13. "Good Enough" 5:31

iTunes pre-order bonus track[]

No. Title Length
14. "The Last Song I'm Wasting On You" 4:07

B-Sides[]

No. Title Length
1. "Together Again" 3:05
2. "If You Don't Mind" 2:56
  • "Together Again" was released as a charity single to raise funds for Haiti in January 2010. "If You Don't Mind" was released on the B-side compilation album Lost Whispers as part of The Ultimate Collection 6-LP box set in 2017.

Gallery[]

Booklet[]

Recording sessions[]

References[]

  1. "EVANESCENCE STEPS THROUGH "THE OPEN DOOR"". Evanescence.com. Los Angeles. April 26, 2006.
  2. Wiederhorn, John; reporting by Cornell, Jeff (October 23, 2003). "Evanescence Soldier On Without Ben Moody, Look Forward To Recording". MTV News.
  3. D'Angelo, Joe (November 18, 2004). "Evanescence's New Sound Is Reminiscent Of ... Evanescence". MTV News.
  4. "Feature: Amy Lee's Evanescence". November 16, 2004. UPI Hollywood Reporter.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Harrington, Richard (October 6, 2006). "Another 'Door' Opens for Amy Lee". The Washington Post.
  6. "Rock’s a hard place -- ask Evanescence". October 1, 2006. Los Angeles Times.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Gargano, Paul (March 2005). "Evanescence - Everywhere... But Home". Metal Edge 50 (11): 23.
  8. Lee, Amy (August 12, 2005). "2nd Evanescence Album - (The Open Door) - Scheduled Release: October 3, 2006". EvBoard.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Amy Lee - Iceberg Radio Interview 2006 Full". YouTube.
  10. "Evanescence Bio". 2006. Evanescence.com.
  11. "Evanesence Mixes New Album at Ocean Way". Pro Sound News. May 2, 2006.
  12. Lee, Amy (January 20, 2006). "i love my album :)". EvBoard.
  13. Harris, Chris (December 8, 2005). "Evanescence's Amy Lee Sues Former Manager, Alleges Financial And Sexual Misconduct". MTV News.
  14. 14.0 14.1 Reesman, Bryan (November 2006). "The Essence of Evanescence". Metal Edge 52 (11): 5–10. ISSN 1068-2872.
  15. Daddy Lee's Evanescence article: "WAITING FOR THE DOOR TO OPEN". EvBoard. (December 7, 2006)
  16. 16.0 16.1 The Open Door (2006), liner notes.
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 Soghomonian, Talia (August 3, 2006). "Interview – Evanescence". musicOMH.
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 Harris, Chris (April 26, 2006). "Amy Lee Says New Evanescence LP Has More Sensuality". MTV News.
  19. Eells, Josh (October 2006). "Amy Lee: Back in Black". Blender.
  20. 20.0 20.1 Wood, Sherri (October 3, 2006). "New doors open for Amy Lee". Jam!.
  21. 21.0 21.1 Conniff, Tamara (September 16, 2006). "Into the Great Wide 'Open'". Billboard 12 (37): 34.
  22. "Listen To Two New Tracks From Evanescence's Album 'The Open Door'". SonyBMG.com.au. September 19, 2006.
  23. 23.0 23.1 Comingore, Aly (November 8, 2007). "Evanescence Frontwoman Amy Lee Steps Up, Delivers an Album All Her Own". The Santa Barbara Independent.
  24. "In the Studio - Evanescence: The Open Door". Rolling Stone (1003). June 2006.
  25. "Evanescence Feeling No Pressure On New Album". August 28, 2006. Billboard.
  26. "If I should fall from grace". The Irish Times. September 22, 2006.
  27. "Amy Lee bares her artistic soul". January 8, 2007. Jam!.
  28. "Evanescence Interview @ Much Part Three" (January 9, 2007)
  29. 29.0 29.1 Leivers, Dannii (April 2023). "The Hammer Interview: Amy Lee". Metal Hammer UK. Issue 374. Page 67.
  30. Chelin, Pamela (September 2006). "The Open Door". Kerrang! España (in Spanish). No. 155. p. 24.
  31. "Evanescence ‘Opens’ Up On New Album". April 26, 2006. Billboard.
  32. Lee, Amy (June 13, 2006). "Happy cupcake sprinkly funland-the album!". EvBoard.
  33. "AIM Interview: Amy Lee of Evanescence Tells Us All About the New Music, the Band Changes and more". AOL Music. August 2006.
  34. Kerrang! #1648 Amy Lee On The Open Door (December 2016)
  35. "MuchMusic Interview". September 27, 2006. EvanescenceWebsite.com.
  36. "Evanescence: 'The Open Door' Artwork Posted Online". Blabbermouth.net. August 4, 2006.
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