Evanescence and William James
Aug. 16th, 2006 12:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oneirophreniaFirst of all, I really want this book, Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death. I've read James' The Varieties of Religious Experience about a hundred times, and have for decades been thoroughly fascinated with Victorian/Edwardian spiritualists and scientific attempts to prove paranormal claims during that time. This book is guaranteed to be awesome. I'll have to go and watch Photographing Fairies again after watching it, though, I'm sure. Or just re-read Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's Isis Unveiled again.
And second of all: I've heard the new Evanescence single, "Call Me When You're Sober"--and it's just awesome. I was quite hesitant to listen to it, since late last year Ben Moody, the guitarist who'd originally formed Evanescence with Amy Lee and was responsible for most of the band's music, apparently left the group (citing the usual "creative differences", which probably meant that Amy Lee wasn't giving up skins to him anymore), and was replaced with Terry Balsamo, guitarist from the abysmal nu-metal band Cold. I figured that Evanescence was officially done for at that point, since there's no way on earth Amy Lee plus some dick from Cold could possibly crank out a decent sophmore album, right? Well...Terry Balsamo had a stroke late last year. Somehow, a few minutes of oxygen-deprivation must've shook some actual creativity loose in his brain, or perhaps Lee just put the smack down and demanded that he stir up some kind of talent, because...damn, "Call Me When You're Sober" is such a good song. Admittedly, the synths are a little muted in the mix I've heard, but the song is still a gem of pop-goth rock. I've long maintained that even though Evanescence sounds a good bit like Nightwish, each band has a very notable identity, with Nightwish being a lot more power-metal in essence and Evanescence being a logical extension of late-80s goth-rock outfitted with a more contemporary alt-rock sound. Face it, people, they're what you'd get if Shades of Grey had caught on and grown popular with the K-Rock crowd. Which could be a bad thing, but in Evanescence's case isn't, because they're not a one-trick pony. My GODS, how I hated that "Wake Me Up" song that was their breakthrough hit--but that one stinker of a track is balanced out by "My Immortal", "Everybody's Fool", "Going Under", and--by the power of Yog-Sothoth--"Haunted", which was probably my favorite goth-rock song of 2005. Amy Lee's lyrics are fairly bland, sure, but she has a very strong voice, can really play piano, and can really carry the band. It's not revolutionary goth music, it's just good--and "Call Me When You're Sober" actually maintains that sound. I'm really looking forward to The Open Door, the new full-length coming out in October.
I wonder if I could sucker Amy Lee into showing up on a Nyarlathotep track? *Flips through Al-Azif* I may need the help of the Other Gods for that....And while I'm at it, they'd better arrange it so I can hit that, too.
And second of all: I've heard the new Evanescence single, "Call Me When You're Sober"--and it's just awesome. I was quite hesitant to listen to it, since late last year Ben Moody, the guitarist who'd originally formed Evanescence with Amy Lee and was responsible for most of the band's music, apparently left the group (citing the usual "creative differences", which probably meant that Amy Lee wasn't giving up skins to him anymore), and was replaced with Terry Balsamo, guitarist from the abysmal nu-metal band Cold. I figured that Evanescence was officially done for at that point, since there's no way on earth Amy Lee plus some dick from Cold could possibly crank out a decent sophmore album, right? Well...Terry Balsamo had a stroke late last year. Somehow, a few minutes of oxygen-deprivation must've shook some actual creativity loose in his brain, or perhaps Lee just put the smack down and demanded that he stir up some kind of talent, because...damn, "Call Me When You're Sober" is such a good song. Admittedly, the synths are a little muted in the mix I've heard, but the song is still a gem of pop-goth rock. I've long maintained that even though Evanescence sounds a good bit like Nightwish, each band has a very notable identity, with Nightwish being a lot more power-metal in essence and Evanescence being a logical extension of late-80s goth-rock outfitted with a more contemporary alt-rock sound. Face it, people, they're what you'd get if Shades of Grey had caught on and grown popular with the K-Rock crowd. Which could be a bad thing, but in Evanescence's case isn't, because they're not a one-trick pony. My GODS, how I hated that "Wake Me Up" song that was their breakthrough hit--but that one stinker of a track is balanced out by "My Immortal", "Everybody's Fool", "Going Under", and--by the power of Yog-Sothoth--"Haunted", which was probably my favorite goth-rock song of 2005. Amy Lee's lyrics are fairly bland, sure, but she has a very strong voice, can really play piano, and can really carry the band. It's not revolutionary goth music, it's just good--and "Call Me When You're Sober" actually maintains that sound. I'm really looking forward to The Open Door, the new full-length coming out in October.
I wonder if I could sucker Amy Lee into showing up on a Nyarlathotep track? *Flips through Al-Azif* I may need the help of the Other Gods for that....And while I'm at it, they'd better arrange it so I can hit that, too.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 12:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 05:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 06:02 pm (UTC)In regard to your book that you listed above, did some crazy red head have any influence in you wanting to read that?