The Bitter Truth

[JohnnyScott]

Jul 12, 2021 13:53:09 GMT -6 Titanic said:

Speaking of Perfect Dream, when on Earth will Find a Way see the light of day? I've been listening to the recording of it for years. Better than nothing, at least it's the song in its entirety!

I think Find a Way and solo material, maybe she will release it in the future.

As for Perfect Dream I believe she has something special to this song or lost interest in it too.

[Diegoville]

I really do you hope they have some other surprises waiting to come out to support TBT era. It can't be over just yet! (Not really counting the tour since I don't know if I'll even be able to see them).

[feedingthedark]

Yeah, they could come up with a EP with the songs that didn't make it. I mean, those that have full structures recorded but no vocals/lyrics but have them finished. And maybe Amy could finish some of those demos from the tape, but yeah I'm aiming way too high. But I would want them to be electronic/experimental as they are in the tape, and not have them turned into a rock song. haha

[mrmellow]

Now the album's been out a while, I think my perspective has changed slightly. Going song by song, there's actually a lot I enjoy, but I still can't listen to it all the way through - it's still far too full on, without the peaks and valleys I was kind of hoping for. I definitely enjoy the singles in particular - Better Without You is really great (despite the insanely high chorus), and The Game Is Over feels super powerful. I feel like I'm one of the few people that actually like Yeah Right. It's just so different to anything else Ev have done before, and I love the bridge.

Broken Pieces Shine is still far and away my favourite song. I think the message is different to anything else Ev have done before, and I love all the layers of vocals. I also really love elements of Part Of Me, particularly the chorus, the orchestration, and the ending with haunting vocals. I love the verses of Feeding The Dark, but the chorus does nothing for me. I always skip Take Cover, and I just can't get into Far From Heaven, and I'm still frustrated by the mix of Blind Belief (I can barely hear Amy in the verses).

I still get fatigued by how overblown the entire album is (which I know is insane considering that's one of the main elements to Ev's music). It just gets a bit samey, which is a real shame, because Amy is far and away my favourite singer, particularly when she's exploring different aspects of her voice. I'm really hoping either for a solo album from Amy, or an EP of tracks exploring more styles at some point in the future.

[Thomas]

Jul 30, 2021 6:59:02 GMT -6 mrmellow said:

Now the album's been out a while, I think my perspective has changed slightly. Going song by song, there's actually a lot I enjoy, but I still can't listen to it all the way through - it's still far too full on, without the peaks and valleys I was kind of hoping for. I definitely enjoy the singles in particular - Better Without You is really great (despite the insanely high chorus), and The Game Is Over feels super powerful. I feel like I'm one of the few people that actually like Yeah Right. It's just so different to anything else Ev have done before, and I love the bridge.

Broken Pieces Shine is still far and away my favourite song. I think the message is different to anything else Ev have done before, and I love all the layers of vocals. I also really love elements of Part Of Me, particularly the chorus, the orchestration, and the ending with haunting vocals. I love the verses of Feeding The Dark, but the chorus does nothing for me. I always skip Take Cover, and I just can't get into Far From Heaven, and I'm still frustrated by the mix of Blind Belief (I can barely hear Amy in the verses).

I still get fatigued by how overblown the entire album is (which I know is insane considering that's one of the main elements to Ev's music). It just gets a bit samey, which is a real shame, because Amy is far and away my favourite singer, particularly when she's exploring different aspects of her voice. I'm really hoping either for a solo album from Amy, or an EP of tracks exploring more styles at some point in the future.

I suppose this album was definitely a "fan service" and a way to satisfy the other band members (sorry, I don't want to sound rude, don't know how to put it - English is not my first language), given how Synthesis was focused on Amy, electronica, and the boys and Jen were kind of "shove in the back". Hopefully they will explore different genres on the next album (a rainbow of sounds like on TOD) and they won't work with Nick again. I feel Amy is afraid of trying something different with Ev because of how Wind-Up held her back when she was under a record deal, though she has creative freedom now.

I won't lie that I found the cassette tape content far more interesting than the actual album and I wished the album would have gone that experimental route. The only songs I trully enjoyed on the album are the intro, BPS (just wow!), TGIO, Yeah Right, FDT, BWY, and Take Cover. The loudiness is kind of annoying and it might be a Nick aesthetic that I don't like since his work on Ev3, though he didn't mix the latter.

I've been hoping for a solo album from Amy for a long time that it's not a soundtrack album or a children's album. haha

[Diegoville]

Gosh, I just went through the "Broken Record" thread on the Ev wikipedia's and it does make me wonder if she'll ever go full on electronic on an album (while keeping the band, I'm loving this lineup). I feel like there might be some contradiction within the band as to what the sound is. I'm referencing one of Will's interviews where he said he prefers the rockier sound, which I totally get and can't fault him, but I think there's a strong desire from Amy to branch out even more on her music and I hope she feels confident enough to do so! I definitely hope for the next album to be electronica influenced but still incorporating the band heavily. I feel like The Bitter Truth was a sort a re-introduction of their sound and somewhat fan servicey? Not that it was needed for us, but you know. Maybe.

[mrmellow]

I'm not sure if TBT was particularly a 'fan service', I always got the impression that whatever plans the band originally had for the album had to be abandoned due to covid. I'm really hoping that whatever is left of the broken record resurfaces. And I also wondered if the album was more of a 'band service', rather than a 'fan service', because I really get the impression that the band is particularly tight at the moment, so I think the other members are influencing the general direction of Evanescence more than they ever have before.

I really liked the description of the broken record being percussion-driven, and the idea of Questlove being featured on the album, and of Japanese drumming, and the marrying together of synthetic and organic stuff. I just hope that now Ev are independent, it doesn't lessen the chance of them experimenting more in the studio. I dread to think how much money was spent on the broken record, and it never even saw the light of day.

I do think TBT has some really outstanding moments on it, and in a lot of ways I think it's a much better record than Ev3. The drumming is ferocious, and the band has never sounded better, but it basically showcases the aspects of Ev's music that I've personally drifted away from, and failed to highlight the parts of their sound that still resonate with me.

[Thomas]

Aug 4, 2021 9:32:43 GMT -6 mrmellow said:

I'm not sure if TBT was particularly a 'fan service', I always got the impression that whatever plans the band originally had for the album had to be abandoned due to covid. I'm really hoping that whatever is left of the broken record resurfaces. And I also wondered if the album was more of a 'band service', rather than a 'fan service', because I really get the impression that the band is particularly tight at the moment, so I think the other members are influencing the general direction of Evanescence more than they ever have before.

I really liked the description of the broken record being percussion-driven, and the idea of Questlove being featured on the album, and of Japanese drumming, and the marrying together of synthetic and organic stuff. I just hope that now Ev are independent, it doesn't lessen the chance of them experimenting more in the studio. I dread to think how much money was spent on the broken record, and it never even saw the light of day.

I do think TBT has some really outstanding moments on it, and in a lot of ways I think it's a much better record than Ev3. The drumming is ferocious, and the band has never sounded better, but it basically showcases the aspects of Ev's music that I've personally drifted away from, and failed to highlight the parts of their sound that still resonate with me.

Given Amy's commentary early on that the album would focus on different 'genres' that make up Ev's sound, I though we would get a diverse album but I get the pandemic ruined her plan:

"One of the things that we've been kind of aiming towards is taking the elements of what maybe are things that make up our sound and try to separate them and give each of them their own space. So some of the songs don't have strings and are fully rocking and heavy. And then some of the songs might be really in the electronic zone, and something might be more on the orchestral side. But overall, it's gonna be a rock record."

Yeah, I agree on the 'band service' part. Since 2011 the band have been collaborating more, I guess this happened because Amy was working on the broken record mostly alone in 2010 and the guys were brought in later in the recording, though Tim and Terry wrote with her (I remember the 2009 tweets).

As for the broken record, I also wonder how much money went into it, taking account the New York studio sessions, three producers (Lillywhite, Will Science and Warren Riker), and guest musicians. lol

The only song from the actual sessions that was released is the Chris Isaak cover on Amy's Recover, given that Lillywhite is credited as a producer. The other songs from this scrapped album were reworked/rerecorded to fit into other albums/projects.

[jerevemy]

So anyone get the Evanescence comic book, 1st in a series of 5? Looks amazing, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Maybe I will later. 

[jerevemy]

Jun 19, 2021 11:23:37 GMT -6 senzafine said:

Jun 19, 2021 2:51:53 GMT -6 jerevemy said:

You know, I don't think there is a single song on Fallen, TOD and Ev3 that I don't think are great that I would tend to skip. Except Bring Me To Life, haha. So, what is she talking about in Far From Me? Is she saying her brother is now in heaven and she feels unworthy to reach him there because she is filled with darkness? I feel like this album doesn't;t speak to me, like I watching a band play and I am on the outside rather than being a part of it.


What about the bridges? Don't you think the classic bridges that Evanescence is known for is totally missing on this album? I wonder if Terry was the key to making the songs more complete with his guitar melodies and co-writing. There aren't too many catchy guitar riffs on this and oddly very little Amy on piano. You notice this?

No, I think what she’s saying in that song is that she’s experienced so much tragedy and loss that she doesn’t know if she can “see your light anymore” (ie God, the universe, hope, whatever), because she’s spent so much of her life, from a child into adulthood, “in the dark” of these kinds of feelings. She’s describing the struggle of balancing any kind of faith and hope for the future (and the afterlife) with the pain and loss life seems to throw at her. How can she have faith in God when she’s lost so much and been broken over and over again by loss? That’s what the song is about. She’s “begging to believe” but feels “so far from heaven”. She’s actually having quite an existential crisis in this song.

Bridges. I don’t think they’re totally missing but there are definitely fewer of them, I agree.

I think Far From Heaven is Amy worried that she won't see her brother's light anymore, because he is so pure in a heavenly place and she fears she is stuck in a dark place, so removed from a heavily place. 

[jerevemy]

Jun 19, 2021 18:41:04 GMT -6 @cosmixplorer said:

The intention with that this user came it's perfectly clear, anything you say to him he will be like "but what about this?", it's more a situation of "justify to me why you like this album and I will argue why you are wrong". It's stupid and pointless.

It's called having an open back and forth conversation. You should try it some time. 

[jerevemy]

Jul 30, 2021 6:59:02 GMT -6 mrmellow said:

Now the album's been out a while, I think my perspective has changed slightly. Going song by song, there's actually a lot I enjoy, but I still can't listen to it all the way through - it's still far too full on, without the peaks and valleys I was kind of hoping for. I definitely enjoy the singles in particular - Better Without You is really great (despite the insanely high chorus), and The Game Is Over feels super powerful. I feel like I'm one of the few people that actually like Yeah Right. It's just so different to anything else Ev have done before, and I love the bridge.

Broken Pieces Shine is still far and away my favourite song. I think the message is different to anything else Ev have done before, and I love all the layers of vocals. I also really love elements of Part Of Me, particularly the chorus, the orchestration, and the ending with haunting vocals. I love the verses of Feeding The Dark, but the chorus does nothing for me. I always skip Take Cover, and I just can't get into Far From Heaven, and I'm still frustrated by the mix of Blind Belief (I can barely hear Amy in the verses).

I still get fatigued by how overblown the entire album is (which I know is insane considering that's one of the main elements to Ev's music). It just gets a bit samey, which is a real shame, because Amy is far and away my favourite singer, particularly when she's exploring different aspects of her voice. I'm really hoping either for a solo album from Amy, or an EP of tracks exploring more styles at some point in the future.

I totally know what you mean by the album being somewhat monotone with not enough peaks and valleys. It's ironic since there are multiple styles on the album, but there is this dullness to it, which I also cannot describe why that is. I also find it frustrating that Amy's vocals are deeper in the mix, for a reason I also can't figure out. The album is not bad, it is good, but for whatever reason, it seems more like an album of extra songs, B sides or something. I don't know. I just know not one song on this album compares to anything they have done before it. 

[rionka]

Mar 26, 2021 15:12:36 GMT -6 ahoyhoy said:

Update: you can watch the documentary here if you a VPN and switch it to a US location:

codacollection.co/films/evanescence-embracing-the-bitter-truth

So i finally found the EtTBT documentary out there, and i love it. They formed such a beautiful relationship together, and with Nick and David too. It's awesome. 
The creative process of Blind Belief with orchestra is insanely cool, i love that song... 

note: some people don't like the new album, I do. 

[mrmellow]

The drumming on this album really is something else. Particularly on Broken Pieces Shine, and Part Of Me.

-EDIT- 

Seeing as it's a sin to double post, I'll add this. Got my spotify wrapped, and I think it speaks volumes of my love for Evanescence that even though TBT was a bit of a disappointment to me (as was Ev3, to be honest), it's still far and away my most listened to album of the year. I listened to Ev for just under 3,000 minutes this year apparently - in the top 0.005% of their listenership. I daren't think what I'll be like if Amy/Ev ever release a mellower, electronica record. I might end up never leaving the house.