Evanescence Album: “Anywhere But Home”

I am a fan of Evanescence and I couldn't wait for this CD/DVD to come out. When I got it, I was both happy and disappointed.

The CD is pretty good, but the cheering in the background gets real annoying, real fast. The new songs Farther Away and Breathe No More are very good, and the spinoff of Thoughtless was very nice. Missing had to be the best song on the CD (No cheering) and the vocals and music were very nice.

The Music Videos were awesome. They are all eerie in their own part, but I was very happy to see them on the DVD. They were one of the main reasons I really wanted the CD.

The Live Concert was ok. The camera jumped around too much. Every two or three seconds the camera changed angles and it was a little disorientating. Plus, the cheering maxed out the music and Amy's voice causing you to stain to hear it.

The Behind the Scenes was entertaining and funny. A lot of people look at Evanescence as a gothic-depressing band when in reality they are just regular people having fun.

Overall, I liked this and it should keep me happy until the Sequel to FALLEN is out, but I really wish they would have edited out some of the cheering.

I bought this CD because I had a gift certificate, and it well exceeded my virtually absent expectations. A lot of people said it was basically Fallen live, but I find that it's much more. My favourite tracks are Missing, Breathe No More and the cover Thoughtless, which aren't on any other Evanescence records I believe. Also, new life is brought to Bring Me to Life (a pun? excellent), which I was getting pretty sick of from constant airplay. Going Under on this album is much better than on Fallen, I find. Overall, the live performance is amazing and I would recommend buying this over Fallen because of the seamless vocals, the added tracks, and the emotion a life performance brings. Go on.. aren't you out buying it yet??

'Anywhere But Home' is essentially Evanescence's debut album, 'Fallen', live on stage. Any true fan of Evanescence will enjoy watching this concert, and listening to the audio disk too. By true fan, i mean those who bought 'Fallen' for the whole album not just to hear My Immortal, or Bring Me To Life. This DVD shows the bands true colours and shows us just what they are, how the look etc. The bands appearence may shock some as they are a lot more gothis on this DVD.

As a live performer Amy Lee is brilliant. She is one of the few artists around, performing this stle of music, who can actually sing live. She is exceptionally talented to sit and play the piano and sing at the same time (its very hard....trust me ive tried!).

The band sound almost like they are taken directly from fallen, they sound near perfect, which for a live recording shows just how good they are.

This DVD is a must have for and Evanescence fan! It shows you who and what Evanescence are and proves just how talented they are.

In my review of the album Fallen I quoted Lemmy of Motorhead saying that the album was above and beyond the call of duty. The rest of the quote was that he felt they couldn't do it live. Well I have to disagree with Mr Kilminster as having seen the 'World Domination' tour on it's Australian leg I have to say that the band sounded spot on. And this CD shows that they can actually fill up the sound mix just like on their breakthrough album.

This is actually a bit of a no frills thing in terms of audio. The sound is fine, the band are tight which is interesting given the personnel dramas of the time. The crowd noise appears to have been phased in and out though that's a fairly regular situation. The main difference between these tunes from Fallen and their live versions here is that the sound does sound a touch hollower.

Really this is a cash in job on their fame. Putting out a live album when you've got next to no back catalogue is a bit cheeky. It also serves to fill the gap between their albums - aforementioned personnel upheavals no doubt played their part. Not that filling in time between albums w/ live releases and curiosities is a new idea (G'n'R Lies anyone?).

For fans of this band this is probably essential listening. The songs do sound good, the crowd is suitably adoring and they are a likeable project.

Three stars for the strength of the songs and because it doesn't feel like there has been massive overdubs.

The fourth star for the extra DVD which shows the band putting in value. They did also sell the DVD separately for a while however. Make sure you get this version with the DVD already in it as it really is worthwhile viewing.

Overall, I like this. Evanescence gave an outstanding performance (although some songs sounded a little alike), and I was surprised at good they sounded live. Also included are the band's music videos to date, which are worth checking out if you haven't seen them before. The "insightful" behind-the-scenes segment offers a personal look at the band, revealing a free-spirited (although sometimes silly) side that one would not expect when considering the content of their music.

That said, this package is still far from perfect. My cheif complaint was the videography itself. There are lots of unnecessary special effects edited into the performances, and the cameras switch so often and so quickly that it actually makes the show uncomfortable to watch at times. Also, the CD track listing is incorrect, and this could potentially cause some problems when trying to copy songs from the CD.

Because of those complaints, I would recommend this primarily for Evanescence fans, especially those who have never seen them play live. For everyone else, I suggest checking out the "Fallen" album first.