Review Summary: All in all, thanks to the lack of excellent songwriting , this EP falls short of being great. But moments like the song “Understanding”, showed that this band had some potential.
Evanescence seems not to be the most liked band around here. Maybe it’s the huge commercial success or the obvious lack of songwriting skills that can be heard on lots of their songs. But if we go back before they made it big with their debut, before Amy Lee became the icon she is for teenagers around the world. Evanescence showed a side that’s not really the one everyone knows. This EP released in 1998 contains a sound that is reminiscent of the Evanescence everyone knows nowadays, but possesses a mellower sound and ultimately sounds more inspired than their other work.
This whole EP possesses a similar sound, in which the songs mainly consist on simple piano lines or guitar arpeggios, while the electric guitar and drums combine to bring the tracks to a climax. It’s a pretty simple formula but it works really well for the songs in here. The main selling point in this EP, are the vocal hooks, although really simple, they do tend to get stuck on your head. Amy Lee’s voice sounds rather weak in this ep but she makes up for it thanks to some really good vocal lines throughout the EP.
The highlight of the EP is without a doubt the sixth track "Understanding"; the seven minute song takes every positive aspect previously mentioned and creates a somber & melancholic song. Although Amy Lee’s voice tends to crack sometimes during the track she delivers a great performance, as does the rest of the band that during the last few minutes , create a wall of sound that brings the song to its speak. One can even hear some nice sounding double-bass during the bridge of the song and some sampling that give the track a dark vibe.
All in all, thanks to the lack of excellent songwriting, this EP falls short of being great. But moments like the aforementioned “Understanding” showed that this band really did have some potential. Sadly, they never did anything outstanding with it. The mellower side of Evanescence is without a doubt the best and this EP shows it on various songs, the instrumentation is also pretty good by Evanescence standards and the vocal melodies are pretty good overall.
