Aye, Carly

May 16, 2010 Boys With Guitars, CD Reviews
Posted by tdouglas woomble

We Are The Fallen
Tear The World Down
Universal Republic. 11 Tracks.
Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Remember Carly Smithson’s wild ride on season seven of American Idol? The Irish expat, who finished sixth in a strong pack that included eventual winner David Cook, always came off as a natural-born belter– Ann Wilson with a brogue, if you will. Yet sometimes it proved difficult to shoehorn her prodigious vocal talents into the show’s narrow musical themes. (Dolly Parton week was not her best moment.) It’s a treat, then, to hear her tackle a genre for which she’s extremely well-suited, namely the sleek goth-pop-metal forged by her new band, We Are The Fallen.

The group’s debut album, Tear The World Down, should please Smithson’s steadfast Idol devotees, and it’ll definitely go over gangbusters with fans of Evanescence, the multi-platinum act that has surrendered three members to this new ensemble. Evanescence co-founder Ben Moody, who parted ways with partner/vocalist Amy Lee due to creative differences, is the de facto musical director here. There’s an indelible imprint of his former band’s hits, including “Bring Me To Life” and “Going Under,” on many of these new songs. There’s also no doubt that Smithson, singing in this style, sounds a lot like Lee, so much so that some critics may cry copycat. If you can get past these obvious similarities though, you may be charmed by the album’s unabashed drama, executed with a surprising level of sophistication.

Take the lead-off track, “Bury Me Alive.” This robust rocker, the album’s first single, was penned by Smithson before she met Moody and his mates. That it sounds exactly like something they’d write anyway suggests either an inevitable destiny for all involved or that Smithson was besotted with Evanescence early on. (Come to think of it, she did perform “Bring Me To Life” on the season seven Idol tour. Hmm.) But just when you think you’ve got the song figured—angsty verse, wailing chorus, pummeling guitar riff, repeat—along comes a delicate coda of strings and wispy vocals that softens this dark tale of a suffocating relationship.

It’s intriguing twists like these that help the listener weather the album’s rigidly somber tone—hey, lightening up would mean losing cred with the pasty complexion and black eyeliner crowd, right? And the band needs to work on honing its sometimes clunky lyrics. (“Paradigm” sounds like it was borrowed from a college freshman poetry class.) But when it all goes right, as it does spectacularly on the epic title track, which swells to a grandiose hard rock commotion worthy of, say, Metallica, Tear The World Down pushes past guilty pleasure to pure pleasure. And Smithson’s powerhouse pipes put We Are The Fallen in a league with bombastic peers such as Paramore or even, dare I say it, Evanescence itself. Amy Lee, watch your back.