Customer Reviews

Anywhere But Home (w/ bonus DVD)

5 star:		(124)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(30)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

Evanescence is a great band and I was anxious to get this DVD. After watching it, I can safely say that whoever handled the filming/lighting/editing, etc. of this concert should never work again. The DVD SOUNDS awesome, but that's not the problem. The camera work is horrendous, the video editing is terrible, and the constant digital effects were extremely annoying. I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned it. You hardly ever see a shot that lasts more than 2 seconds without jumping onto something else for another 2 seconds, and this continues over and over and over. I am not exaggerating. I got dizzy. Amy Lee is in excellent voice but they kept taking the camera off her when she was really hitting her vocal stride. They didn't show the guitarists hardly at all, and we get numerous shots of the back of the drummer's head. I wanted to see the band jamming! You won't see that here unfortunately. Why would they do this? What a disappointment. There's intentional out of focus shots, poor lighting, and an array of unnecessary video effects. The video technician must have got a new toy and didn't know when to quit. I hope they release another concert DVD in the future that shows the band on stage, as you would see them in concert. This plays like one very long MTV video.

It's without question. This is something all Evanescence fans need in their collection! I notice this to be something a lot of artists are doing these days, and it probably is just a ploy to cash in, but I personally enjoy live CDs, and especially DVDs, so you can relive the experience or merely feed your curiosity if you missed one of your favorite groups in concert. I haven't seen Evanescence in person yet but after watching the DVD portion of 'Anywhere But Home', which was taped at a sold-out venue in Paris, I definitely think it would be worth it to try sometime. Amy Lee looks innocent yet deadly, her haunting vocals are in healthy form and the band sounds better than ever whilst they perform their greatest hits...which is basically everything since their melodies are all so unforgettable....

Many people claim Amy doesn't sing as well in concert as she does on her studio recordings and though they may be right, take into consideration the fact that she obviously gets really into the songs and because she jumps around so much, which equals exhaustion and breathlessness, I felt she did a pretty damn good job at controlling the words and pacing. You'll notice during the songs she sings while sitting at the piano, like on the wonderful Korn cover of "Thoughtless", the stunningly emotional "Breathe No More", and of course the infamous "My Immortal" she sounds quite better. Also, during a live event if you mess up there's no turning back so be grateful she doesn't lip synch like countless other acts around. And I'm so sick of people dissing this group simply because they had a lucky break and hit it big thanks to the 'Daredevil' soundtrack. I'm not saying Evanescence is better than similar groups who get far less recognition (or at least in the states) like Lacuna Coil, 'cause they're not, but they've also been around a while now so their fame didn't exactly happen over night.

Bottom line is they've got undeniable talent and they are, in my opinion, a blessing to mainstream music which is mostly full of crap. But back to the CD/DVD combo...

Closing the set is the new, or rather recycled track "Missing" (originally found on their hard-to-find 'Origins' CD) and it's a beautiful orchestral ballad, however it's the DVD that's truly spectacular! Aside from the concert it also features a lot of bonus material, and it isn't just filler either. The behind the scenes is great because you get to see a little of how they are in real life and it's not at all boring. It also includes all their videos to date, which are some of the most inventive I've seen in a long time ("Everybody's Fool" is without a doubt my favorite). And for the most part the concepts actually relate to the lyrics.

I predict Evanescence will be around for many years to come and I can't wait to hear their new album set for release sometime next year.

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 almost got thrown off by the only other review here of this album. After considering the spelling and lack of grammar, and how much I like Amy's singing, I decided to risk buying the entire album. Since I've found other bands where the live albums were actually better than the studio stuff (Hot Tuna, The Wreckers, Counting Crows for a few), I thought the risk would be fairly low here and I was right. This album isn't really better than the studio, but is still a very good live album and the new tracks are a treat. I've enjoyed this album very much.

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??

I enjoy Evanescence; they do have some great songs. I'm interested in whether or not they can pull off another successful recording. I doubt it, but time will tell.

The DVD is horrible. Quite seriously, if one is prone to seizures, you'll have one watching this performance. The editing never allows the viewer a chance to focus on the performance or the performers. I had to turn away numerous times just to prevent my brain from exploding.

This DVD is more of a MTV video than a live concert. If the DVD was only the length of one song, I would have said, " It was neat. Overdone, but fun." But for all their songs, it just hurt.

There are times the sound track is completely out of sync with the video.

I own many live performances and this one is one of the worst.

I am a fan of this band, I have been from the beginning. That being said, I'm not going to fawn over this live CD/DVD. Like I mention in my subject heading, it's not bad, but it's also not good. Let me explain.

I judge the worth of a band on both the quality of their music and the quality of their live performances (after all, what's a rock band if they can't tear it up live?). "Fallen" is both a well-written and well-recorded album. In terms of their live performances (and I have seen them three times), Evanescence isn't all that impressive. They are entertainers more than musicians. While Amy Lee is an incredible singer, and the music her and Ben Moody wrote is compelling and catchy, it doesn't translate very well into a live setting. Anyone who has seen them live knows the band relies heavily on samples, pre-recorded synths, and taped over vocal parts. That being the case, they never perform the songs any different than what they sound like on the album. Some people value that; I suppose I value seeing a band improvise and prove their worth as musicians more than simply performers. All this being considered, their live recording sounds like the album with a less satisfying sound quality. They don't do anything other than perform their music faithfully to its original version, which I find relatively boring. I do give them props on their cover of Korn's "Thoughtless," which proves that they do have some live musical creativity up their sleeves.

So by now I'm sure anyone reading this wants to know what I consider a good live recording, since I just spent a paragraph criticizing Evanescence's. I recently bought Incubus' live CD, "Alive at Red Rocks." Now there's a live CD worth owning. Incubus finds the perfect balance between performing their songs as we best know them and altering them to highlight their individual musical talents. It really is a great disc. Another good live disc is Tool's "Salival."

I often find that band's release live CD's to pass the time between the end of a tour and the recording of a new album. Evanescence seems to have done just so. Again, the CD/DVD isn't bad, it just isn't good. You'd probably be best off getting this as a present (so you can feel good not having paid for it) or downloading it somehow (if you can live with that ethical dilemma, and considering the fact that these guys are multi-millionaires, it shouldn't be too hard!).

These are just my two cents.


I often find

'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.

I expected to see a concert video. Concert videos never capture the emotion or power of a live concert but can still give a good feeling for the artist's stage presence. With her magnificent voice I really looked forward to seeing how Amy Lee performs in concert. Instead I saw the work of a wanna-be music video editor who has no concept of what he's doing. During songs like My Last Breath and Everybody's Fool where Amy builds lyrically and musically to a climax with the chorus the editor carefully avoided showing her at the climax, frustrating the viewer who wants to see her connect with the audience. In true music video form no shot lasts more than 1-2 seconds, ruining the emotional impact of Amy's music.

If whoever had creative control over this DVD had simply copied the Cranberries' Paris concert video it would have been wonderful. Instead it was a total waste of my time and money.

Way back in ancient times (before Amy was even born) I did lights for concerts. Never did I think I was anything more than a medium to enhance the artist. Unfortunately, the producer and editor of this video think they are more important than Amy and her band. I still look forward to someday seeing what she is like in concert. Can't tell from this horror.

There is no question when I tell you that Amy rocks out loud live! She definately knows how to work the crowd. During her performance, she and the rest of the band do a KoRn cover of "Thoughtless" (which I LOVE) and also perform two other songs not found on the U.S. version of 'Fallen' including Breathe No More (from Elektra soundtrack) and Farther Away (from the Bring Me to Life Single and/or Jap. version of Fallen) Of course, any true Ev fan would already know all of that info. The dvd includes the entire live performance, all the music vids from Fallen, and some behind the scenes footage of the whole band. (Some of it is really funny) A great buy.