Customer Reviews

Going Under

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Many a music critic had said that the strongest tracks on Evanescence's Fallen album were the stripped-down, piano-and-vocal tracks. While that's not entirely true -- I think now-departed guitarist Ben Moody was a crucial part of the sound -- it does pay just tribute to vocalist Amy Lee's ability to inhabit a song without the aid of bells and whistles. The point of interest on the "Going Under" single is Moody and Lee's cover of Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box", where Lee uses the sensual low end of her crystalline voice, which hasn't been accessed in Evanescence's own material. Moody's hard acoustic strums offer up skeletal support. The acoustic "Going Under" acquires a ghostly campfire quality thanks to Lee's gorgeous performance, looser and lonelier than the studio version. Hearing her employ multiple "characters" with her voice, through technique rather than studio gimmickry, only increases my respect for her vocal ability.

There are maybe five music videos I like that were made after 1996, but the one that comes with this CD single is quite respectable. It's still chopped up and doesn't fulfill its potential; Lee and co. commit themselves a great deal in live performance and the video could have captured that better. But the camera and editing trickery are kept to an acceptable level and the energy of the song comes through well enough.

This single comes highly recommended.

If an artist gets one song prominently placed in a major Hollywood release they are doing pretty good. But for a new and relatively unknown group like Evanescence to get two songs in "Daredevil," both of which were placed so perfectly within the film's narrative, is clearly an extreme case of lightning striking twice. The group just won a pair of Grammy Awards, for Best New Artist and Best Hard-Rock Performance, and tomorrow night we are going down to see them in St. Cloud. We were supposed to go a while back, but a funny thing happened on the group's tour of Europe and they suddenly had to replace Ben Moody. So the time has come to load up the car's CD player with "Fallen" and assorted singles, including this one, for the ride down to the concert.

I suppose some fans will pick this enhanced CD-Single up for the video of "Going Under," but for me the chief attraction here are the two acoustic songs. Moody plays the guitar while Amy Lee shows off her pipes on an acoustic version of "Going Under" and then a cover of Nirvana's "Heart Shapped Box," done for a radio station. Can you imagine that once upon a time you could go see Evanesence for five bucks? But then who would have thought that a 14 year old boy would have heard a 13 year old girl playing a Meat Loaf song on the piano at a Christian summer camp and started writing songs together. There is also a radio edit of "Going Under," so there is also the minor benefit of not duplicating the opening track of "Fallen" on this single.

Final Note: There are acoustic versions of both "Bring Me to Life" and "My Immortal" out there as well for you to track down. They are equally worth the procurement effort.

Evanescence won a pair of Grammy Awards, for Best New Artist and Best Hard-Rock Performance, mainly on the basis of two great songs, "Bring Me to Life" and "My Immortal." Obviously they were helped by having both of those being songs featured prominently (and perfectly) in the blockbuster film "Daredevil." I saw Evanescence in concert a week ago and I am making the argument that "Going Under" is just as great of a song as those pair. Listening to Amy Lee sign that song live was one of two moments in the concert that gave me chills (the other was, of course, the bridge on "My Immortal"). With this CD-Single you get not only a radio edit version of "Going Under," where you can hear Lee's voice soaring above the music, but also a music video, both of which are pretty good reasons to add this enhanced CD-single to your Evanescence collection.

But what makes this particular CD-single so attractive is that it has a couple of acoustic songs by Evanescence, harkening back to days when it was just Amy singing and Ben Moody playing guitar. Well, he is gone now and when you hear these songs in concert they have all been given a Goth metal makeover (if you caught Evanescene doing "My Immortal" on Letterman last night and caught how the band comes in with crashing guitars at the end instead of the synthetic strings we hear on the "Fallen" album, or have caught them on their recent concert tour, then you know exactly what I mean). Here we simply have Moody on guitar while Lee shows off her pipes, first on Moody plays the an acoustic version of "Going Under" and then a cover of Nirvana's "Heart Shapped Box," done for a radio station.

I have to think that the next Evanescence album is going to be more in the style of their concert performances and less like what went quad-platinum on "Fallen." So for those fans who like the simpler and cleaner versions of these songs, having an acoustic version of "Going Under" will be something special. You can also find acoustic version of "Bring Me to Life" and "My Immortal" (a guitar version on the latter) that are well worth the tracking down as well.

If you like "Going Under" you should get this CD. Even if you already have Fallen, this CD gives you a lot more.

First cool thing they give you is an acoustic version of "Going Under" which is so good. I was skeptical at first because I thought this was one of those songs that only sounded good with a hard feel to it. I'm happy to say I was completely wrong. I think the reason why this version works is because it allows Amy's vocals to come through clearly and crisply. Don't get me wrong though, the album version of the song is great when you want to rock out but this acoustic version is perfect if you're in more of a chill mood.

The second reason you should buy this CD is the "Heart Shaped Box" Nirvana cover. Sure, a cover of this song will never be as good as the original but they came as close as anyone can come. Amy changed the sound of the chorus a little and shortened it to 2 "Forever in debt to your priceless advice"s instead of 3. I was very happy with the change mainly because I don't like it when a group covers a song and sings it exactly the same as the original. I mean, what's the point of that? So, if for no other reason, buy this CD to hear a cool Nirvana cover.

Track Listing
1. Going under (album version)
2. Going under (live acoustic version)
3. Heart-shaped box (live acoustic version)
4. Going under (video)

The title track, "Going Under", is a great song. But I've got the album, so I knew that already.
The acoustic rendition of "Going Under", as well as the acoustic cover of Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" are truly amazing. Amy Lee has a voice to make angels weep. Also, the cd includes a cd-rom portion that contains a high-resolution (vcd quality) mpeg of the "Going Under" video. If that doesn't make you want to shell out a few bucks for this thing, I don't know what will. Definatly a great buy.

Going Under is the second single from the Fallen album. (Not "My Immortal" as is written in the erroneous editorial review of that song.) Going Under is probably the best song on the Fallen album. It is a powerful, provoking song that is more representative of the sound of Evanescence than is "Bring Me To Life". The live acoustic version is not as moving but still does the song justice. Amy also delivers her haunting vocals in an acoustic verstion of the Nirvana song "Heart-Shaped Box". No rehashing or remixing makes this CD-Single definitely worth owning.

If a "new" artist can get one song prominently placed in a major Hollywood release, then I would say they are doing pretty good. But for a relatively unknown group like Evanescence to get not one but two songs in "Daredevil," both of which were placed absolutely perfectly within the film's narrative, is clearly an ultra-rare case of lightning actually striking twice. After the group won a pair of Grammy Awards, for Best New Artist and Best Hard-Rock Performance, I got to go see them in concert. We were supposed to have done that several months earlier, but a funny thing happened on the group's tour of Europe where they suddenly had to replace Ben Moody. So the time has come to load up the car's CD player with "Fallen" and assorted singles, including this one, for the ride down to the concert.

The chief attraction here are the two acoustic tracks. They are what justifies picking up this CD-Single when you already have the "Fallen" album. Moody plays the guitar while Amy Lee shows off her pipes on an acoustic version of "Going Under" and then a cover of Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box," done for a radio station. Can you imagine that once upon a time you could go see Evanescence for five bucks? But then who would have thought that a 14 year old boy would have heard a 13 year old girl playing a Meat Loaf song on the piano at a Christian summer camp and started writing songs together. There is also a radio edit of "Going Under," so there another minor benefit in not duplicating the opening track of "Fallen" on this single (hearing Lee belt this track out at the start of the concert was one of four times at a concert a singer has given me chills, and she did it twice that night with "My Immortal" being the other). Be aware that there are also acoustic versions of "Bring Me to Life" and "My Immortal," the two songs that made it into "Daredevil," for you to track down that are equally worth the effort.

This song is so awesome! I love it! And the music video for this is soooooooo good. I recommend this to all rock fans.

I was waiting for this one for awhile and it did not disappoint. The cd contains the album version of "Going Under," the video version of "Going Under," the acoustic version of "Going Under," and finally an acoustic cover of "Heart Shaped Box" by Nirvana.
This is a must own cd for Evanescence fans. The main reason is because of the acoustic version of Going Under. The song played acoustically is simple, yet somehow it still retains its eerie feel and soaring vocals. If you play a little guitar like I do, this is a great track to play along too.
Heart Shaped Box is a good cover, although I personally didn't feel it was a good indicator of Amy Lee's singing talent. But a nice change of pace none the less.
The video for Going Under is very entertaining. It has a much darker and true to stage theme to it. If you have seen Evanescence in concert before, you will love this video.
Ok, I'm done talking...just get the CD.