WITHIN TEMPTATION - THE HEART OF EVERYTHING
Firstly, comparing Within Temptation unfavourably to Evanescence (as so many misguided souls do) is a bit like turning your nose up at Bollinger whilst simultaneously extolling the virtues of Wal-Mart/ASDA cut-price grape juice. Amy Lee whines a bit and navel-gazes a lot and writes largely inane lyrics and occasionally comes up with a half-decent song like Going Under.
WT, on the other hand, boast Sharon den Adel whose ethereal voice is a thing of great beauty, great passion and great power. WT's songwriting is far more subtle and interesting - these guys (and gal) know their way round a fantastic tune. Oh, and if we're talking chronology and copy-cattery, WT's inception pre-dates that of Evanescence by about two years. If you MUST compare WT to any band, let it be one of the calibre of The Gathering or Nightwish. (Both of whom I have a soft spot for, but neither of whom surpass WT in my eyes.)
So, anyway, T.H.O.E. is a classic. It bulges with a handful of songs which have already joined the Heavy Metal pantheon forever, I believe. Yes, I think The Howling, What Have You Done?, Frozen, Our Solemn Hour, The Cross and Forgiven have all earned the right to be mentioned in the same breath as Black Sabbath, Better By You, Better Than Me, The Phantom of the Opera (think the Maiden rather than Michael Crawford and West End/Broadway stages!), In the Still of the Night, One, Angel of Death, Livin' On A Prayer, The Final Countdown, Samarithan, The Clerical Conspiracy, Smoke on the Water, Stairway to Heaven, Let There Be Rock, K.I.N.G., Spiritual Healing, Wild Child, Eye of the Tiger, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Ace of Spades, Bohemian Rhapsody etc etc etc.
Sure, T.H.O.E. sags a bit in the final third, but there's not an album in existence that doesn't have its boring bits. WT are a phenomenon. They are a peerless live band and you get the feeling that, sure, as they mature they progress and evolve in all sorts of ways, but they started off with such astounding quality that their earlier albums are as essential as this one. I mean, jeez! Enter and Restless and Ice Queen and Mother Earth and Caged and Deceiver of Fools and Angels and Stand My Ground and Memories.... they've come up with classic after classic ever since they burst onto the scene. I don't see this kind of quality in any other band today. WT are the epitome of Metal in the Noughties!