Media Credit: evanescence.com Pop Quiz: What do Chelsea Clinton, General Douglas MacArthur, and rock band Evanescence have in common? If you answered with something like “they all like to rock out with their presidential parents while commanding the pacific fleet,” you would be wrong. The fact is they all were spawned in the great state of Arkansas, specifically, the all-American hotspot known as Little Rock.

First-daughters and military geniuses aside, rock and roll has been known to grow out of stranger places. If you shop at the local goth mecca Hot Topic, Evanescence probably makes you go moist with pseudo-masochistic delight. With the release of their second album “The Open Door,” Evanescence continues to broaden their fan base with their unique take on alternative rock.

In a genre typically dominated by masculine grunts, Evanescence’s lead female vocalist and pianist Amy Lee brings a hint of melody and a touch of taste and decency to the otherwise incoherent mosh-pit of noise called nu-metal. As a self described fusion of “rock, goth, and classical,” as stated in their Web site bio, Evanescence brings a breath of fresh air to a sound that often seems recycled. God help us if Limp Bizket ever returns.

Unless Fred Durst can ever produce that Britney Spears sex tape we’ve all heard so much about. In that case, let’s hear it for the nookie. Lee’s angelic vocals and melodic piano work juxtaposed against a backdrop of screeching guitars, choirs, string sections, and thunderous drums creates a unique sound not touched upon since the epic Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Lee was classically trained in piano at a young age, yet her love of metal probably made her instructor numb with fear.