I agree. I definitely prefer Ev's 'Fallen' and earlier material to The Open Door and I think it's in large part because Ben was in the band.
This is very true. Amy's got a great voice, but her live singing technique needs work. She ends up straining and gasping for air during a live performance.
I just wish some Ev fans would stop acting like they're trying to be 'Evanescence 2.0' because they sound similar and happen to have a singer that looks similar to Amy (as if Carly is purposely trying to imitate Amy's looks). Ben was pretty much half of Ev's creative force when he was in the band (there was also David Hodges for awhile), so it makes sense for WATF to sound similar (to Fallen and pre-Fallen material) but they're not trying to duplicate what's been done already.