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Evanescence

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Evanescence

Evanescence is a rock/alternative/pop[1] band from Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.

Early in their career, the rock band garnered local fame in Little Rock before releasing their first major label album Fallen, which went on to sell over 14 million copies worldwide.[2]

Although usually categorized as rock, Evanescence does not easily fit into any one rock subcategory. The band is sometimes labeled by media sources as, and takes influences from, gothic rock, alternative rock, nu metal, piano rock, arena rock, and Wagnerian rock (the latter especially in the group's videos).

Band history

Early history

Evanescence was founded by singer, pianist and songwriter Amy Lee and former lead guitarist and songwriter Ben Moody. The two met at a youth camp in Arkansas, where Moody heard Lee playing "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" by Meat Loaf on the piano.[3]

After discovering a shared love of music, they began to write songs together. Their first songs were "Solitude" and "Give Unto Me," written by Lee, and "Understanding" and "My Immortal", written by Moody. Each song was altered lyrically and musically by the other artist allowing both of them to receive equal credit.

Though the two were unable to play live shows due to an inability to recruit other musicians or afford professional assistance, two of Lee and Moody's songs found playtime on local radio stations, raising local awareness of the group and demand for a show. The band eventually appeared live, and became one of the most popular acts in the area. After trying out several band names, such as Childish Intentions and Stricken, they decided on Evanescence, meaning "disappearence" or "fading away" (from the word evanesce, meaning "to disappear"). Lee has stated she loves the name because it is mysterious and dark, and puts a picture in the listeners' mind.[4][5]

Early work and Christian controversy

Their first full-length demo CD, Origin (released in 2000), is relatively unknown. The band also released two Extended plays (EPs). First, the self-titled Evanescence EP (1998) of which about 100 copies were made, and second the Sound Asleep EP, also known as the Whisper EP (1999), limited to 50 copies.

Origin and the EPs contain demo versions of some of the songs on their debut album Fallen. In fact, the recording of "My Immortal" found on Fallen can also be found on Origin, minus a handful of additional string accompaniments. Only 2500 copies of this record were ever made, limiting its availability to the handful lucky enough to obtain one in the early years, or to those who are willing to pay the hundreds of dollars the discs now fetch. In response, Lee and Moody encouraged fans to download the band's older songs from the Internet during an interview.[6]

Originally considered by many to be part of the Christian rock scene—and for a short time promoted in Christian stores—eventually the band made it clear that they did not want to be considered a Christian rock band. Shortly thereafter, Wind-Up Records issued a press release asking for the album to be removed from Christian retail outlets.[7] Some have criticized the group for making previous statements and actions to the contrary regarding the infusion of Christianity into their music. For instance, in a September 2000 interview with Stranger Things Magazine, Ben Moody said, "The message we as a band want to convey more than anything is simple—God is Love," and also, "We hope to express in our music that Christianity is not a rigid list of rules to follow only out of fear of an unseen deity who will strike you down at any given moment if you fail."[8]

Lee has been quoted as saying that they are not a Christian band and would appreciate it if the rumor was terminated. David Hodges (ex-vocalist & keyboards) left the band over the Christianity topic. Members later stated that he had been pulling the band in more of a Christian direction than Lee and Moody were comfortable with. Ben Moody stated, "Amy and I are Christians, but we are not a Christian band. We write about a number of things, just things we experience in life. Because our spirituality is a big part of our lives, it comes through in our music. But our lives are our ministry. Our music is just a way for us to convey the message to those who listen that they are not alone."[9]

Fallen and Ben's departure

Main article: Fallen (album)
File:EvFallencover01.jpg
Fallen cover

Filling out the band's line-up in late 2002/early 2003 would be Amy Lee and Ben Moody's friends, John LeCompt, Rocky Gray and Will Boyd, all of whom had helped work on some of Evanescence's earlier songs.

After Evanescence signed on with their first major label, "Wind-Up Records," the band was looking to do some promotional work for the album when they were then approached by the video game company Nintendo. The company wanted to know if they would like to participate in the "Nintendo Fusion Tour," an event where 6 bands toured the United States so that Nintendo fans could try out new systems and games while listening to new bands. Evanescence accepted the offer and became the headlining band for 2003's Fusion Tour.[10] They have since been followed by Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, and Hawthorne Heights.

Their first major album, Fallen, has been certified 6x Platinum,[11] spent 43 weeks in the Billboard Top 10 and has sold over 14 million[2] copies worldwide. As of April 2005 Fallen is one of only eight albums in the history of the chart to spend a full year (52 weeks) in the Billboard Top 50. In total, Fallen was listed for 104 weeks on the Billboard top 200, with 6.6 million copies sold in the United States.[12]

Evanescence's major label debut single "Bring Me to Life", which features guest vocals from Paul McCoy of 12 Stones, was a global hit for the band and reached #5 on the American Billboard Hot 100 and reached #1 in Latin America's top 100 of that year. It also provided Evanescence with their first (and so far only) UK #1, where it stayed for four weeks from June-July 2003. It was also the official theme for WWE No Way Out. The equally popular "My Immortal" peaked at #7 in the U.S. and UK charts. Their inclusion in the soundtrack for the action movie Daredevil helped propel both songs into widespread popularity and firmly cemented Evanescence within the music scene. "Bring Me to Life" garnered recognition for the band at the Grammy Awards of 2004, where the band was given the Best Hard Rock Performance award. At the same time, Evanescence was awarded Best New Artist.

The two other singles off Fallen include "Going Under" (#5 US Modern Rock Tracks, #8 UK Charts) and "Everybody's Fool" (#36 US Modern Rock Tracks, #23 UK Charts), both of which include a music video.

On October 22, 2003, Moody left the band abruptly in the middle of a European tour. The reasons for his departure were reportedly "creative differences." In an interview several months later, Amy Lee said: "...we'd gotten to a point that if something didn't change, we wouldn't have been able to make a second record."[13]

Since then, Lee has said it was almost a relief that he left because of tensions created within the band. Terry Balsamo from Cold joined the band, replacing Moody.[14]

Anywhere but Home

Main article: Anywhere but Home
File:Ev anb scan1.jpg
Anywhere but Home cover

Anywhere but Home Released in 2004, Evanescence's new lineup released a DVD/CD compilation entitled Anywhere but Home. The DVD is their live-from-Paris show with several behind-the-scenes features, including shots of the band backstage, signing autographs, and warming up. The CD included contains a song entitled "Missing" which was previously unreleased and reached #1 in Spain. Also on the CD are the songs "Breathe No More" (from the Elektra movie soundtrack) and "Farther Away". They also included their cover of Korn's "Thoughtless" which they have played at several live shows.

The Open Door Preview Events

In preparation for the release of the band's second album, The Open Door, Amy Lee and John LeCompt visited capital cities in Europe to help promote it. Previews took place in London, England on September 6, 2006, Barcelona, Spain on September 8, 2006, and Paris, France on Monday, September 11, 2006. At the previews, the new album was played in full to fans who were the winners of various competitions, a short Q&A took place, and Amy and John performed a number of acoustic tracks from the album before doing a signing session.

On October 2, 2006, the day before The Open Door was released in the United States, Evanescence appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and performed the song "Call Me When You're Sober".

The band also spent some time in New York City for press and a photo shoot for Metal Edge magazine.[15] Pictures from this photo shoot have recently been posted on the band's official web site as well as their MySpace page.

The Open Door

Main article: The Open Door
File:Ev top scan1.jpg
The Open Door cover

Evanescence's second album, titled The Open Door, was released in Canada and the United States on October 3, 2006,[2] in the United Kingdom on October 2,2006 and in Australia on September 30, 2006,[16] and features 13 tracks.[17] The album sold 447,000 copies in the United States in its first week of sales and earned their first #1 ranking on the Billboard 200 album chart.[12]

The album progressed slowly for a number of reasons, but perhaps chiefly because of Amy Lee's desire to allow the creative process to fully take its course and not rush production. Besides that, other distractions have included other band members' side projects, health problems concerning guitarist Terry Balsamo (who had a stroke) and the controversy revolving around the dismissal of their former manager. Lee stated on Evboard that Evanescence's new album would be wrapping up in March 2006.[18] But the release was pushed to October 3, 2006, allegedly because "Wind-up Records (the band's current record label) wanted to make a few changes to the upcoming single "Call Me When You're Sober", which hit modern rock and alternative rock radio on August 7, 2006. The music video for "Call Me When You're Sober" was shot in Los Angeles, and is based on the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. The Open Door became available for pre-order on the iTunes Music Store on August 15, 2006, with Call Me When You're Sober available to those who pre-order and as a single as well.

Amy Lee confirmed that she wrote a song for the 2005 film version of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe released by Disney, but it was rejected due to its dark sound. Lee, however, said it was just "more great stuff for the album".[19] Another song which was written for the Narnia movie did make it onto the album, the Mozart-inspired "Lacrymosa".[15]

Short clips of each track from The Open Door can be heard in the audio section of the official Evanescence website.

Evanescence's tour to promote "The Open Door" began October 5, 2006 in Toronto, and includes various locations in North America, Europe, and Japan.[20][21]

William Boyd's Departure and Replacement

On July 14, 2006, it was confirmed by a spokesperson for the band's label that bassist Will Boyd had left the band. The reasons for his departure were "not wanting to do another big tour" and "to be close to his family." It was the band's frontwoman that broke the news to the fans in a post on an unofficial Evanescence site, EvBoard.com.[22]

In an interview with MTV, posted on their website on August 10, 2006, Amy Lee announced that Tim McCord, former Revolution Smile guitarist, would be switching instruments and playing bass for the band.[23]

Band members

Current

Former

  • Ben Moody - lead guitar (co-founder, July 1994 - October 2003)
  • David Hodges - keyboards, background vocals (1999 - December 2002)
  • William Boyd - bass guitar (June 2003 - June 2006)

Discography

Main article: Evanescence discography
Date of release Title Record label
1998 Evanescence EP None
1999 Sound Asleep EP Big-Wig Enterprises
November 4, 2000 Origin Big-Wig Enterprises
January, 2003 Mystary EP Wind-Up Records
March 4, 2003 Fallen Wind-Up Records
November 23, 2004 Anywhere but Home Wind-Up Records
September 25, 2006 The Open Door Wind-Up Records

Samples

Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end

Look up evanescence in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

  1. ^ "MySpace Music - Evanescence". MySpace.com. Retrieved 2006-10-17.
  2. ^ a b c "Evanescence steps through "The Open Door"" (Press release). Evanescence.com. 2006-04-26. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ D'Angelo, Joe (2004-02-27). "Evanescence: The Split". MTV.com. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "[V] Special: Evanescence: Anywhere But Home". Astro.com.my. 2006-11-06. Archived from the original on 2006-11-09. Retrieved 2006-11-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Evanescence". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 2006-11-12.
  6. ^ "Evanescence EPs". EvanescenceReference.info.
  7. ^ Price, Deborah Evans (2003-04-16). "Evanescence Set Pulled From Christian Distribution". Billboard.com news. Retrieved 2006-11-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Interview with Evanescence". StrangerThingsMag.net. 2000. Retrieved 2006-10-18. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  9. ^ "Evanescence timeline - April 2003". RockOnTheNet.com.
  10. ^ Serra, Brian (2003-08-12). "Evanescence, Nintendo Fusion Tour". ShowandTellOnline.com. Retrieved 2006-11-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "RIAA Certifications For September 2004". Billboard.biz. 2004. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  12. ^ a b Hasty, Katie (2006-10-11). "Evanescence zooms by Killers to take #1". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2006-10-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Cite error: The named reference "billboard1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  13. ^ Bakker, Tiffany (2004-01-09). "Moody Blues". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2006-10-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ D'Angelo, Joe (2004-01-16). "Evanescence Name New Guitarist". MTV News via VH1. Retrieved 2006-10-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ a b Reesman, Bryan (2006). "The Essence of Evanescence". Metal Edge magazine. 52 (11): 5–10. ISSN 1068-2872. Retrieved 2006-10-18. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  16. ^ "Evanescence steps through 'The Open Door' - Amy Lee in love with new songs". Sony BMG Music Entertainment. 2006-05-03. Retrieved 2006-10-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Harris, Chris (2006-04-26). "Amy Lee says new Evanescence LP has more sensuality". MTV News via VH1.com. Retrieved 2006-10-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Lee, Amy (2006-01-20). "EvBoard - i love my album :)". EvBoard.com. Archived from the original on 2006-02-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ Lee, Amy (2005-12-02). "EvBoard - A Bunch Of Stuff!!!". EvBoard.com. Archived from the original on 2006-05-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ "Evanescence.com 2006 tour information". Retrieved 2006-10-20.
  21. ^ "EvanescenceTheOpenDoor.com complete tour dates". Retrieved 2006-10-20.
  22. ^ Harris, Chris (2006-07-14). "Evanescence Lose Bassist; Amy Lee Vows To Stay On Schedule". MTV News via VH1.com. Retrieved 2006-10-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  23. ^ Harris, Chris (2006-08-10). "Evanescence Set For Fall Tour; Amy Lee Reveals Inspiration Behind 'Sober'". MTV News via VH1.com. Retrieved 2006-10-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)


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