Having sold nearly 14 million records worldwide, well more than 6 million in the U.S. alone, with their major-label debut Fallen, Evanescence is poised to continue their meteoric rise with their forthcoming CD, The Open Door (Wind-up Records), scheduled for release October 3. The album from the two-time Grammy-winning band is defined by Amy Lee's beautiful melodies, compelling lyrics, poignant piano and stunning vocals, fused with Terry Balsamo's urgent, yet intricate guitar, to form a seamless, ethereal mixture that perfectly channels the band's hard rock and classical sensibilities. The contributions of members John LeCompt (guitar) and Rocky Gray (drums) are also evident.
"Making this record has been really intense," explains Lee. "Terry suffered a stroke last October and is still recovering, we got a new manager [Andy Lurie], and I've come out of a difficult breakup. But everything we've been through together has benefited this album." With Fallen, says Lee, the band had much to prove while defining its identity. This time, finding a cohesive writing partner in Terry Balsamo, "we really took our time crafting this album and had the freedom to express a broader range of emotions: not just pain and sadness, but also anger and, yes, even happiness."
Written late last year, The Open Door was recorded at The Record Plant in Los Angeles and mixed at Ocean Way Studios in March 2006. Marking the return of long-time friend and producer Dave Fortman, the album's musical elements include a classically-infused choir and strings recorded in an old chapel on several tracks, giving further color to songs of introspection, longing, doubt, self-respect and, ultimately, empowerment. The album opens with "Sweet Sacrifice," a post-relationship catharsis that head-dives from an otherworldly intro into a hard-driving thrash of hard rock guitars and soaring rock vocals. Its first single, the mid-tempo "Call Me When You're Sober," reinforces the moving-away-from-dysfunction theme.
Other standout tracks on The Open Door include "Lithium", which embraces feeling over numbness, "All That I'm Living For", Lee's tribute to band life, "Weight of the World," her plea for perspective from the expectation of young fans, and "Good Enough," a string-and-choir-infused closer distinguished as the band's first truly (almost) contented song ("It feels really good ending the album this way," says Lee). Having toured for a year-and-a-half straight with only a month off following the release of Fallen, Evanescence hopes to hit the road this time out with a care not to neglect key markets worldwide. Its U.S. tour begins immediately after the October 3 debut of The Open Door, rewarding hardcore fans with a "sneak peak" at the album handful of more intimate theater dates before segueing into much larger arena shows.
Originally hailing from Little Rock, Arkansas, the band's evolving sound – a nearly mystical marriage between rock, goth and classical – was informed by a curious duality. Lee, who spent nine years studying classical piano, explains, "When I was in high school I listened to a lot of death metal bands. Both genres are intricate, complex types of music that are very dramatic, and I'm naturally drawn to that."
Evanescence self-released two EPs and a first full-length album, the much-sought-after Origin, before finding a home at Wind-up Records. Fallen, their major-label debut, was released in April 2003 to critical and commercial success. The internationally appealing Top 10 singles "Bring Me to Life" and "My Immortal" helped drive airplay and led to two 2003 Grammy Awards (Best New Artist and Best Hard Rock Performance for "Bring Me To Life"). Propelling the band to sales of nearly 14 million albums worldwide, Fallen spent more than 100 weeks on Billboard's Top 200 chart, was certified gold or platinum in over 35 countries, and sold out arenas globally. Anywhere But Home, their 2004 live DVD release, has sold over one million copies to date.
The inherent drama in Evanescence's music – a kind of audio odyssey that can turn on a dime from piano-led introspection to hammering guitar – has resonated with listeners everywhere. The band's aggressive core finds a counterpart in Lee's passionate vocals, lyrics that forge a connection with audiences searching for identity or struggling with feelings of desire, hope love and loss. The Open Door is a logical (but certainly not predictable) transformation of epic proportions for the band, which, in many ways has only just begun to make its mark on the music world.
From Discogs:US alternative rock band.
From Lastfm:Evanescence is a Grammy-winning band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States in 1995 by singer/pianist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody (who left in 2003).
After recording private albums, the band released their first full-length album, Fallen, in 2003, which sold more than 15 million copies worldwide and helped the band win two Grammy Awards. A year later, Evanescence released their first live album, Anywhere but Home, which sold more than one million copies worldwide. In 2006, the band released their second and latest studio album, The Open Door, which sold more than five million copies.
The band currently consists of Amy Lee (lead vocals, piano, keyboards), Terry Balsamo (guitars), and Tim McCord (bass). Former members include David Hodges (piano, keyboards, backing vocals; left in 2002), Ben Moody (guitars; left in 2003), William Boyd (bass; left in 2006), John LeCompt (guitars, backing vocals; fired in 2007), and Rocky Gray (drums; left in 2007). Session members include Troy McLawhorn (guitars) and Will Hunt (drums), both are from Dark New Day, they were "borrowed" to replace LeCompt and Gray during 2007 tours.
Amy Lee and Ben Moody met in 1994 at a youth camp in Little Rock, where Moody heard Lee playing I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That) by Meat Loaf on the piano. Their first songs were Solitude and Give Unto Me, written by Lee, and Understanding and My Immortal, written by Moody. The songs were edited by both artists, and they shared equal credit.
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 experimenting with band names, such as Childish Intentions and Stricken, they decided on Evanescence, which means "disappearance" or "fading away" (from the word evanesce, which means "to disappear"). Lee has stated she loves the name because "it is mysterious and dark, and places a picture in the listeners' mind.".
Their first full-length demo CD, Origin (released in 2000), is relatively unknown. The band also released two 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. For example, the recording of My Immortal found on Fallen can also be found on Origin, minus a handful of additional string accompaniments. Only 2,500 copies of this record were produced; in response, Lee and Moody encouraged fans to download the band's older songs from the Internet.
In several interviews Amy has said that 'Origin' was not an album, it was merely meant to be a demo. While appearing to be an official CD, it was never meant to be officially released. According to Amy Lee "Origin is not an album. Should I say that clearer? 'Origin' is not an album. We recorded its demos, we recorded it a long time ago, in Ben's apartment or in my parent's attic with an 8-track recorder that cost $300. It sounds like crap. Don't feel bad that you don't have it, just download it. It looks kind of like an album because we had an artist make us this cool album cover because we were shopping it to record labels. We put everything we had on there, and some songs that are on there are on 'Fallen', just done right". The video of this interview can be seen here.
The band sent 'Origin' to several record labels, and eventually Wind-up Records signed them. The band then recorded a large collection of demos throughout 2001 and 2002. Afterwards, the band began work on their second full-length album. However, after the album had been finished, Hodges left the band in December of 2002.
The album, entitled 'Fallen', was then released in March 2003. It brought the band international fame, selling 14 millions of copies worldwide. 'Fallen' has since gone 6 times platinum in the United States and has sold more than 15 million copies altogether worldwide.
However, shortly after, Moody left the band on October 22 of 2003 due to internal struggles with the band members. He was then replaced by guitarist Terry Balsamo from the band Cold. Before Moody's departure, Gray, LeCompt, and Boyd had been session members, but afterwards they became full-time members.
At the 2004 Grammy Awards, Evanescence won Best New Artist and Best Hard Rock Performance for their single Bring Me to Life, known worldwide from the Daredevil soundtrack. That same year, the band released a live CD/DVD entitled 'Anywhere but Home', which also sold 1 million of copies worldwide and has since gone platinum in the United States.
Afterwards, the band began work on their next release. Many things set the release back, including the health problems of Terry. He was unfortunately affected by a stroke, but is recovering successfully. Amy also fired their old manager which they had relations with during 'Fallen', and brought him to court. In 2006, they finished recording their second album, titled 'The Open Door', as well as shooting a video for the single Call Me When You're Sober. On July 13th, 2006, Lee announced through Evanescence's online message board that bassist Boyd has decided to leave the band in order to make time for his personal life and family. Tim McCord was announced as Will Boyd's replacement in August 2006.
'The Open Door' debuted at number 1 in Australia, United States, Greece, Germany, and Switzerland. It sold over 1 million copies worldwide within the first week of its release.
The second single of 'The Open Door' was Lithium. A video was shot for the single - directed by Paul Fedor (who has worked with Marilyn Manson, Seether, and Deftones). It took 2 days to film, October 31 and November 1, 2006.
The third single off 'The Open Door' was Sweet Sacrifice. The label, Wind-up, had originally chosen All That I'm Living For to be the third single, but was met with opposition from the fans. The video was shot on March 9th and 10th, 2007. Directed by Paul Brown.
On May 4, 2007, John LeCompt announced that he had been fired from Evanescence, and also stated that drummer Rocky Gray had decided to quit as well. Both musicians posted on their personal MySpace pages to confirm the news report, however, neither elaborated about the circumstances surrounding their departures, and no official statement has yet been released by the band or label.
On his MySpace blog, LeCompt stated that Lee called his cellphone to fire him, and that no warning had previously been given nor were any negotiations made available. No replacements have been named as of yet, but Evanescence says they will continue touring and producing music.
Lee revealed during the taping of MuchMusic's January 9, 2007 episode of Live @ Much that she had become engaged the previous evening. She later confirmed on EvThreads.com that she was proposed to by Josh Hartzler, a 29-year-old therapist and long time friend. She noted in an interview that the songs Good Enough and Bring Me to Life were inspired by him. The couple were married on May 6, 2007, and honeymooned near The Bahamas. She has posted on EvThreads that she is "now officially Mrs. Amy Hartzler."
Recently Lee and Evanescence ( with temporary members) headlined a one off show in Sao Paulo, Brazil for a music festival. A couple of weeks before, Lee posted on her Twitter that the band need to practice and was going to play a secret show in NYC's The Palace.
On another note. Lee has confirmed that a third album is on the way and is set to release late 2010. A short video has surfaced on one members Twitter account showing the band practicing and recording.
On 22 January, 2010, Amy posted on her Twitter that the b-side Together Again would be a gift to all who donate just the minimum amount to the Relief Effort over in Haiti.
Discography
1998: Evanescence EP
1999: Sound Asleep EP
2000: Origin
2003: Mystary EP and Fallen (first official studio album)
2004: Anywhere but Home
2006: The Open Door
Official site: www.evanescence.com
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From Wikipedia:Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer/pianist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording private albums, the band released their first full-length album, Fallen, on Wind-up Records in 2003. Fallen sold more than 15 million copies worldwide and helped the band win two Grammy Awards. A year later, Evanescence released their first live album, Anywhere but Home, which sold more than one million copies worldwide. In 2006, the band released their second studio album, The Open Door, which sold more than five million copies.
The line-up of the band has changed several times: David Hodges leaving in 2002, co-founder Moody left in 2003 (mid-tour), bassist Will Boyd in 2006, followed by guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray in 2007. The last two changes led to a hiatus, with temporary band members contributing to tour performances. In June 2009, it was announced on the Evanescence website that the band was working on new material for a third studio album for release in the second half of 2010.