The new sound of Evanescence

How does one refer to the sound of the new group Evanescence? Goth metal rock seems most suitable. There is a dark, magical quality to the music and lead singer Amy Lee has the white face, dark eye make-up and black lipstick commonly associated with Goth. On the other hand, Evanescence songs can be loud, stinging, piercing just the way that heavy metal should be. Then there are also times when the band produces music that is ethereal, certainly new agey and can send the listener dreaming of other worldly things.

It may sound unbelievable but would you believe that Evanescence also made it to the inspirational music racks? The group records for Wind-up Records, the home of such big-name gospel rock acts like Creed and 12 Stones. So, it was only logical to suppose that it belongs to the same category. I am quite sure that some people in search of a religious music experience got the surprise of their lives when they heard the album. Amy Lee came out with a statement saying that while they have nothing against inspirational music, Evanescence is simply a rock band. Nothing more.

Mistakes of that sort are not apt to happen anymore. Not only are the copies of Fallen, Evanescence first album in their proper racks, the group’s popularity has grown to such a degree that Amy’s heavenly singing and the heavy pummeling music by guitarist and songwriter Ben Moody, guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray have become very familiar.

Bring Me to Life sets the pace and is the most popular of all the cuts in the album. Haunted jars and sends the shivers going. Tourniquet is so exciting it should make a difficult to ignore second single. There are also Going Under, Everybody’s Fool, My Immortal, Imaginary, Taking Over Me, Hello, My Last Breath and Whisper.

Amy Lee and Moody who are both from Little Rock, Arkansas, met as teen-agers in a youth camp. They have been singing and writing songs ever since. Because their music does not fit in with prevailing modes, they started their careers going by recording their own extended-play CD’s and personally promoting them in local radio stations. It did not take the DJ’s long to get into the music of Evanescence and a short while later Evanescent was recording what later became Fallen. Last heard from, the group has wowed New York during its first nationwide tour.

Evanescence defies classification. Maybe now that the group’s debut album has proven itself a huge success, there will soon emerge a term that will aptly describe the kind of music that this new band has to offer. Meanwhile though, check out Evanescence. Try to find out how the sound came about. Try to predict where it is going. And wonder how ephemeral or evanescent it is and if it will stay, evolve or just disappear.

Fallen by Evancence has been going great guns since it was released into the market a few months ago. In fact, the single Bring Me to Life, which was introduced in the comicbook adventure flick Daredevil and the album itself have been consistently present in the hit charts of Billboard Magazine for several weeks now. Here goes the top ten tunes in the singles list:

Get Busy by Sean Paul; 21 Questions by 50 Cent featuring Nate Dogg; Ignition by R. Kelly; In Da Club also by 50 Cent; Can’t Let You Go by Fabolous featuring Mike shorey & Lil Mo; I Know What You Want by Busta Rhymes & Mariah Carey featuring the Flipmode Squad; Rock Your Body by Justin Timberlake; Bring Me to Life by Evanescence featuring Paul McCoy of 12 Stones; When I’m Gone by 3 Doors Down; and Picture by Kid Rock featuring Sheryl Crow or Allison Moorer.

The albums: Get Rich or Die Tryin’ by 50 Cent; American Idol Season 2: All Time Classic Love Songs by the finalists of the extremely popular talent show on television American Idol; Thankful by Kelly Clarkson, the first grand prize winner of American Idol; The Very Best of Cher of course by the unsinkable Cher; Come Away with Me by Norah Jones; Fallen by Evanescence; Meteora by Linkin Park; American Life by Madonna; The Lizzie McGuire Movie, the soundtrack of the big screen version of the hit Disney TV series featuring various artists; and Priceless by Kelly Price.