Having sold nearly 15 million records worldwide, more than 6 million in the U.S. alone, and earning two Grammys® with their major-label debut Fallen, Evanescence continue their meteoric rise with their latest effort, The Open Door (Wind-up Records). The Open Door debuted at the top of the Billboard charts selling more than 447,000 units in its first week and reached platinum status in just over a month. The album 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.
“Making this record was really intense,” explains Lee. “Terry suffered a stroke in October after recording his guitar parts and thankfully continues to recover, we got a new manager [Andy Lurie at 110 Management in Los Angeles], and I'd 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 in 2005, 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 producer Dave Fortman, the album's musical elements include a classically-infused choir and strings 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 the second single, “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).
Its tour began immediately after the debut of The Open Door, rewarding hardcore fans with a “sneak peak” at the album with handful of more intimate theater dates in the US and Europe before segueing into much larger arena shows at the end of 2006. Since the album's release, the band has performed in front of well in excess of one million fans in more than 25 countries, including the US, Canada, France, UK, Spain, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Israel, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, South Africa, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
As The Open Door nears sales of 2 million copies in the U.S. and more than 4 million copies worldwide, Evanescence will headline a North American tour, including 3 arena shows in Mexico, this Fall. The tour will begin October 23rd in Miami and conclude on or about December 10th. With the recent additions of Dark New Day's (Warner Bros. Records) Will Hunt on drums and Troy McLawhorn on guitar, Evanescence is poised to finish up 2007 with a bang. Evanescence has chosen Australian modern rock trio Sick Puppies and electronic rock act Julien-K to support them on the tour.
Evanescence is Amy Lee (vocals, piano), Terry Balsamo (guitar), Tim McCord (bass), Troy McLawhorn (guitar) and Will Hunt (drums). Fallen, their major-label debut, was released in April 2003 to critical and commercial success and has sold more than fifteen million copies. Their second major label debut, The Open Door, debuted at Number One on the Billboard charts and reached platinum status in just over a month.
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.
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