Evanescence's Origin
Written: Oct 20 '03 (Updated Oct 20 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Awesome sounds - diversity in a single CD.
Cons: I got nothin'
The Bottom Line: Great music to play anytime! This CD is full of emotion and skill and I can't find anything to not love about it.
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| ssjakira1's Full Review: Origin - Evanescence Movies |
The Evanescence CD you never heard.
Ok, well perhaps some have heard it, but the majority of people I know have not. Before Evanescence got all their glory via the 2003 Daredevil Soundtrack, and thus putting out a new CD, Fallen, there was a little known CD somewhere on the shelves in the year 2000. Actually, the truth is there wasn’t any way to buy it – it wasn’t here, but in the UK instead. It blows my mind that it was overlooked here and didn’t get swept up somehow; the style is so unique and sounds quite awesome to boot. What many of us did miss those couple of years ago was Evanescence’s first CD, Origin.
I’d heard about this seemingly forgotten CD, but never did anything about it – until now. I was curious as to what Evanescence sounded like before Fallen or Daredevil. I must say I was definitely not disappointed. The main vocalist, Amy Lee has such a powerful and crystal clear voice, it’s almost impossible not to love her singing. She is backed up in this CD by Ben Moody. He’s a great counterpart to Amy and I miss him when I listen to Fallen. Here is the total band member list: Amy Lee - Vocals, choir arrangements; Ben Moody - Vocals, percussion; David Hodges - Piano, keyboards; and Rocky Gray – Drums.
Origin has several of the songs that are also found on Fallen, though they sound slightly different. These songs include “Whisper,” “Imaginary,” and “My Immortal.” If you ask me though, I think each version is a great song in itself. The total list of songs on Origin is as follows:
1. Origin
2. Whisper
3. Imaginary
4. My Immortal
5. Where Will You Go?
6. Field of Innocence
7. Even In Death
8. Anywhere
9. Lies
10. Away from Me
11. Eternal
12. Listen to the Rain (actually cut from final release)
Each song has its own unique quality and shows a great diversity in sound for the band. Here is a breakdown of each song so that you have some idea of what you’ll be getting before you actually get it. However, this is one of the few beginning CD’s in which the band already seems to have it’s sound (as compared to Limp Bizkit or Korn’s first CD’s which just seemed to be randomness as the bands situated themselves and find their niche), which makes them just that much better and makes a better incentive to buy.
There is not much to “Origin;” it is a very short track which is more like an introductory track than anything with a mix of screams (which reminded me vaguely of Fallen’s “Tourniquet” where at one point Amy screamed, “I want to die!”) and powerful guitar. This track then leads into the next, as many do in Fallen.
“Whisper” is pretty much what you have on Fallen with a few differences. It is a little slower, and I felt that overall it went less strongly. In Fallen the song is ready, pumping, and rockin’ with a kind of in-you-face attitude (not in a bad way of course!). Here, however, it’s more relaxed, with a less powerful choir and the strings not present. When you listen to the two it’s almost like listening two different songs with the same lyrics. But not quite. Try it out and see for yourself.
“Imaginary” is definitely softer here. A lot of the strong instruments present in the Fallen version are not present which leaves it to me more relaxing, Amy’s voice the center of the song, lulling you away to different words with “paper flowers” and “purple skies.” I believe that was what most shocked me when I heard the song – just the absence of heavy guitar and such. But it’s still a very good song.
“My Immortal” is pretty much what you have on Fallen only without the strings. Though I do enjoy strings, others may not, which makes this song just that much better for them. This is a sad love song that is one of my favorites because of its gentleness and melancholy tone. It is a nice change from Amy singing with all her emotion – here she sings with all her emotion, just in a deeper, more concentrated way.
Number 5 is “Where Will You Go?” This song starts out slowly with a bit of piano and then launches into a bit of electronic spazzing before the song really gets going fully. Guitars give a little intro and then Amy’s lovely vocals take over. Ben comes in a little later to complete this sad, yet somewhat fast-paced song. The guitar is a great instrument here, adding spice everywhere it needed when the electronics backed off, or simply blending the two together. This is the kind of thing you definitely cannot find on Fallen.
“Field of Innocence” comes in afterwards, another great slow, yet sad, song. In it you hear lyrics like, “I want to go back to/Believing in everything and knowing nothing at all” which are speaking of a lost childhood – or at least that place and time in life when you knew everything was good. I know I can totally relate to this song – I’ve been listening to it quite a lot actually. Amy can really bring emotion into the songs, sailing along with mainly soft guitar and some percussion.
“Even In Death” is kind of a strange one, but you can get used to it fairly quickly. The song moves along slowly until a guitar breaks in and takes a solo, accompanied by tinkling keys of a piano (gotta love the piano) until Amy picks up again, taking on different notes from what the song has been using and then finishing with a bit of electronics in the same measure that it started.
“Anywhere” was the song that started me on everything in the first place. I heard this song and just had to find all the rest that went with it! This song is absolutely beautiful with the gentle guitar, soft percussion and the smooth vocals of both Ben and Amy, talking of “leaving here tonight” and eventually being “halfway to anywhere.” It’s almost as if you can see two lovers going to this “anywhere” and finally being happy together. The best word I could use to describe this track would be exquisite.
“Lies” is definitely a major change from anything anyone has heard on Fallen or Origin (so far). It starts out with just Amy’s voice, scaling up and down before a heavy guitar (faraway at first) comes into the picture and takes over. Here comes in another band with deep and heavy vocals from the lead singer. This is like a mix of heavy metal rock with Amy as the leader and the rest of Evanescence following behind. It’s one to be surprised at, but after a couple of times, I’m sure you’ll like it.
“Away From Me” goes back into what Origin has been delivering before. It includes more electronics and Amy’s voice, which always makes for great ear candy. It starts out slowly, steadily working its way up to something that you just know is coming and then it takes you for a ride, ending in the most interesting way by slipping into the next song, which is probably one of the more interesting ones on the CD.
“Eternal” is what develops from “Away From Me” and thought here there are no vocals from anyone, it’s still pretty awesome. Electronics are the main makeup of this song, dipping and growing in power throughout before slipping away into what is actually…rain. Rain and thunder and watch out! There’s one really loud crack on there before a beautiful piano solo comes in, accompanied by the rain. Afterwards, the rain takes over again and then slow guitar ends the track in a repeating tune, fading away into silence.
“Listen to the Rain” also shows some major diversity that the band is willing to go for. Here there are no obvious, spotlighted instruments aside from a piano intro – instead there is a choir singing about listening to the rain. Though I will admit because it is a little random, it’s not my favorite song, but I suggest giving it a try because it is still very impressive and nice to listen to for a change in pace. I got my hands on this one, but then found out later that this song, was cut from the final version of Origin, but don’t let that stop you – it didn’t stop me!
Overall, this CD is definitely worth listening to. Evanescence has been called a Christian band, and even though members of the band are Christian and their lyrics do imply this and that, it’s all really up to listener interpretation. Think what you would like because they do not enjoy the label of being a Christian band. Whatever the case may be, if you enjoyed Fallen, do your best to find Origin – disappointment will not be an issue.
Recommended:
Yes
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