Author Archives: Justin

Amy Lee on drama and going back with Synthesis

October 12, 2017 By Justin No Comments

For those among us who were watching Kerrang! religiously in 2003, there likely isn’t a more memorable image than that of Evanescence’s Amy Lee scaling a giant building in a flimsy nightie while screaming save me from the nothing I’ve become into the night. “Bring Me to Life”, with its huge chorus, guitars, and rock-rap went quickly platinum, brought Evanescence to global relevance, and ensured that they wouldn’t ever be forgotten. Even if that’s the only song of theirs you know, the opening piano is probably more than enough to get you amped up enough to start screaming (badly) along.

Evanescence followed 2003’s Fallen, their most commercially successful album, with The Open Door in 2006. After a hiatus and another change in line-up, the band returned in 2011 with Evanescence before going back on hiatus. Now, in 2017, the band are very much back – and while their continued legacy is thanks in part to their huge, dramatic sound and that one, timeless banger, it’s more than anything thanks to their one remaining original member: Amy Lee. In a scene and genre full to the brim with men, Amy Lee, with her outrageously impressive voice and dramatic gothic decadence, was instantly iconic.

Amy Lee has been busy in the last few years with solo work including film scores and a children’s album. But now, Evanescence, with new guitarist Jen Majura, are well and truly back. This November they’ll release Synthesis, a reworking and re-recording of some of their biggest hits (yes, including “Bring Me To Life”) with a full orchestra and electronics. It also includes brand new songs, and is the precursor to more new music and a full tour from the band. We spoke to Amy Lee, eternal alt icon, about Synthesis, why it was the right time to revisit their old work, and being a very famous woman in music since she was just 21.

The new album sounds and feels very Björk-esque, that mix of electronic with strings. Not identical, it’s your own thing, but similar. [Source]

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Evanescence at Revention Center Ticket Giveaway

October 11, 2017 By Justin No Comments

Enter for a chance to win 2 tickets to Evanescence – Synthesis Live with Orchestra at Revention Music Center on Friday, October 20th! [ENTER HERE]

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Good Enough (Live at Steinway & Sons)

October 4, 2017 By Justin No Comments

Amy Lee took part in a question-and-answer session and one-song live performance Tuesday night (October 3) at the Steinway Hall in New York City. EVANESCENCE’s new album, “Synthesis”, is due on November 10. The effort features full orchestration in a completely synthetic world of beats and sounds, with help from arranger and composer David Campbell.

“Synthesis” will contain two new EVANESCENCE songs in addition to fan favorites re-recorded with a live orchestra and electronica. The album includes guest performance by famed violinist Lindsey Stirling on “Hi-Lo”, one of the two new tracks on the album.

The “Synthesis Live” tour will launch on October 14 on the West Coast. Like the album, “Synthesis Live” will feature a reimagining of some of EVANESCENCE’s best-loved songs with the spotlight on full orchestra, electronics combined with the band and Lee‘s virtuoso piano and voice.

“This is a total passion project for me. There are so many layers in our music, underneath the huge drums and guitars,” explained Lee. “I’ve always wanted to shine a light on some of the gorgeous David Campbell arrangements and programming elements in our songs, and that idea snowballed into completely re-doing them with full orchestra, not just strings, elaborate programming and experimentation.

“This will be our first time touring with orchestra and I’m so excited to perform this way — really focus on the vocals, and the emotion and the story we’ve built over the years. I’m also really excited about the new material on the album. Besides the two new songs, there are some really beautiful instrumental in-between moments. The whole thing flows like a big, dynamic soundtrack.”

[Check out the Media Vault to see more]

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Amy Lee is rewriting history on the band’s new album

October 3, 2017 By Justin No Comments

Their fourth release Synthesis is the opposite of an unplugged effort — rather Lee has re-recorded the band’s old material an even more dramatic and bombastic manner, with a full orchestra and heavy electronics. That includes their breakthrough 2003 hit Bring Me To Life. And there’s something missing from the version you know — that rap, by guest vocalist Paul McCoy.

“God bless the rap, it’s part of what got us on the radio I guess,” Lee says. “At least according to all the rules of radio that I don’t agree with or understand. The rap wasn’t part of our original idea or sound, it was a compromise in many ways. So to be able to go back to the original vision for the song was great.”

It’s not uncommon for an artist to go back and record their songs — Lee embraced being to able to revisit the band’s signature hit after performing it live at every concert they’ve played since it was release. “The recording of a song that ends being the one you hear the most through history is usually when the song was just freshly written. You’re still learning it yourself and getting used to what the notes are and how the parts go. That’s true for Bring Me to Life for sure. After doing it live for so long there’s different vocal choices I’ve made and different things we got to use in this version.” And no rap. “I forget the rap’s there now to be honest,” Lee says. “At the time it was a big issue, it was our first single. I wanted people to understand who we were. That’s a struggle you always fight as an artist. If we only had the one hit, if no one ever heard from us again then nobody would understand who we were. We’ve made it past that point so the rap doesn’t make me angry any more. I’m so glad to put a new version out there without the rap though.”

Similarly there’s an adult version of another Evanescence anthem, My Immortal — like Bring Me To Life it’s been the subject of countless covers and soundtracked many moody memes. Lee admits My Immortal almost got cut from Synthesis. “People have heard it so many times, I’m pretty open about the fact it’s not one of my favourite songs, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to totally re-record it again.” Despite a “band” version being recorded for their 17 million-selling debut album Fallen, most fans and radio gravitated to the early version of My Immortal, which Lee recorded as a teenager sneaking into the studio her dad worked at after hours. “I hate that version. I totally hate it. It’s an old demo from before we were even signed. Every time I hear it gets under my skin, but that’s the version most people play. I love the album version we did. But I wanted to do a new version so people know where I am vocally as a 35-year-old with all of this experience I have now behind me. As opposed to when I was 17. It’s beautiful because it’s pure and innocent but I was definitely still finding my voice. [Source]

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Evanescence To Tour Australia In 2018

October 2, 2017 By Justin No Comments

Evanescence have confirmed an Australian tour for next year off the back of the announcement of their new album Synthesis. A representative for the band’s label, Sony Music, has also confirmed to Music Feeds that the band will tour Australia in “early 2018”.

Evanescence have not toured the country since 2012 so this comes as an exciting announcement to all those in Australia.

“We’re taking our music, stripping out the big distorted guitars, stripping out the rock drums and replacing it with full orchestration in a completely synthetic world of beats and sounds,” Lee said about the album in a video posted to Facebook.

Amy Lee also announced that the Evanescence will be touring the record with a full orchestra. While it will mostly comprise of re-worked material, there will also be two new songs on the record including their recent single ‘Imperfection’.

Exact Aussie tour dates haven’t been announced yet but given the tour confirmation, a full announcement is imminent. Synthesis is set to release November 10th.

[Read More]

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Use code SYNTHESIS to get Evanescence tickets

October 1, 2017 By Justin No Comments

You can now use code SYNTHESIS to get tickets for Evanescence’s upcoming European tour now! [Evanescence]

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Inside Synthesis: Episode 2 “Imperfection”

September 29, 2017 By Justin No Comments

In this second episode of “Inside Synthesis”, you can explore the making of Evanescence’s new single, “Imperfection”! [Pre-order]

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Pre-order Evanescence’s new album, Synthesis, on @iTunes

September 25, 2017 By Justin 1 Comment

Don’t forget to pre-order Synthesis and get “Imperfection” & “Bring Me To Life (Synthesis)” instantly! https://lnk.to/synthesisFC

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Reflection – A look back at fan sites

September 24, 2017 By Justin No Comments

Reflection from Justin

In 2004 I started my first blog which featured a lot of my favorite hobbies. Soon I joined MSN Groups because a lot of people were creating fan groups on it. I was impressed with all that could be done and started to create my own. Evanescence were one of my first fan groups I created on there and I slowly learned how to design website graphics. After about a year or so I started to look into how to get a domain name so I could have my own website and have the freedom of doing anything I wanted.

It took me about another year to actually buy a domain name and at first I just had the domain name point to one of my msn group page about Amy Lee but I knew that I really wanted to get my own website but was to inexperienced to do it at the time. It wasn’t until 2007 that I applied to have my very own website at fan-sites.org and was thrilled to actually get accepted. I opened up an Evanescence fansite called Evmortal and kept it for a few years. I had a ton of help from other webmasters who taught me how to code and how to work with photoshop which greatly improved my websites. I was sad to see that msn groups were closing down and that all my first fan groups would be gone but this caused me to learn even more coding.

At the time there were hundreds of fansites dedicated to Amy Lee and Evanescence. Everyone who owned a fan site were so creative with them and had tons of different fan art and fun contest to do. It really was a fun time for me. I adopted an Amy Lee website from another fansite webmaster and helped her with the website but sadly the domain expired and I did not own it so I had to shut it down which is where it led me to make my own Amy Lee website called Amy-l.net. Amy Lee Net stayed open for 4 years before shutting down.

After six years of making websites I got a little but restless with what I was doing. Then I had a couple personal issues with family members who had died and financial difficulties that I finally could not afford to keep anymore of my websites open. About a year and half ago I started looking for some fansites for information on Amy Lee and was really sad to see that not many where opened anymore, this made me decide that I wanted to re-open my fansite. I had to buy a new domain because my old host had shut down and they owned the domain and I also had to find a new affordable host which I was very fortunate to find one. I started to import all the data that I had on my computer from the original site but also had to create new content that needed updated. In conclusion I am very fortunate for all the memories I have had from created fansites and would not trade it for the world and I sincerely hope you enjoy all the content I try to provide.

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Evanescence bring their orchestra to the UK in 2018

September 22, 2017 By Justin No Comments

After disappearing off the radar six years ago, Evanescence are ready to make their comeback this year. Following the upcoming November release of their album “Synthesis”, they will be embarking on a huge tour in 2018.

“Synthesis World Tour”

Just a month ago, Evanescence shared a remastered version of their iconic song “Bring Me To Life”, setting the tone for the rest of their album. With the help of producer Will Hunt and composer David Campbell who previously worked on “Fallen” and “The Open Door”, their classics will be brought back to life thanks to an orchestral and electronic backing. The band has promised an upgraded version of their songs.

And they have one more gift for their fans. “Synthesis” will also feature two exclusive songs. We can’t wait to discover the outcome of this ambitious project which will be available on 10th November.

Following the release of their opus, Evanescence will embark on a huge tour to present their album to fans. After a stop in America and France, they will bring their full orchestra to the UK in March and April 2018. You will find all the relevant information down below.

Ticket Information

Evanescence Concerts
30/03/2018 and 31/03/2018: London (GB) – Royal Festival Hall
02/04/2018: Manchester (GB) – O2 Apollo Manchester
03/04/2018: Nottingham (GB) – Motorpoint Arena
05/04/2018: Glasgow (GB) – SEC Amarillo
06/04/2018: Sheffield (GB) – Sheffield City Hall