I believe that the popularity of Evanescence can be linked to American music execs attempting to capture the zeitgeist of female fronted goth rock bands and the increasing popularity of big breasted valkyrien symphonic goth metal from Scandinavia. Their popularity was fuelled by their appearance on a variety of slightly emo-esque movies of the time such as Daredevil only to wane and disperse following rumours of Christian rock leanings.
Initially I was just as keen as most other people. I liked the sorrowful My Immortal and I started to admire their most popular Bring Me to Life until analysing the lyrics had me realise that there was something fishy in the belly of this whale and that there was possibly a leaning towards the insidious proliferation of religion in youth culture by conservatives keen on dulling the growth of the darker shades of popular culture in the shadow of Columbine and the implication of such culture in inspiring those involved in the shootings, with the additional moral panic whipped up by the American hyper-conservative based Murdochian press towards goths.
But that’s just my opinion.
The album Fallen is the bands first album (We’ve already seen their second album, Anywhere But Home, on the music project) and serious fans might suggest their only album (the band split and changed its line up before their third album). It’s presence in my music collection solely because I was fond of two tracks at a time when I should have known better.
Sometimes the album title makes the acquisition seem like a good idea.
This is case in point to not judge an album by its cover. It’s truly awful nonsense featuring the “best” of Scandinavia and Europe’s Operatic Metal scene.
Appearing here are Trail of Tears, Evanescence, Avantasia, Leaves’ Eyes, Sirenia and Lacuna Coil. Also joining the cacophony we are subjected to Persephone, After Forever, Tristania, Theatre of Tragedy and a number of other bands before being treated to some Nightwish with their Dark Chest of Wonder.
The band list alone makes it sound like an ideal compilation except for the fact there is no cohesion to the compilation (This is an unofficial compilation anyway so it is more than likely fan generated) and because of that it suffers becoming dirge.
Sometime in the noughties, big record companies identified a popular and growing genre with the young and spendy. It was taking Europe by storm. Metal and rock bands fronted by a female singer with dark hair and huge norks.
It was growing like a fungus on the toe of American and British youth culture but not as fast as it was in Europe. So when they found the American band Evanescence, they were everywhere. Soundtracks such as Daredevil and Elektra and numerous TV show links seemed to require a healthy dose of their music.
I only like three of their songs. To be fair, I find them a bit plastic and over-produced. This album features those three songs in a live setting with lots of screaming fans. Albums like that show how popular bands can become. Sadly, I can’t put up with their other stuff…
I believe that the popularity of Evanescence can be linked to American music execs attempting to capture the zeitgeist of female fronted goth rock bands and the increasing popularity of big breasted valkyrien symphonic goth metal from Scandinavia. Their popularity was fuelled by their appearance on a variety of slightly emo-esque movies of the time such as Daredevil only to wane and disperse following rumours of Christian rock leanings.
Stegzy's Music Project 