"Origin" by Evanescence

My favourite band. My favourite album.



Ben Moody, David Hodges and Amy Lee in a promotional shot for "Origin".

Sometimes calm, sometimes crashing thunder.

Like being by yourself in the long grass, near a lake on a starry moonlit night with the wind blowing calmly, then every now and again thunder crashing around you.

Released late 2000 under the Big Wig label in Little Rock, Arkansas, only 2500 copies of "Origin" were ever made. Some consider "Origin" to be Evanescence's first album but Amy Lee prefers to think of it as a demo collection; she considers some songs not done properly.

The majority of the songs on this ablum are not found on "Fallen" (their debut album). There are 3 songs in common, "Imaginary", "My Immortal" and "Whisper". My Immortal sounds very similar; Imaginary has a different second verse (which I prefer) and both Imaginary and Whisper sound different to the "Fallen" version.

Having been an Evanescence fan for a while now I recently managed to get a copy of this rare album from ultramusicstore.com. At the time of writing (5 June 2006) I have been informed that there were only 3 copies left. I do not know for sure whether the copy I have is a legitimate original copy or a fake (it is very hard to tell) but I am currently trying to find out.

UPDATE - 99% sure it's a fake, they probably still have copies for sale month's later, also i found another page with the hidden outtro or something that isn't on mine...so yeah...just shows there are some con artists around...

Download - Listen for youself!

The great thing in all this is that due to the rarity of this cd and the fact that pirates are profiting from fakes and that the band is not making money from second hand trades, Evanescence have stated that fans are free to download the album from the internet.

You're probably gonna have to do a google search for the origin mp3s or download via peer to peer as the page i linked doesn't exist anymore.

Track listing selected tracks below. Make sure you check out the lyrics!

Track Title Size Comments
1. Origin 560k Short opening track with some crazy voices and stuff, leads onto the next song, Whisper.
2. Whisper 3.6MB
3. Imaginary 3.2MB Cool, different second verse - awesome song.
4. My Immortal 4.1MB Written by Ben Moody - a true Ev classic, sounds very similar to the Fallen version
5. Where will you go 3.5MB
6. Field of innocence 4.8MB Harking back to childhood innocence. One of my favourites.
7. Even in death 3.8MB The instrumental section in this track is outstanding.
8. Anywhere 5.5MB
9. Lies 3.5MB Favourite song on this album, very powerful lyrics.
10. Away from me 3.2MB Like the lyrics here too
11. Eternal 6.7MB Fantastic instrumental track with sounds of rain and thunder

Getting an "Origin"al - Caveat Emptor

If you're thinking about trying to source a legit copy of the album for yourself I'd be interested to know how you get on. Don't buy the 19 track "Russian re-release" unless you want a fake. For a legit copy you could try Ebay of course or try finding it on some random music store.

Seeing as there were only 2500 copies released you are highly unlikely to get a legit copy.

Christian Origins

While Evanescence has Christian roots (which are very apparant in this album) they currently do not consider themselves a "Christian" band.

I don't know individual band members current status with God.

I get stuff out of the lyrics of many of Evanescence's songs. Here's a sample from "Lies" that I think is about Jesus:

"But through my tears breaks a blinding light
Birthing a dawn to this endless night
Arms outstretched, awaiting me
An open embrace upon a bleeding tree

Rest in me and I'll comfort you
I have lived and I died for you
Abide in me and I vow to you
I will never forsake you"

Here's a verse from the Bible that's similar to the last line above... "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" - Hebrews 13:5b

If you haven't looked into Christianity, please do. I have found love, acceptance and great hope for this life and beyond in Jesus. I also have a relationship with God which is a wonderful thing.

The great news is that there is a different way of living life; a different kingdom which you can have a part of! You can read my story here.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16

"Exploring Christianity" - www.christianity.co.nz
Soul Purpose Magazine www.soulpurpose.co.nz

The Open Door

Very much looking forward to Evanescence's next album "The Open Door", releasing late September / early October 2006. View official press release.

My prediction is that this will not be as dark and "heavy" as Fallen. Fallen is in part an expression of Amy when she was in an abusive relationship, whereas I see the "The Open Door" moving beyond that. It will also feature more input from the other band members.

UPDATE - my opinion of The Open Door

I was really disappointed when i listened to it the first time. It took quite a few play thoughs for it to grow on me. I am now comfortable with it. There are quite a few songs I really do like and overall I think it's a "good" album (not as good as Fallen). I think the album is missing Moody's input. "Like You" is my favourite song ... just fantastic. Different would be the key word is summing it up.

Links

Evanescence Official site - evanescence.com
Wikipedia's Evanescence entry
Fantastic article from Blender.com - quite a lot of stuff I didn't know here, well worth reading.
Some reviews of Origin (dead link) - "It will be absolutely shocking if this record isn’t snatched up by a major label within six months of its release. It’s that good."
- Todd Brown (reviewer).
Interesting reviews and comments from Amazon.com users
EV Board - Evanescence fan message board
MTV article about Amy Lee suing her former manager. Also refers to an abusive relationship with Ben Moody? Interesting as in the Blender article, Amy refers to an abusive relationship but didn't want to mention who it was with. Who was it?
Amy Lee on money matters, article from Bankrate.com "It's a tough business. It's kind of designed to screw the artist."
"Evanescence - the split", mtv.com. Good article about Ben Moody's departure.
Early Christian mixup explained in yahoo music article.