Today's album review will be of "Evanescence's" demo album "Origin". Only a few copies of the album were released but lead singer "Amy Lee" said that she'd rather have fans download it than purchase it. This may be because of how ridiculous the prices can be for the album, some even as going as far as $400 for one copy. The album was officially released to vinyl in 2016 as part of "The Ultimate Collection" along with the band's albums, "Fallen", "The Open Door", and "Evanescence" as well as "Lost Whispers" which was and album containing B-sides and unreleased tracks. So here's my track by track review:
1) Origin: The title track that is less than a minute and is perfect to play to scare people on Halloween, not that I do that.....anymore...... Anyway given that's so short I won't be giving a score.
2) Whisper: This song is one of three songs that made it onto the band's album "Fallen". The song was actually the first single from this album and while it didn't chart or have a video, it did receive airplay on KLEC "Lick" 106.3 FM and became the number 1 most requested song for two weeks back in 2000. While I prefer the version on the "Fallen" album, this version is pretty cool and creepy with "David Hodges'" doing background vocals for the song. 10/10
3) Imaginary: Another song that would later make it onto the "Fallen" album. The song starts off with a pleasant piano introduction before the drums and guitars kick in at the 25 seconds part. This version also includes a verse, "if you need to leave the world you live, lay your head down and stay awhile, though you may not remember dreaming, something waits for you to breathe again." I prefer this version over the version on the "Fallen" album. 10/10
4) My Immortal: The last song that made it onto the "Fallen" album. The main differences between this version and the "Fallen" version is that a piano is played the whole way through without any other instruments played and "Amy's" voice sounds more vulnerable. It's good but I still prefer the "Fallen" version. 9/10
5) Where Will You Go: Originally the song was played only on a piano on the band's first ep, the "Evanescence Ep" back in 1998. This version starts off with a slow piano intro for a few seconds before a dramatic tempo change and different lyrics. It goes to the sound of an organ piano for the third verse and quickly returns to the fast pace rhythm from before. It's my favorite song on the album and I wish it had a video. 10/10
6) Field of Innocence: This song is a lovely ballad about longing for for the days when you were younger and you still had that innocence and everything was easy because as the years have gone by reality and being adult is much harder. Musically it's very different from the what they've released now. 9/10
7) Even In Death: According to one forum, the song is a made up story about a woman who loved her husband so much that after he dies she digs him out of his grave and takes him back home with her. The craziest thing is that she's happy with this and doesn't see anything wrong with it. That is just plain creepy! The song was the third single from the album and was on a complication album called "The Gas Collection 25" listed under "somebody sign these guys" along with a band called "Jade Trees Weeping" and while "Evanescence" was signed to "Wind-Up Records" the other band sadly wasn't. The song was re-recorded in 2016 for "The Ultimate Collection" album and was changed into a ballad being played on piano and featuring "Amy's" haunting vocals whereas the version on this album was upbeat dark song. It creeps me too much to listen to it though. 6/10
8) Anywhere: This song is a romantic ballad that is also a complete shock given that it doesn't sound like a song that would be on any of the band's albums or would even be a song you'd expect from "Evanescence". The song was said to be inspired by "Romeo and Juliet" but was "Ben Moody" stated that this was one of his least favorite songs that he has written. I'm not sure why because it is a beautiful song that has an amazing guitar solo near the end. It also features 40 seconds of the band's song "Where Will You Go" at the end which takes a little bit anyway from the song. There is an outtake of "David Hodges" singing the chorus WAY too high with someone saying, "You're not saving that" and at the end of that is a quote from the film, "My Boyfriend's Back" being "There's a lot of prejudice against the undead." Just thought you should know that part. 9/10
9) Lies (fearyring Bruce Fitzhugh): The song starts off with "Amy" singing, or auditioning to play "Ariel" from "The Little Mermaid" because she singing exactly what "Ariel" was singing before she lost her voice (sorry for spoiling the movie for people who haven't seen it). The song features singer "Bruce Fitzhugh" from the christian-metal band, "Living Sacrifice" although it feels more like a duet then a feature. The song was released as the second single the album and released airplay before the album was released. It was later re-written and re-recorded with "Amy Lee" singing with "David Hodges" and although that version was never put on an album, it did leak and "Amy" stated she would like fans to refer to that version of the song as "Lies (Post-Origin demo) rather than "Lies (Remix)" or "Lies (Remade)" as some have posted it on youtube. 8/10
10) Away From Me: I feel like this song is about being tired of trying to be someone that you're not and you just want to get away from that person and that life that you realize is fake all while trying to find yourself. It's a song I related to a lot my junior year of high school, thankfully those days are over. It's another great song from the album. 9/10
11) Eternal: The longest song on the album at 7 minutes and 22 seconds. There are no vocals on the song but instead just instruments but it is an amazing song. When the album was being recorded, the song was only 5 minutes long and there was a separate instrumental song known as "Demise". However "Demise" was later added into "Eternal" as the last two minutes of the song. Overall it is amazing and it feels like it could be put in soundtrack for a video game and deserves more attention. 10/10
Another song called, "Listen to the Rain" that "Amy" wrote while in high school and was even performed at her graduation by her high school choir which "Amy" herself was choir president at that time, was supposed to be on the album as part of a three song with "Eternal" and "Demise" but it didn't make the cut. If it did, the song would've been 11 minutes long. The song did however leak and it is a beautiful song that would've gotten a 10 if it was on the album.
Overall "Origin" was a great album for "Evanescence", and it was only the beginning of their greatness as we know from their other albums. Now after a 6 year wait, the band will FINALLY be releasing their 4th album titled, "Synthesis" which will be stripping down songs from their previous records and giving them a more classical sound that is usually put on soundtracks, as well as adding two new songs. It is set to be released this year, and while I'm nervous about how it will sound I'll still give it a chance and more than likely review it.
My favorite songs on the album are: "Where Will You Go", "Imaginary", "Away From Me", "Eternal", "Whisper" and "Anywhere". Because the title track is less than a minute the album score will be out of 100 points instead of 110. So out of 100 points I give the album 90 points which is 90%, an A.
Thank you for reading this review, tell me what you think of it, and check out all of "Evanescence's" album if you haven't.
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