It always shocks me to find out after so many years what actually resonated with general audiences in music as opposed to what I thought was a niche little pocket of fandom that my younger self enjoyed in silence. The Nu Metal genre is certainly a product of the early 2000s, giving birth to massively successful bands like KoRn, Disturbed, and of course pioneers of the genre Linkin Park. As the name implies, Nu Metal takes the intensity of heavy metal integrated with another genre, traditionally hip-hop or rap. As a whole, the Nu Metal scene helped further progress hard rock and metal into the public eye, offering many fledgling newbies their first taste of an otherwise intimidating genre. Although they are outliers of Nu Metal and have since developed their own style, Evanescence was yet another powerhouse to be formed from this renaissance of musical taste. Sporting one of the best female vocalists of the decade in Amy Lee, her bellowing pipes contributed massively into turning Evanescence into an overnight success with the release of their debut Fallen. Retrospectively, this album was a landmark for the time period, the soundtrack for all the goth kids who still didn’t know their direction in life. In fact, much of the songwriting that came from Amy Lee was inspired from more personal experiences and over subject matters she did not understand. This was in juxtaposition to guitarist and co-founder for Evanescence Ben Moody, who was a much better story teller and used his ability to write fictional yet intricate pieces of music that complimented the voice of Amy Lee. While Fallen was written in tandem with Lee and Moody, the initial concepts for individual songs have more credit to either performer varying on the track. For example, the album’s first track Going Under was written by Lee in response to an emotionally abusive relationship she had escaped in the past, while today’s featured song My Immortal was Moody’s interpretation of the loss of a loved one that haunts grieving loved ones. However, there is a bit of a divide between fans of Evanescence on the best rendition of My Immortal: the album version or the single version, generally dubbed the band version. The version of My Immortal that resides on Fallen is a bit of a story within itself; it comes from a recording the band did on their 2000 EP Origin, spruced up with orchestral accompaniment to bring the weight of the tune home in its ending. Amy Lee actually ended up being disappointed with the version that ended up on Fallen, revealing, “It's not even a real piano. And the sound quality is bad because we had to break into the studio to record it late at night when no one was around because we couldn't afford a real session." For the later released single version, the band rerecorded My Immortal in studio with a real piano, sharper vocal quality from Amy Lee, and the real reason I chose this version over the original: the inclusion of Evanescence’s rhythm section in place of the orchestral swell to make an impact. In my stern opinion, the band version of My Immortal is clearly the better iteration for its deeper impact at the climax that evokes an even stronger emotional response for an already intimate song. The sudden shift in tone from this beautifully eerie ballad to this rocking epic is executed marvelously, and adds an element missing from the original recording. It embodies the spirit of Evanescence to a tee, and that spirit has continued on into the modern day after a long hiatus!
