Evanescence comes together for new, self-titled album

Evanescence is shown in the undated publicity photo released to Reuters October 6, 2011. On October 11, Evanescence releases the 12-track collection produced by Nick Raskulinecz, known for his work with Alice in Chains and Foo Fighters. Frontwoman Amy Lee told Reuters the new record is more collaborative than the band's previous two.

Credit: Reuters/Wind-up Records/Handout

By Sabrina Ford

NEW YORK | Thu Oct 6, 2011 5:06pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - On their first album in five years, the self-titled "Evanescence," Grammy-winning gothic rock band Evanescence finally sounds like the band it has always wanted to be -- tight, together and mature.

On October 11, Evanescence releases the 12-track collection produced by Nick Raskulinecz, known for his work with Alice in Chains and Foo Fighters. Frontwoman Amy Lee told Reuters the new record is more collaborative than the band's previous two.

"We know how to work together and play off each other's strengths and that is different from our other albums," Lee told Reuters. "It's cool because we do have some life experiences together and there isn't a new member. It feels like a family reunion."

Evanescence burst onto the rock scene with their 2003 smash hit "Fallen," which featured the band's breakthrough single, "Bring Me to Life," followed by the popular "My Immortal" and "Going Under," about the end of a bad relationship. The multi-platinum album earned the band a Best New Artist Grammy nomination, and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200.

Shortly thereafter, the five-member band underwent major changes when co-founder, guitarist and songwriter Ben Moody abruptly left amid creative differences. John LeCompt and Rocky Gray also later went their own ways.

Terry Balsamo replaced Moody and has been the band's lead guitarist and co-songwriter with Lee. Drummer Will Hunt and guitarists Troy McLawhorn and Tim McCord now round out the group, which has had the same lineup since 2007.

Since Evanescence's last album, 2006's multi-platinum, "Open the Door," the members have all matured. The 29 year-old Lee, for one, has married, spent time decorating the New York home she shares with her husband and taken up playing the harp.

The album's name and cover art reinforce a new sense of cohesiveness. The cover, which features only a graphic of the band's name, is the first that is not a solo shot of Lee.

"I've been in a totally different place. I've not been 'the girl in the band,' "said Lee. "I've been writing and living. It was awesome."

RETURN TO SPOTLIGHT

With lyrics like, "remember who you really are" and "stand and face the unknown," the album's booming lead single, "What You Want," is Lee's self-directed pep talk upon her return to the spotlight.

"That song is me talking to myself about not being afraid and coming back to this thing and living the life I was born to live," she said. "Sometimes, it takes a lot to do this. And I do love it very much, but there is always that fear of putting yourself under the microscope."

The single and its accompanying video, guest-starring 200 real Evanescence fans, has been warmly received.

MTV.com's James Montgomery called "What You Want" "a song that's powerful enough to shake rock radio to its very foundation" and the video has been watched almost 2.5 million times on YouTube.

"It's great to know we still have so many great fans. They've been through a lot with us," said Lee.

The band has kept fans in mind even while trying out different sounds, such as the affecting "Lost in Paradise," one of Lee's favorites. "So many of our songs say, 'we're strong' 'we're a rock band' but 'Lost in Paradise' is extremely raw and real and broken -- I love that about it."

Loyalists will find familiar songs like "Oceans" and "End of the Dream" with light vocals from Lee.

And the singer is quick to reassure followers that even "with all the growth and experimentation, we didn't betray what the fans want. It's still an Evanescence record."

The band kicks off a 15-city tour The Pretty Reckless and Rival Sons in Oakland on October 10 and makes stops in Dallas and Chicago before wrapping in New York on November 1.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

View the original article here

Evanescence comes together for new, self-titled album (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – On their first album in five years, the self-titled "Evanescence," Grammy-winning gothic rock band Evanescence finally sounds like the band it has always wanted to be -- tight, together and mature.

On October 11, Evanescence releases the 12-track collection produced by Nick Raskulinecz, known for his work with Alice in Chains and Foo Fighters. Frontwoman Amy Lee told Reuters the new record is more collaborative than the band's previous two.

"We know how to work together and play off each other's strengths and that is different from our other albums," Lee told Reuters. "It's cool because we do have some life experiences together and there isn't a new member. It feels like a family reunion."

Evanescence burst onto the rock scene with their 2003 smash hit "Fallen," which featured the band's breakthrough single, "Bring Me to Life," followed by the popular "My Immortal" and "Going Under," about the end of a bad relationship. The multi-platinum album earned the band a Best New Artist Grammy nomination, and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200.

Shortly thereafter, the five-member band underwent major changes when co-founder, guitarist and songwriter Ben Moody abruptly left amid creative differences. John LeCompt and Rocky Gray also later went their own ways.

Terry Balsamo replaced Moody and has been the band's lead guitarist and co-songwriter with Lee. Drummer Will Hunt and guitarists Troy McLawhorn and Tim McCord now round out the group, which has had the same lineup since 2007.

Since Evanescence's last album, 2006's multi-platinum, "Open the Door," the members have all matured. The 29 year-old Lee, for one, has married, spent time decorating the New York home she shares with her husband and taken up playing the harp.

The album's name and cover art reinforce a new sense of cohesiveness. The cover, which features only a graphic of the band's name, is the first that is not a solo shot of Lee.

"I've been in a totally different place. I've not been 'the girl in the band,' "said Lee. "I've been writing and living. It was awesome."

RETURN TO SPOTLIGHT

With lyrics like, "remember who you really are" and "stand and face the unknown," the album's booming lead single, "What You Want," is Lee's self-directed pep talk upon her return to the spotlight.

"That song is me talking to myself about not being afraid and coming back to this thing and living the life I was born to live," she said. "Sometimes, it takes a lot to do this. And I do love it very much, but there is always that fear of putting yourself under the microscope."

The single and its accompanying video, guest-starring 200 real Evanescence fans, has been warmly received.

MTV.com's James Montgomery called "What You Want" "a song that's powerful enough to shake rock radio to its very foundation" and the video has been watched almost 2.5 million times on YouTube.

"It's great to know we still have so many great fans. They've been through a lot with us," said Lee.

The band has kept fans in mind even while trying out different sounds, such as the affecting "Lost in Paradise," one of Lee's favorites. "So many of our songs say, 'we're strong' 'we're a rock band' but 'Lost in Paradise' is extremely raw and real and broken -- I love that about it."

Loyalists will find familiar songs like "Oceans" and "End of the Dream" with light vocals from Lee.

And the singer is quick to reassure followers that even "with all the growth and experimentation, we didn't betray what the fans want. It's still an Evanescence record."

The band kicks off a 15-city tour The Pretty Reckless and Rival Sons in Oakland on October 10 and makes stops in Dallas and Chicago before wrapping in New York on November 1.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

View the original article here

When it comes to stages, there are no universal standards (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Thursday's deadly collapse of another outdoor concert stage in stormy weather conditions could lead to tougher construction standards - but any such standards will surely be difficult to enforce.

Each summer, thousands of temporary stages are erected around the globe for outdoor concert series. Each stop on the tour, bands and their crews have to contend with local laws.

Consider the latest tragedies: Outdoor concert stages in Ottawa, Indianapolis and Belgium have collapsed in the past month, causing the death of more than a half dozen; scores more have been injured.

That's three different storms, three different cities - and, crucially, three different stages, built by different companies using different specs and different safety standards.

"These collapses highlight the fact that there are no enforced guidelines for temporary structures in the concert business," said Gary Bongiovanni, the publisher of the concert-industry trade journal Pollstar.

There are some guidelines," he told TheWrap on Thursday, "but they're voluntary. And it'll be hard to put enforced rules in place, because on a concert tour you're dealing with the local laws in every city."

International standards would be even harder to implement.

Bongiovanni blamed the collapses to fierce weather rather than faulty construction: "No temporary structure is going to be able to withstand the kind of winds that can come up in storms like these."

But based on the videos of the incidents, he does think that some of the stages were safer than others. In Ottawa, for instance, he said the drapes on the side of the stage were tied closed, when reasonable safety standards should have allowed them to open in high winds.

"If you look at the video from Indianapolis, the side drapes there are working the way they're supposed to work," he said. "In Canada, they clearly weren't."

Onstage equipment was also destroyed in Tulsa, although no one was injured in that incident.

Plasa, an international organization providing technical resources for the entertainment industry, publishes voluntary guidelines for the construction of temporary stages for outdoor events. Its latest update of the standards is due to be released in October, and is currently available for public review at the company's website.

Bongiovanni thinks that the rash of collapses may increase the call for uniform standards - but in a business in which most touring acts are forced to rely on a new array of local engineers, designers, construction crews and promoters in each city, he said uniformity will be hard if not impossible to enforce.

"You have very well-established companies doing work in this field, and you have other companies putting up temporary structures with nowhere near the same level of engineering," he said.

"Sometimes you go with the lowest bidder, and that can mean there are compromises made."

"I doubt we'll ever really have national rules," he added. "But if more people started adopting the Plasa guidelines, at least we'd have something to gauge it against."

View the original article here

When it comes to stages, there are no universal standards

By Steve Pond

Thu Aug 18, 2011 11:31pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Thursday's deadly collapse of another outdoor concert stage in stormy weather conditions could lead to tougher construction standards - but any such standards will surely be difficult to enforce.

Each summer, thousands of temporary stages are erected around the globe for outdoor concert series. Each stop on the tour, bands and their crews have to contend with local laws.

Consider the latest tragedies: Outdoor concert stages in Ottawa, Indianapolis and Belgium have collapsed in the past month, causing the death of more than a half dozen; scores more have been injured.

That's three different storms, three different cities - and, crucially, three different stages, built by different companies using different specs and different safety standards.

"These collapses highlight the fact that there are no enforced guidelines for temporary structures in the concert business," said Gary Bongiovanni, the publisher of the concert-industry trade journal Pollstar.

There are some guidelines," he told TheWrap on Thursday, "but they're voluntary. And it'll be hard to put enforced rules in place, because on a concert tour you're dealing with the local laws in every city."

International standards would be even harder to implement.

Bongiovanni blamed the collapses to fierce weather rather than faulty construction: "No temporary structure is going to be able to withstand the kind of winds that can come up in storms like these."

But based on the videos of the incidents, he does think that some of the stages were safer than others. In Ottawa, for instance, he said the drapes on the side of the stage were tied closed, when reasonable safety standards should have allowed them to open in high winds.

"If you look at the video from Indianapolis, the side drapes there are working the way they're supposed to work," he said. "In Canada, they clearly weren't."

Onstage equipment was also destroyed in Tulsa, although no one was injured in that incident.

Plasa, an international organization providing technical resources for the entertainment industry, publishes voluntary guidelines for the construction of temporary stages for outdoor events. Its latest update of the standards is due to be released in October, and is currently available for public review at the company's website.

Bongiovanni thinks that the rash of collapses may increase the call for uniform standards - but in a business in which most touring acts are forced to rely on a new array of local engineers, designers, construction crews and promoters in each city, he said uniformity will be hard if not impossible to enforce.

"You have very well-established companies doing work in this field, and you have other companies putting up temporary structures with nowhere near the same level of engineering," he said.

"Sometimes you go with the lowest bidder, and that can mean there are compromises made."

"I doubt we'll ever really have national rules," he added. "But if more people started adopting the Plasa guidelines, at least we'd have something to gauge it against."

View the original article here

Review: Chris Young comes into his own on 'Neon' (AP)

Chris Young, "Neon" (RCA)

Since Chris Young won the TV talent show "Nashville Star" in 2006, a few characteristics have stood out: an expressive baritone voice; a tall, handsome stature; and a friendly, approachable personality.

What he lacked, at first, was an identifiable sound of his own. But with four consecutive No. 1 hits, including the recent "Tomorrow" from his new album "Neon," the emerging country star is staking out a distinctive style that takes full advantage of his talent and his personality.

At his core, Young is a romantic with a moral code. The Tennessee native has a sensitive way of bringing out what's important about what he cares about and who he is. This style shows not only in love ballads, but also in songs about family and his laid-back yet caring philosophy on life.

Even on a song about nightlife, like the traditional-country title cut, Young sounds like the guy in the bar to turn to when you need a friend. But what makes "Neon" his best album yet are the songs about relationships, from the sweet come-on of "Lost" to the sage "Old Love Feels New." Throughout, Young comes across as a guy whose heart is as strong as his libido.

CHECK OUT THIS TRACK: While the album's initial hit "Tomorrow" may end up as one his career-defining cuts, the tenderly lustful "I Can Take It From There" is just as strong. Set to a swaying rhythm, he convinces his date to spend the night in rather than out on the town — with passionate promises that are steamy without being coarse.

View the original article here