Other artists' thoughts on Evanescence?

[larki13]

I was just wondering if any other artists, particularly big-name artists or any of Amy's influences, had commented on Ev or Amy over the years?

I tried searching for a thread like this and came up empty-handed, so apologies if there's already one out there.

[Open The Door]

I think Nirvana once said something about Ev at a concert. I could be wrong.

[GoingUnderOceans]

^Kurt Cobain died in the 90's so I don't think so, I think he died before Ev came around(not 100% sure)

[larki13]

Nah, Kurt died in 1994, there's no way.

[X]

Didn't you guys hear? He came back from the dead just to see them perform. Iconic

Joking aside, Ronnie James Dio liked Evanescence.

[AeternusAmatorius]

Remember that Kurt Cobain isn't the only member of Nirvana.

Korn said that they were blown away by Evanescence's performance of Thoughtless. They also wanted to do a collaboration with her/Evanescence (not sure which one) on their song Tearjerker (I think they said) but that fell through, so when they did their MTV Unplugged album, they asked Amy about Freak On A Leash. I think this can be found on the Korn MTV Unplugged DVD.

[KetyEv]

www.music-news.com/shownews.asp?H=Amy-Lee:-I-made-Kelly-Clarkson-cry/shownews.asp?H=Amy-Lee:-I-made-Kelly-Clarkson-cry&nItemID=44437 (I hope it's related to topic)hihi

*Fixed the url with url codes. -DoubleA*

[thelastghost]

Tarja from Nightwish did some years ago:



Simone Simons:

[He-Ran]

Jan 14, 2013 20:10:17 GMT -6 thelastghost said:

Simone Simons:

Even though I understand the frustration of being constantly compared to Ev and other female-fronted bands, I can't @ how Simone called Ev a commercial pop-rock band. It may be true to on some level, but it feels like a reference to Fallen.

Back on topic, Lemmy from Motorhead likes Ev a lot. And Aaron Stainthorpe from My Dying Bride also thought Ev are good and something like a more commercial MDB.
As for Amy herself, when Bjork was asked which singer she admired, she answered with Amy Lee. Paula Cole (who sang with Amy and Ashley Arrison at the Freedom Gala) said she thought Amy had an extraordinary voice and that she wished she would release a solo record. Kelly Clarkson also tweeted that she wanted to duet with Amy.

[rionka]

a small selection from my archives:

Lzzy Hale of Halestorm:
"It is a tremendous honor and privilege to get to play with the queen of rock herself."
- source

Shirley Manson of Garbage:
"Ms Lee. It was a pleasure to meet you today. Thank you for dropping in and bringing your gorgeous iwolf eyes for us to peer in."
- source

Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless:
"Evanescence was one of the first shows I ever went to. Sharing the stage with them is surreal. I'm a big fan of Evanescence, so it's really exciting to be opening for them."
- source

Kelly Clarkson:
"New goal in life is to sing a duet with amyleeev from Evanescence. Watching her in concert ....she is so intense, a beautiful vocalist, and has great taste in melodies and music. Wow. I've always liked her but wow, such a beautiful spirit and so great."
- source

Paula Cole:
"Amy Lee from Evanescence is amazing, her voice is so real."
- source

Tim McCord about Amy Lee:
"Amy’s sense of humor is a lot like mine, we’re always making each other laugh. I don’t have a lot of friends like that so that's something I definitely love about her..."
- source

Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead:
"I’ve been listening to Evanescence a lot, I think they’re f**king excellent. Excellent production, excellent songs, excellent arrangement. The girl’s got a great voice, you know. And I don’t even fancy her, which is a big part of girl singers, you know what I mean? I think they’re just great. I went to see them in Vegas."
- source

Björk:
"In the actual musical scene, i really like Amy Lee from Evanescence. In a show in Japan, she went to my room and we drank champagne together, she was really cool and funny, we just had a great time. She just has an amazing voice and the way she expresses her feelings and emotions in the music is also amazing, without a doubt she would be one of the greatest in the scene now, if we focus in the general scene we would have so many options thats its just hard to think of it."
- source

Jonathan Davis of Korn:
We did a couple of shows with Evanescence in Europe and they played [Thoughtless]. It's a huge, huge thing when an artist thinks of doing a cover of one of our songs, it just blows us away, and she [Amy Lee] does it so beautifully. She's told me time and time again that she's a huge Korn fan. What was really cool was that in Europe, they were supposed to headline over us and she refused to do it and made us headline over them. There's a just a lot of respect there. I think she's a great girl and I love that cover — it came out beautifully. The way I hear things in my head sometimes, the more time I spend in a heavy band, I'm more about melody and shit like that, so… when I heard their version, it was really cool. The melodies really pop out.'"
- source


--
I've got a few another opinions which I saved and translated to Czech language for my website, but they were really old in that time (3/2011) and now I see many sources died already... along with the old ET. So i'm not sure about their actual quotation in English.

[EvanescentEvil]

That's what Robb Flynn from Machine Head replied to me on Twitter.

[WhisperedDreams]

Jan 15, 2013 0:22:28 GMT -6 He-Ran said:

Jan 14, 2013 20:10:17 GMT -6 thelastghost said:

Simone Simons:

Even though I understand the frustration of being constantly compared to Ev and other female-fronted bands, I can't @ how Simone called Ev a commercial pop-rock band. It may be true to on some level, but it feels like a reference to Fallen.
.

Compared to Epica they are more popular rock. Epica is very heavy and has growling. So she's not wrong there in how she talked about genre. Also, Ev is commercial. They are promoted through radio, and have a history of being promoted through MTV and other music business. Being "commercial" is not bad or wrong, just a way to describe a person or band. And here's another definition of the term (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_commercial_music ).

[DarkFlare89]

From my uber!powerful EvNotes - although I think most of this came from EvBoard . . .

NOTE: Notes in brackets/paranethesis/whatever are not mine, they belong to the original poster and were added with the post into my notes.

~~~~~

Chester of Linkin Park

I think it's a double-edge sword, though, because there are a lot of bands out there that are going to have their idenities based around...That label wants the new Linkin Park. A female-fronted Linkin Park with a rapper guy...I mean, it's crazy, but it's true"

DAVIS: "...And Chester, if I was you, I'd be beating Evanescence's ass"

BENNINGTON: It's funny-I met them in the studio when they were recording their record. We were both recording in the same building. I was talking to Amy and she was nice. She said, "We're having these problems. Everyone at our label wants us to be you." I told her that's lame. She agreed. She said they went as far as wanting to ask Mike to do a part on a song. She said, "We knew he wouldn't do it." So they're running around trying to get guys in other bands to do it like he would. I told her to be herself and tell the label to put it where the sun doesn't shine. But the next thing I heard was "Bring Me to Life" with a guy that sounded just like Mike. It was a little upsetting.

Korn

What made you want to cover Korn?
We love its work and always wanted to do a cover. After taking a poll, we settled on Thoughtless.

How did Korn react?
The band members were like, "Cool man, you guys brought out a new sound".

Jonathan Davis from Korn reaction on the cover of Thougthless

"Yeah, we did a couple of shows with [EVANSESCENCE] in Europe and [they] played it," he told The Blitz 99.7 FM. "It's a huge, huge thing when an artist thinks of doing a cover of one of our songs, it just blows us away, and she [EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee] does it so beautifully. She's told me time and time again that she's a huge KORN fan. What was really cool was that in Europe, they were supposed to headline over us and she refused to do it and made us headline over them. There's a just a lot of respect there. I think she's a great girl and I love that cover, it came out beautifully. The way I hear things in my head sometimes, the more [time I spend] in a heavy band, I'm more about melody and shit like that, so when I heard [EVANESCENCE's version of 'Thoughtless'], it was really cool. The melodies really pop out.'"

Used, The-Utah-based emocore band. Released self-titled debut in June 2002.

Bert McCracken, lead singer, went on an offensive on Evanescence after they couldn't play the KROQ (Los Angeles) Weenie Roast in the summer of 2003 because of a Ben Moody illness. Evanescence pulled out of the Weenie Roast and the Used took Evanescence's place.

Originally Posted by an MTV article:

"Evan-offense, what is the band called? Sucka-essence," McCracken joked. "Anyways, that sh--ty band that was supposed to [perform] canceled, so we got their spot and it went beautifully."

STYX

"It's exciting to see the success of Evanescence, with piano arrangements and vocal harmonys back in mainstream rock again"

Hilary Duff *please note- this is me paraphrasing, she has said something like this before*

"I like Evanescence"

Paul McCoy

It was cool. They were really cool kids. They definitely have an amazing career ahead of them. It was really an honor to get to work with them on kind of a big, breakout record, to get a part with them on a song. I was really stoked, they were really cool.

Cristina from Lacuna Coil- Thank you to Heather

I can't say anything negative about them because success is good. Good for them. I will say that we have been putting out albums since 1997 and the relationship we have with our label-with Century Media-is very good. They are one of the largest labels for this type of music, but Evanescence is on Sony which is much more powerful. They have much more ability to promote a band which I think has helped them achieve their success. Also, they have the song on a film soundtrack.

APESHIT: Have you heard of the new band, EVANESCENCE?

CRISTINA: Yeah, I've heard about this band because a lot of people are writing me and saying, "they stole your style...you did it first!" I just listened to one song from them...the one from the Daredevil movie. Yeah, they do remind me of our style, but they even remind of even LINKIN PARK. But what can I say? I mean, I will not say anything because in the very beginning of our career, we suffered from comparisons with other bands. So I don't wanna say anything at all because everybody is free to do whatever they want. I hope we will be able to say that we will sell the same copies as they did. "We did it first! Buy our album!" (Playfully)

Good Charlotte

Benji: {talking about the Evanescence video for "Bring Me To Life"} Amy Lee had to hire a stunt double for all of the falling that had to be shot, but the double hurt herself on the first take. So what they did is they hired Joel. That's actually Joel there wearing that dress falling from that building. No, I'm kidding, it was actually Amy Lee herself.

Benji: Evanescence at number ten today with "Bring me To Life." Every morning I hear Joel singing that: "wake me up inside."

Joel: No, you sing "wake me up inside" and I go "cant wake up."

Benji:"its nice to see some rock on the countdown..evanescence did some radio shows with us...good band.."

Joel:"i think id look better than amy lee in a dress, jkjk, amy lees hott" (thank you to Ashley for the last 2)

Jay from Maxeen- I asked him this personally

"I only heard them once. She's got a great voice. not what i would go out and buy, though."

Ron from Fisher- Thank you to Pete for this info!

"I finally had some time to really listen to the band. I think it's cool. She sounds great and I can totally understand their success. One thing that did (music is always so subjective) drag on my senses after a while was how she sings so many choruses legato...very drawn out. I know this is how they wrote the songs, but it would be nice not to rely too heavily on the "new" radiohead sound. Other than that the band is great.- Ron"

Avril Lavigne- Thank you to evfansite.com

I'll answer honestly, sure. I don't have anything against her, but I think that is wrong she being judge Ben Moody only because he made the decision of leaving the band. I worked with him on my new album and he's great, my older brother, and believe me, he suffered a lot with that too. Beside that I can say that I like very much their lyrics, because they're different, beautiful and deep. Ah! And I think that Amy is beautiful too.

Tim C. from Ludo- Asked by me personally

"I like their singles, and her voice is amazing but it's not really me, ya know?"

Christina Aguilera

"I read somewhere that that Evanescence chick [singer Amy Lee] said 'Christina says she's promoting feminism, but sticking up for females is the opposite of what she's doing'. It's like, first of all, from what standpoint or viewpoint, you know? And second, just because I don't like to wear dark, covered-up things all the time..." She trails off laughing "That's just not me. You be a woman in your viewpoint, and I'll be a woman in mine."

KaRIN and Statik of Collide- Responding to the comment of evanescence being everywhere, thank you to Sarah for this!

"Don't feel bad that they've gained some success. You have no idea how hard it is in the music business. Its better than them suffering. If they start making music that's a sellout, well, then they suck"

Matt from Mest- Note this is paraphrased from something he said outside when they played next to Ev in Boston at the avalon/axis.

"Oh looking for Evanescence? Ya they already left in all their goth glory"

Tarja Turunen (Nightwish)

"Interviewer: So what do you think of them honestly... I mean Evanescence?

Tarja: Well... hmm... I see it as a rather positive thing after all, even if I need to point out they have simply nothing to do with Nightwish´s music. They do a very different thing musically compared to us and I also need to say they are more like a ´product´ in the true sense of the word that was built up by media when the time was right for their type of band. And with that massive promotional organization they had behind them at that time, it was never meant to fail. The timing was absolutely right for them - and nowadays they have become a damn huge name all around the world. But it´s only a positive thing because it seems that finally people are not thinking that conservative way in the music business any longer. And hopefully this more open-minded thinking amongst people in this business is here to stay from now on, keeping the doors open for bands similar like them, you know. I think that there are always some closed doors inside the world of music that just need to be opened by new bands in order to achieve something different and unique musically."

Tuomas Holopainen (Nightwish)

"Tuomas: To this day, I havenft heard a band that sounds like Nightwish. All of these bands have a very unique style. I have to say also that there is an uprising of metal bands, due to the success of Evanescence.

Interviewer: Are you looking forward to your first headline tour in U.S.A., with Lullacry as a support act?

Tuomas: Very much. First time in U.S.A. and headliners! There is definitely something going on there. Anything is possible in that country. I never would have thought, a couple of years ago, that we had a chance there. But as I said there is a growing interest for metal acts, thanks to Evanescence."

One thing that the critics on both sides of the Atlantic seem to have in common is comparing Nightwish to Evanescence. Tarja and company were around for a long time before their distant American cousins struck gold with 'Bring Me To Life', so does it cause annoyance when the two bands are placed side by side?
"Not as much as you'd think," replies Tuomas. "If I only listened to chart music, I could maybe understand it. If you're into metal, the you'll know we both come from totally different places. The hardcore fans will also know that we were around five years before Evanescence were. And let me say, I do actually like them as a band"

Kelly Clarkson said. "Then I heard that Evanescence record, and I loved it because of the passion behind it - the violins, the guitars - it was heavy but pretty. It was exactly what I was looking for."

She asked her management to see if she could work with the artists in Evanescence, unaware that Moody and Hodges had left the band. The trio teamed up on two songs for "Breakway" - "Because of You" and "Addicted."

"I met Ben [Moody] first and I wanted him to love the music," Clarkson said. "I was like, 'Dude, if you don't like the songs, just let me know. We can write some new stuff, or you don't have to work with me at all.' It worked out really, really well."

Ville Valo (of HIM) a while back he said,

Ville: I like "Going Under". It's a good song and then the, on the single of "Bring Me to Life" they have the original version of the song without the rapping, without that dude, i hate that dude in the song..so..that's really good!

The drummer from BarlowGirl that I posted in my last post. I don't know why but I get all excited when bands I like talk about other bands I like lol.

And Ifm gonna ask you the questionc

Yes.

How do you feel being compared to Evanescence?

You know theyfre a great bandc

Uh-huh.

So, I mean itfs not like a bad thing at all but the funny thing is, is that wefve never heard their stuff before our record came out.

Really?

Or before we recorded our record.

Really?

So, like we did gNever Aloneh it was already recorded and it was finished and see all the sudden Evanescence comes out. And it was like, gOh, you know you guys sound just like Evanescence.h and like, gWho is Evanescence? Like who are these people?h and so itfs like it wasc I mean its good, I mean at least theyfre a good band and I like their stuff and wefre being compared to them. So, theyfre awesome but we didnft rip off their stuff.

They ripped off yours.

(Laughs) Yeah. So, you know itfs all good; I like them a lot, so itfs good stuff.

Sharon from Within Temptation

the lord : Very good. Changing the subject... In case you aren't updated between the release of your last 2 albums, there has been a group that has appeared and has huge success - Evanescence. In seeing them blossom, do you have the impression that Within Temptation hasn't been there or it happened at the right moment? (The last 2 lines are a bit iffy, they make no sense to me ><;; )

Sharon Den Adel : If you want my opinion, Evanescence is a very good group. They're maybe a little more soft than us, but they're good. I don't see their success like a deception ((again... iffy on that too) because we're continuing to do are music and I believe that we should concentrate on just that. I wish the best to all the new groups. Evanescence writes good music, so it doesn't bother me that they've become so commerically successful.

-the lord : Of all the songs on The Silent Force, Stand my Ground is the one that resembles most like Evanescence. Is it a provocation on your part to release a single and remind everyone that it was you that started that type of music?

Sharon Den Adel : We have always played this kind of music. The other groups are different than us, like we are different from them. We have nothing to do with Nightwish (I'm sure she doesn't mean that in a negative way) or any other metal band with a female singer. We have our own style and our own way of doing things. Firstly, each group has a different composer, you differentiate each group by looking at how they put their emotions into their writing. Of course, our sound is more modern than the older stuff, but it's a natural evolution for us. We never were and never will be a nu-metal group like Evanescence. I think that the guys that compare us to them do not know that of these two groups, we already have a distinct musical past. The guys that have been following us since the underground scene know that we have been around for a long time et can feel our evolution. Like I said before, we have to concentrate on what we're doing, on our strenghts and not care about external factors.

~~~~~

Random other notes from posts, but usually are NOT direct quotes:

~~~~~

Hilary Duff likes Ev; don't you guys remember her diary where she was all excited because she met John, his little daughter, and got an Ev sweatshirt?

Jonathan Davis from Korn said that he liked Ev. He said that he really loved their Thoughtless cover, and he sounded rather touched that Ev wouldn't accept the headlining spot for Rock Am Ring and gave it to them instead.

Also, I remember that P.Diddy said to Amy that he likes exercising to Fallen or something lol but he was definitely head-boppin' (my word. yes.) to GU when they played it as Amy came on at some awards show awhile back. I think it was at the Grammies when Ev won.

I know Sharon Den Adel of Within Temptation likes Evanescence. When I met her I asked if it was the bands choice to use the new cover on the re-issue of Mother Earth because its kind of similar to Ev in that both bands have there singers face on the covers, she told me that it was not the bands choice and they never even knew about it until they were give a copy. So I asked her if she thought it was a kind of marketing ploy by their record label. She said no because that photo has existed for a long time and then went on to say how much she likes Fallen and likes Amy and her style and attitude.

If I recall, I once heard somewhere that Maynard of Tool and A Perfect Circle liked the cover Evanescence did of Orestes by A Perfect Circle. That doesn't quite say that any of his bands love Evanescence, but considering he worked with Amy in the past and all I think it's pretty safe to assume that at least he and her are on good terms.

Anyway back on topic...I remember Sheryl Crow was on the Sharon Osbourne show back when Ev was nominated for the 04 Grammys and she said she liked them, as well. So that's exciting for me anyway

Hahahaha. Usher likes Evanescence and Seether? HOW AMUSING! But thats awesome, I love rap/soul/R&B artists who embrace other forms of music. If you check out this thing on MTV.com about Playitism or something, and you look at the favourites of some of the rap/R&B artist on their, most of them list very trite new things, but then on others I was VERY surprised, one of the rapper dudes listed Bjork.

Yes, Tuomas from Nightwish enjoyed "Fallen", though he said it got a tad boring after a while.

In 2003, I heard a DJ say on the radio that Dave Grohl(Foo Fighters) said that Evanescence was one of his favorite new bands.

Yeah, I think it was Lars Ullrich (Metallica' s drummer) who said that Evanescence was his new favourite band.

Dougie and Danny from McFly (UK band thing) likes Ev.

Stephanie Luzie from the gothic metal band Darkwell enjoys Evanescence.

I've read quotes from Emmy Rossum which say that she has been influenced by Evanescence and that they're on her iPod.

~~~~~
Let us not forget that Mandy (from Noctura) and Ailyn (from Sirenia) have both covered Evanescence songs (BMTL and ATILF/Lithium, respectively), so they too presumably enjoy Evanescence.

Aanndd that's all for now folks! ;D

[He-Ran]

Oh yeah, I just remembered that Wes Borland thought about working with Amy/Ev at some point. I guess he might enjoy their music as well?

[Morgan]

Love this thread so much!

Jan 15, 2013 18:43:32 GMT -6 WhisperedDreams said:

Jan 15, 2013 0:22:28 GMT -6 He-Ran said:

Even though I understand the frustration of being constantly compared to Ev and other female-fronted bands, I can't @ how Simone called Ev a commercial pop-rock band. It may be true to on some level, but it feels like a reference to Fallen.
.

Compared to Epica they are more popular rock. Epica is very heavy and has growling. So she's not wrong there in how she talked about genre. Also, Ev is commercial. They are promoted through radio, and have a history of being promoted through MTV and other music business. Being "commercial" is not bad or wrong, just a way to describe a person or band. And here's another definition of the term (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_commercial_music ).

Your definition is valid but there are also others that lead me to believe that, TECHNICALLY, Ev is not really commercial. "Commercial" music implies/means that the music is made with the sole purpose of pleasing, attracting the masses and with no artistic predisposition whatsoever. (Maybe Fallen is it, just a little bit, though, not completely, just BMTL, in the way it was shaped in the end) ;D