Fourth album ideas?

[*tight rope*]

Wow, didn't answer this thread yet.

So. I liked the new album very much, but the same thing over again would be a little disappointing.
- I definitely want the choir back. Not for the whole album, but just a few songs to give it that great extra epic touch (f.e. songs like Whisper and Your Star are what they are also thanks to the choir.)
- More prominent strings, it brings a more haunting atmosphere.
- More instrumental pieces in the songs, to enjoy the music itself. This entails decent guitar/piano solos, preferably longer than the usual ten seconds. A somewhat more complex piano-part would be nice as well, but this is not necessary, cause though simple the piano might be, I always greatly enjoyed it. I'd also wouldn't mind an instrumental song again like good old Eternal.
- The above also implies that Amy has to shut up sometimes Also she should belt less, but that has been said over a thousand times by now. More use of lower register, and cool high falsetto notes. (like in TOD, I know that's harder to perform live, but I can live with the idea that they won't perform it then. Best example is EotD.) Also Amy's layered vocals (like in LC and such) are beyond awesome so I'd certainly wanna see that again.
- More eh, original lyrics. EV3 was okay, but I know Amy/Ev can do better than that.
- Some electronic/experimental stuff, but not like in SH or HDTS (though I liked the first), more like they used it in WYW: mixed with the rocksound they to me have to keep. Softer ballads are welcome too.

I love the bandvibe of the EV3 era, so I really hope they can pull it off!

[calcol28]

Anyone have any new thoughts on what they would want the 4th album to sound like?

[rionka]

Ugh, I'd like to have at least a bit of information that there will be the 4th album. Kinda withdrawal symptoms or whatever. Honestly after all I've read here, I have no complaints nor requirements, I just want to see and hear them again.

[JohnnyScott]

.piano
.harp
.Electronic songs mixed with rock
.As others said, bring back the elements of choir that were present in Fallen and TOD
.Your Love version studio bonus track

[Deleted]

I might have already posted in this thread, but I can't remember and don't feel like looking for it. Edit: Yep. Said almost the exact same thing, haha.... Almost.

-No choir. It is outdated and cheesy, while also pushing Ev's music in a closer direction to countless other bands that have been doing the same thing for over a decade now.
-Instrumental sections. MoS has a guitar solo... That's nice, I guess. Solos aren't impressive anymore. Erase This has a brief interplay of piano/strings/drums that is really great, but it's too friggin' short. Developing the instrumental parts and really getting a good groove into some of the songs would do wonders for Ev's music and even their reputation.
-Take the electronic influences in a different kind of direction, as electro-pop-rock is already a thing now, it's not innovative. Other bands have already found great success doing it, but Ev can't keep following in someone else's footsteps.
-The harp is one thing that truly sets Evanescence apart from the majority of bands and mainstream music as a whole. To hear it used creatively and to its full potential on future albums is an absolute must for me. It is the one defining thing about NWTB, an otherwise by-the-books rock song.
-I want Amy to play the piano to the best of her abilities. On three albums she hasn't once pushed or challenged herself on the piano... She's been playing it for as long as I've been alive. I want to hear it.

[Deleted]

Apr 21, 2013 14:19:06 GMT -6 @melt said:

-No choir. It is outdated and cheesy, while also pushing Ev's music in a closer direction to countless other bands that have been doing the same thing for over a decade now.

This is why I hate you so much.

[Deleted]

Apr 21, 2013 14:21:19 GMT -6 @malin said:

Apr 21, 2013 14:19:06 GMT -6 @melt said:

-No choir. It is outdated and cheesy, while also pushing Ev's music in a closer direction to countless other bands that have been doing the same thing for over a decade now.

This is why I hate you so much.

Haven't we done this before, dear?

You don't desire a new and innovative musical experience. I do, and when I express this desire it offends your humble teenage sensibilities. I, on the other hand, am constantly seeking growth and change as a listener as I age and would love for my favorite band to grow and change with me.

[Deleted]

Apr 21, 2013 14:25:37 GMT -6 @melt said:

Apr 21, 2013 14:21:19 GMT -6 @malin said:

This is why I hate you so much.

Haven't we done this before, dear?

You don't desire a new and innovative musical experience. I do, and when I express this desire it offends your humble teenage sensibilities. I, on the other hand, am constantly seeking growth and change as a listener as I age and would love for my favorite band to grow and change with me.

Had to read that like ten times. Didn't really understand anything at first.
You're still wrong. We need choir.

[Deleted]

Apr 21, 2013 14:31:39 GMT -6 @malin said:

Apr 21, 2013 14:25:37 GMT -6 @melt said:

Haven't we done this before, dear?

You don't desire a new and innovative musical experience. I do, and when I express this desire it offends your humble teenage sensibilities. I, on the other hand, am constantly seeking growth and change as a listener as I age and would love for my favorite band to grow and change with me.

Had to read that like ten times. Didn't really understand anything at first.
You're still wrong. We need choir.

I'm not opposed to choir, necessarily. I would enjoy it if they used it in a new way. I'm strongly against anything similar to everything Ev has ever done with choir in the past except for certain parts of Your Star. The epic choir sound and latin chanting nonsense cliches are DONE... But because Evanescence is a band, not a full fledged choir, I don't expect their music to ever fully delve into what makes this kind of music special. Epic walls of sound and "what do you mean it's not symbolic?" latin ranting is the absolute lowest way to utilize a choir. It's filler noise, nothing more. Yeah, it was cool six years ago, ten years ago, whatever... But innovation is in right now. If Ev's mainstream radio career is coming to an end (which it might) then they need to impress a whole different kind of listener now.

[calcol28]

Lets all stop and think of what makes us love Evanescence.

- Operatic Vocals
* I'd love to hear more of Amy's range on the next album. Not so much belting from one song to the next. I love the low notes in songs like Going Under and Snow White Queen, and the epic high notes in Weight Of The World and Whisper. We need more of that. We also need more of the soft and beautifully expressive voice we hear when Amy sings stripped down versions of songs like All That I'm Living For and Good Enough.

- Classical Piano
* As someone said earlier, Amy has been playing piano for awhile. It's time for her to really challenge herself musically. If she can't play the song on the piano live every night I'm fine with it, but I would love to at least hear a bit more complexity with the piano parts in the studio recordings. Your Star has an awesome piano part and I would love to see what Amy could do if she wrote more songs at the piano like this. Don't get me wrong, I love the simplicity of songs like My Immortal and Good Enough (they are some of my favorites) but I know we can hear better from Amy.

- Stringed Orchestra
* Evanescence has never really had the most epic amazing Orchestral Arrangements. I do love the strings in Evanescence music, though, and I think that the band is capable of coming up with something much better. I would just love for the band to take the strings a little bit more seriously and create masterpieces with the background music as opposed to pretty background noise for Amy's voice to sing over and the guitars to grind against. I absolutely love how the strings sound in songs like Lacrymosa and Together Again. The band needs to do more like this.

- Epic Choir
* I know some of you are against choir on the next album, but it was something that I felt was sorely missing from EV3. It's just another added element that can help build a bigger and better overall sound. If you don't like the choir on Fallen and The Open Door you can shut your stinkin face cuz Ev needs to have it on the next album. End of story.

- Metal Guitar
* We got plenty of awesome guitar parts on EV3. I'm satisfied with the guitar for the most part, but I'd like to hear the occasional solo. Going Under and the live version of Disappear kick ASS. Why do they not want to put in more guitar solos? It's metal music, guys. Metal has guitar. Embrace it. Utilize the awesomeness of Terry and Troy.

- Groovy Bass
* Okay, the bass isn't really something I listen for in a lot of Evanescence music, but I think that the band should really think about making it more prominent in the music. I do like hearing Tim rock out in Never Go Back. The 4th album should be a lot more in-your-face with the bass parts. I want my butt to jiggle to the bassline while I listen to it in my car. Enhance it with some synths! Make it sound deep and epic, guys!

- Heavy Drums
* Will proved to be the best drummer that Evanescence has ever had (In my opinion) on this album. I'd love to hear what he can do if he pushes himself with the percussion. Wouldn't some taiko drums or high school drumline stuff sound cool in an Ev song? AHH! Take the energy from the live performances and infuse a little bit more of that passion into the studio recordings.

- Electronic Synths
* Some of my favourite Evanescence songs have very obvious electronic influences. Swimming Home, Snow White Queen, and a majority of pre-fallen material. Go back to your roots, Evanescence! We need more synths! Get Will "Science" Hunt back on the team. Release the lilywhite sessions. Do something! We just need some more.

- Dark Lyrics and Atmosphere
* (Please don't flame me for this one) I really hope we get more dark poetic lyrics on this next album. "Do-hoo Whatchu Whatchu Want" and "Myyyyy Heaaaaaaart Iiiiiiiis Brooooooooooooooooken" don't really cut it for me in terms of lyricism. Some of the lyrics from EV3 feel a bit pushed or rushed to me. I love the album, don't yell at me, but I was expecting MUCH better. The Open Door was an absolute lyrical masterpiece in my opinion (except for CMWYS, but that's another story for another day) and I would love to hear more dark music like this.

[Deleted]

Apr 21, 2013 17:23:03 GMT -6 calcol28 said:

- Epic Choir
* I know some of you are against choir on the next album, but it was something that I felt was sorely missing from EV3. It's just another added element that can help build a bigger and better overall sound. If you don't like the choir on Fallen and The Open Door you can shut your stinkin face cuz Ev needs to have it on the next album. End of story.

Let me open my stinking face for a moment to correct this assumption that choir would give it a fuller sound. It would not. The Open Door and Fallen are mixed in a very flat and anti-climatic way, which is why Your Star sounds unremarkable on the album and incredible live. This allows the choir to sound clear, however. Ev3, on the other hand, is mixed for volume and fullness at the expense of clarity. It already sounds full, bigger, and better, but do you know what one single additional element would turn any song into absolute audio mud? A big choir competing for space in a tightly compressed album with absolutely no wiggle room. The solution? 16 songs that only sound good live. You can only fit so much sound into a song without compromise.

[calcol28]

Apr 21, 2013 17:41:01 GMT -6 @melt said:

Apr 21, 2013 17:23:03 GMT -6 calcol28 said:

- Epic Choir
* I know some of you are against choir on the next album, but it was something that I felt was sorely missing from EV3. It's just another added element that can help build a bigger and better overall sound. If you don't like the choir on Fallen and The Open Door you can shut your stinkin face cuz Ev needs to have it on the next album. End of story.

Let me open my stinking face for a moment to correct this assumption that choir would give it a fuller sound. It would not. The Open Door and Fallen are mixed in a very flat and anti-climatic way, which is why Your Star sounds unremarkable on the album and incredible live. This allows the choir to sound clear, however. Ev3, on the other hand, is mixed for volume and fullness at the expense of clarity. It already sounds full, bigger, and better, but do you know what one single additional element would turn any song into absolute audio mud? A big choir competing for space in a tightly compressed album with absolutely no wiggle room. The solution? 16 songs that only sound good live. You can only fit so much sound into a song without compromise.

Then Ev needs to get a different producer. Choir NEEDS to be on the next album. It's one of the elements that made me fall in love with Evanescence in the first place. Your Star is incredible live and on the album in my opinion, so idk what you're talking about. It doesn't make sense for you to say the choir is competing for space when the songs already have so many layers. That's one of my favourite things about Evanescence music: the layers. It is possible to create a big lush sound with strings and choirs and guitars and pianos and anything else you want without sounding bad, and Ev needs to do it.

[Deleted]

Apr 21, 2013 18:02:59 GMT -6 calcol28 said:

Apr 21, 2013 17:41:01 GMT -6 @melt said:

Let me open my stinking face for a moment to correct this assumption that choir would give it a fuller sound. It would not. The Open Door and Fallen are mixed in a very flat and anti-climatic way, which is why Your Star sounds unremarkable on the album and incredible live. This allows the choir to sound clear, however. Ev3, on the other hand, is mixed for volume and fullness at the expense of clarity. It already sounds full, bigger, and better, but do you know what one single additional element would turn any song into absolute audio mud? A big choir competing for space in a tightly compressed album with absolutely no wiggle room. The solution? 16 songs that only sound good live. You can only fit so much sound into a song without compromise.

Then Ev needs to get a different producer. Choir NEEDS to be on the next album. It's one of the elements that made me fall in love with Evanescence in the first place. Your Star is incredible live and on the album in my opinion, so idk what you're talking about. It doesn't make sense for you to say the choir is competing for space when the songs already have so many layers. That's one of my favourite things about Evanescence music: the layers. It is possible to create a big lush sound with strings and choirs and guitars and pianos and anything else you want without sounding bad, and Ev needs to do it.

That's exactly what I mean, though. Evanescence has layer after layer of production and it already crackles (in NGB) and loses its clarity on Ev3 because there's too many sounds at too high a volume. If you had read my previous posts though, you'd know that I'm only against choir in the way Evanescence specifically has used it, meaning their producers, their mixers, etc... They have not proven to me that choir is something special about what they do because they haven't used it in a new, exciting, or complete way. I understand that it's something you enjoy because of your specific taste and you wouldn't get any arguments from me if you would respect my opinion as well, but anything along the lines of "shut your face, you're wrong, I'm right, end of story" is just bratty and I can't help but to reply to that. That's like me bait. It is very possible to have a lush full sound with many different layers, but Evanescence has not done it yet, which is why I don't care for that aspect of their music because it isn't executed to its full potential. I have been singing in choirs most of my life and greatly enjoy chamber music so when it isn't used in a setting that it truly shines in, I don't want to hear it. Stylistic flare isn't good enough for me and neither is flat mixing or muddled layers.

[Worm Baby]

I agree with a lot of what you said, calcol28. I'd also like to hear more variety in Amy's vocals. The constant belting makes it all so much less emotional. I also agree that a lot of the lyrics weren't really up to par. I want to see Amy push herself outside of her comfort zone instead of writing the same kind of predictable stuff. I thought the lyrics in "Swimming Home" were different and unexpected. They're dark, but not in a typical cliche way. I'd like to see more of that.

More intricate piano and string arrangements would really help take their music to the next level. I think the guys really stepped up the instrumental work on Ev3. I'd definitely love to see them continue to do that, but maybe with a few more solo parts, especially for guitar and even bass. And I'd love for harp to be incorporated more. I'd also personally really like to see them explore some new instruments here and there. "Sally's Song" had some really awesome new sounds from instruments Ev had never used before, and I'd love to see a little experimentation in that area.

I'm also dying for the return of electronic elements. To me, it's just not Ev without them. I think TOD was a pretty perfect balance of rock and electronics. Ev3 hardly had any and that was a big disappointment, especially after all the hype about electronic stuff. I'd actually be really happy if they went even more electronic than TOD, but I'd be happy with at least the amount it had. I realized that a huge thing that was missing on Ev3 to me was that dark, kind of spooky atmosphere, and I think the lack of electronics played a big role in that.

As for the choir argument, I kind of agree that choir can sound cheesy a lot of the time. They would have to use it in just the right way on just a couple songs. I think it was perfect and really added to songs like "Together Again", "Lacrymosa", "Whisper", and "Your Star". I did miss having just a touch of choir on Ev3.

It's not a must for me, but a guest vocalist on a song would be pretty sweet too. I can think of a number of people Amy would sound great with. It'd shake things up a bit. I'd also personally love an instrumental track too. I've always adored "Eternal" and have always wished they'd do an instrumental again. And it would really show that Amy's voice isn't the only thing that makes Ev great.

Overall, I just want a lot more experimentation in every area of their music. I'd love to see them play with song structures and time signatures too. I just want them to push themselves again, like Amy did on TOD.

[carolexodus]

I agree with bringing the choir back, but only if it's used in a new way and only in a few songs.
IMO, Ev should really focus in incorporating new sounds and developing the one's they've already used like harp, rather than repeating formulas, try to recreate themselves, especially with talented band members like the ones the band has now. They just need to get as creative as possible, sign to a better label, so they won't feel the need to make a certain type of sound, and bring other creative musicians and producers to the mix, I think all that would add to their reinventation. And maybe a songwriter to help Amy with her compulsive use of "blood", "oceans", "fix", "pain", "bleeding", "dark/darkness", "heart", etc.