Sound Asleep EP Discussion Thread

[DarkFlare89]

Sound Asleep EP

Released on: August 1999
Released by: BigWig Enterprises/Sound Asleep Entertainment
Released amount: 50 copies

Tracklist:

1. Give Unto Me - (2:00)
2. Whisper - (4:06)
3. Understanding - (4:55)
4. Forgive Me - (3:02)
5. Understanding (Evanescence EP Version) - (7:21)
6. Ascension Of The Spirit- (11:48)

---Outtakes and Extras---
1. Whisper (Post-Sound Asleep Demo) - (3:51)
2. Whisper (We The Living) - (4:06)

Listen to the ENTIRE EP:

Some Things To Think About/Debate Over:

-First thought off of everyone's mind is probably WHAT THE HELL IS THAT RED THING?! According to EvLore Amy Lee drew herself a self-portrait. Now, that is a tad dark if that thing is suppose to be Amy . . . maybe it's an abstract painting or maybe a post-zombie attack Amy, that I can understand. Eventualy this was scrapped as a possible cover, although not because of any digitization issues (as was the EvRumor).

In a blender article, I found this: "She painted stuff like the five-by-six-foot anatomical heart spewing a fountain of blood that currently hangs in her apartment."

I'm thinking the photo associated with this EP looks more like a spewing heart than Amy : /

The painting ya'll are talking about is a painting by Amy that she claimed to be a 'self portrait' It was considered as a cover, but was never actually used. Instead, they used plain silver burned CDs that, if one was lucky enough, had Ben's and Amy' signatures on them.

In anycase, according to EvReference this picture was up (as the SA EP cover) on BigWig's website until 2003. It was labeled "goblin.jpg" It is most likely a possible cover for Sound Asleep. Brad (from BigWig) and Adrian also created some possible covers, but Ben went with just a regular CD + their signatures in order to save money and "add mystique."

As far as I know, ALL copies of the Sound Asleep EP were burned with same contents and sequencing, including the instrumental version of "Give Unto Me," "Ascension Of The Spirit," and the lengthy silences preceding the hidden tracks. I can truthfully say I never made the statements attributed to me [by the ebay seller] and, in fact, was not in on any of the discussions regarding the contents or sequencing of the disc. My involvement in the EP was limited to some artwork I mocked up for the project (as did Adrian James) that was ultimately rejected when Ben decided to go with the unprinted discs to save money as well as add mystique, and the fulfillment of about ten "orders" for the disc that were run through me to Ben. So far as a I know, all 50 copies were identical, and all were sold within a 24 hour period. - Bradley S. Caviness, Bigwig Enterprises

SOURCE

BigWig probably changed their picture from the red one (which I suppose was the one they were going to go with before Ben changed his mind/before it became all distorted due to digitization?) to the regular CD one (in 2003) once Evanescence started to become famous and thus, the BigWig people thought it's time to update the old discography in case anyone wants to buy off the rest of the Origins xD (which they did).

SOURCE

-This EP can also be officially called the Whisper EP, but for some reason I prefer the other name. Nothing against it per-se but ever since I started seeing people refer to the EV EP as the Exodus EP (WTF?), it began to bug me refering to an entire EP by just one song. I suppose "Origin" cannot be helped though *shrug*. It seems like Sound Asleep Entertainment (whoever they were) may have helped with this release. Is this why it was named the Sound Asleep EP? Maybe Ben and Amy called it the Whisper EP, but out of (thanks? respect? kindness?) also named it the Sound Asleep EP (why though? Discounts? Free publicity? They had to get something out of the Sound Asleep Entertainment people it if that was the case.)

Sound AsleepWhisper EP. Released in August of 1999 by Evanescence with help from BigWig Enterprises, with a limited edition of 50 copies on DCR. There are no guest musicians. The reason for this title is that Evanescence didn't know what to call it. They said "Sound Asleep" sounds good but "Whisper" sounds good too. So they decided to just call it both, and fans could call it whatever thay wanted along the lines of "Sound Asleep" or "Whisper."

-Discographies that have little commentaries on them seem to harp on Understanding for some reason. Was it due to popular demand that the EP version (the one they played on the radio) was put on the SA EP? One can imagine it was due to that song's popularity that allowed Ben and Amy to do an acoustic in 1998 - maybe because it sold out so quickly (the EP), Ben and Amy decided to put it on the SA EP as well to make people happy. Still, it is rather strange that "this is the last place" Understanding will ever be released is a very . . . er final comment. It is that comment specifically that is seen on discographies (if they have comments, that is). If Understanding was so popular (like they say Imaginary was back in Little Rock, as per the Making Of Fallen) why wasn't this song re-done for Origin or Fallen? I mean, wouldn't they (thier Little Rock fans) have freaked out if this song was done (ooh a heavier Understanding. That would be neat) like they did for Whisper, My Immortal, and Imaginary?

This CDR was released by the band themselves and distributed partially by Bigwig. It sold out pretty quickly.

It was released with no artwork in a simple plastic container. The version of Whisper on this CD is different from the one on Origin. This is also supposedly the last place that the band will release "Understanding" in any version.

Oh and YES this is a picture of my personal copy of the EP, and YES it's really signed -Nate

This CDR was released at a show at Vino's in Little Rock Arkansas and sold out that night.

-This poster asks an excellent question - I imagine the only way people could know what the songs are called is if they played the entire EP live when it was released (and hence people could remember them?) I mean Understanding is obvious (since it was on the EV EP), and Forgive Me is probably an easy one to remember, but AOTS or GUM? Not really . . .

Just out of curiousity it there wasn't a cover for Sound Asleep, then there must not have been a tracklist right? Besides Whisper and Understanding, how do we know what the song titles are?

THANKS to Magicalcutzi for the videos!

[newwaytobleed]

Why "Goodnight" is listed as outtake?? Goodnight is from "Blitz Locals"... then "The Blitzkrieg Theme 2000" is also a Sound Asleep EP outtake???

[DarkFlare89]

Jan 19, 2013 16:34:30 GMT -6 newwaytobleed said:

Why "Goodnight" is listed as outtake?? Goodnight is from "Blitz Locals"... then "The Blitzkrieg Theme 2000" is also a Sound Asleep EP outtake???

Excellent Question!

I posted about this on the Goodnight topic, but this is what I said there:

-Some of you may be wondering why I think this song is a Sound Asleep EP Outtake. Well, I think it is MUCH more likely that Amy did this song a bit nearer to the May 2000 release date than 1997 or 1998, don't you? If your wondering where those dates are coming from, think back to discographies that actually bother to list Goodnight. Where do they do it? They put it in that nonsensical 1997-1998 Demos category, that makes no sense. Of course, everyone in there also gets to hang out in the EV EP Outtakes club, but not Goodnight - oh no, it is never invited.

One has to wonder why Goodnight is there in the first place? So, you mean to say that Goodnight was created two years before it was released for charity? Ben made his little thing that year (probably, since it has 2000 in the title - by the very least in late 1999). Why don't we presume that Amy did the same thing? It might very well be EvLore that Goodnight, October, Exodus, and Give Unto Me (Piano-Vocal) were created in the 1997 - 1998 era, but this doesn't make sense. Why is Exodus considered a demo if it was on the EP (see Exodus topic for that discussion). Are we to assume Goodnight was never considered for the EV EP (thus an Outtake) but everything else was? Then why did she make it?

This question is answered if we believe that she did NOT make it back then, but instead made it more closely to the Sound Asleep EP era (at least by late 1999, like Ben's song). Thus, Goodnight should be categorized more closely with that era as a Sound Asleep EP Outtake (EvRumor) along with the two demos of Whisper (We The Living) and (Post-Sound Asleep).

Now then, if you are asking whether or not Amy/Ben ever thought "Goodnight" was going to be on the SA/W EP, I'd say it had as much of a chance of being on there as "LTTR" had of being on Origin. Both "Goodnight" and "LTTR" were Amy-songs (as The Blitzkrieg Theme 2000 was a Ben-song), but the main reason why I did not list TBT 2000 as an outtake was because, to me, it seemed much more unlikely that that song would ever be considered on the EP when compared to "Goodnight." Totally subjective mind you, and completely up for change, but I figure if TBT 2000 was released by "The Void" (a.k.a. Ben Moody), then it struck me as a side-project-esque thing Ben was doing (like how Ben was hanging out in the band So Close (see "So Close" topic) as a little side thing too). Compare that to Amy who was ONLY doing Evanescence, and it strikes me as more likely for "Goodnight" to be an SA/W EP outtake than TBT 2000.

Nevertheless, we can at least rest assured that "Goodnight" has no place in that imaginary 1997-1998 Demos category. That's for sure.

EDIT: WHOOPS! Boy is this embarrassing! So, to anyone reading this in ~the future~, see the EV EP Discussion Topic on where Goodnight should be. It is, in fact, a 1997-1998 demo/EV EP Outtake based on new information found from a Google Group page from 1998.

[newwaytobleed]

hahah i got it and I completely agree with you... besides, I love your "Evanescence's Songs Theories", I've learnt a lot with your posts, good job

[Titanic]

Where can one find these songs? I heard Ev released them and said we can download them for free? I don't mind buying them if we can?

[harridan]

Apr 13, 2013 21:30:32 GMT -6 Titanic said:

Where can one find these songs? I heard Ev released them and said we can download them for free? I don't mind buying them if we can?

They are available on Evanescence Reference.

[AeternusAmatorius]

Apr 13, 2013 21:30:32 GMT -6 Titanic said:

Where can one find these songs? I heard Ev released them and said we can download them for free? I don't mind buying them if we can?

As Harridan said, you can download them from the EvRef page. Though there is a thread for this EP already. Please use the search function next time. 

[Titanic]

Sorry, I know I'm terrible with all my questions, haha. I only just noticed there was a search function.

[AeternusAmatorius]

Apr 13, 2013 22:50:10 GMT -6 Titanic said:

Sorry, I know I'm terrible with all my questions, haha. I only just noticed there was a search function.

Lol. It's okay. No worries!

[easyway]

The Sound Asleep ep is cdr no case?  Can someone explain why the internet shows releases of Sound Asleep ep that look like official releases, what are they and where are they coming from?

[AeternusAmatorius]

Jan 8, 2016 11:11:06 GMT -6 easyway said:

The Sound Asleep ep is cdr no case?  Can someone explain why the internet shows releases of Sound Asleep ep that look like official releases, what are they and where are they coming from?

This EP is a CD-r and was in a flexi disc saver case. 50 were made and signed by Ben and Amy (not sure if all 50 were signed though).

"Official" looking or professional looking "releases" are all bootlegs.

[AeternusAmatorius]

Some information about the red picture that was a supposed cover (goblin.jpg) DarkFlare89:

I do recognize that red painting as one of the pieces of art provided to me to consider working with along with the green one. There wasn't any resolution problem that prevented it being used, though.