Fallen by Evanescence

Fallen, Evanescence's debut album, came out on Wind-up on March 4, 2003, and it's where metal-sized guitars meet a voice that belongs in a cathedral. Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody had been building the band for years, putting out two EPs and a demo CD on their own before Wind-up signed them in January 2001, and several of those early songs turn up here. Dave Fortman produced it at several California studios between August and December 2002.

The formula is simple and lethal: Lee's piano and soaring voice set against Moody's crunching guitars, with enough gothic drama to fill an opera house. "Bring Me to Life" crashes in like a nightmare you can't wake up from, "Going Under" pounds and pleads, and "My Immortal" strips everything back to piano and heartbreak. "Everybody's Fool" rounded out the four singles. It's the only studio album with Moody, who left the band in October 2003.

It was a juggernaut. Fallen opened with 141,000 copies in its first week, good for a number seven start on the Billboard 200, rose to number three that June, hit number one in over 10 countries and has sold over 17 million copies worldwide. The RIAA certified it diamond in November 2022, for more than 10 million shipped in the US. At the 46th Grammy Awards the band picked up five nominations and won two, Best New Artist and Best Hard Rock Performance, and the Fallen Tour, their first as headliners, gave them the 2004 live album and DVD Anywhere but Home.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.