Evanescence - Missing (2002)

After Evanescence was formed by Amy Lee and Ben Moody in 1995, the band released three EPs and one demo CD 'Origin', before signing to Wind-up Records in January 2001. Since the release of 'Origin', a number of out-takes have surfaced, and so we start this album with three of them, including a live recording of 'Catherine', one of their few co-compositions, and also 'Listen To The Rain', which was written by Lee for her high school choir, the Pulaski Academy Mixed Choir. In the eight years between Lee and Moody meeting and them signing their record deal, they composed many songs, writing together about two or three times during that period of time, and the best of these were chosen for their debut album 'Fallen'. The album was recorded in California at Track Record Studios, NRG Recording Studios, Ocean Studios, and Conway Recording Studios, and the songs were taped as demos before they were professionally recorded, and as some of the songs didn't make it to the album, these demos of unreleased material are now highly sought-after. 'Whisper', from the 'Origin' CD, was re-recorded a number of times, before eventually appearing as the final track on 'Fallen', and the version known as 'Whisper 2002' has a superb 80-second intro which is missing from the album version, as well as being noticeably shorter. 'Anything For You' was recorded during the demo sessions, and is the fastest Evanescence song in terms of tempo, with a background choir singing a line from the 'Lacrymosa' part of Mozart's 'Requiem Mass In D Minor', a theme which later resurfaced on their song 'Lacrymosa' from their 2006 album 'The Open Door'. 'Missing' is an outtake which later turned up as the b-side to the Australian release of 'Bring Me To Life', while the demo of 'Before The Dawn' seems lyrically similar to 'Anywhere', with keyboard-player David Hodges hoping that it would appear on 'Fallen', although it was still left off. 'Farther Away' (sometimes incorrectly listed as 'Further Away') is an outtake from 'Fallen', and later appeared as a b-side, first to 'Bring Me To Life', and then later to 'Lost Whispers', while 'Bleed' has a number of titles, often being referred to as 'I Must Be Dreaming' and/or 'Untitled', although according to BMI, 'Bleed' is the official title. 'Forever You' is another unreleased  demo, which was originally named 'C Sharp' after the guitar tuning of the song, and that's followed by a demo of 'Surrender', with the album closing with 'Breathe No More', which was intended for 'Fallen' before it was scrapped, later appearing on the 'Elektra: The Album' compilation in 2005. Considering that 'Fallen' has sold over 15 million copies since its release, Wind-up Records made the insane demand that the band hire a rapper as a full-time member, and have him feature on most of the tracks or they'd refuse to release it. The band refused to comply, later agreeing to add a male vocal on only one song, the lead single 'Bring Me To Life', and the sales of the album prove that they made the right decision. These demos and out-takes from their first professional recording sessions, collected together under the apt title of 'Missing', show that they had a clear vision of their future even back then, and they weren't going to take any shit from idiotic record companies who thought they knew better.

Track listing

01 Catherine
02 Demise
03 Listen To The Rain
04 Whisper 2002
05 Anything For You 
06 Further Away
07 Before The Dawn 
08 Forever You
09 Bleed 
10 Missing 
11 Surrender
12 Breathe No More