Almost everyone has an artist in their playlist that has totally changed their life. For many little girls in the early 2000’s, they all experienced the same chilling, haunting pianos that would impact their music taste forever. These kids would learn to lean on Evanescence for siren-like vocals and colorful imagery in the lyricism of “Fallen.”
This small band from Little Rock, Arkansas began to make headlines in 2003 due to their release of “Bring Me to Life” for the Daredevil movie starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. Soon afterwards, their CDs began to fly off the shelves, and the band won a Grammy in 2004. As always, reviews of “Fallen” began to roll in and they all mentioned one thing: Evanescence was a “female-fronted band.” Many reviews of the album despised the fact that Amy Lee was the front of the band, claiming that they were just “a chick and a piano.” Other reviewers were surprised that a woman could even make good alternative music.
Despite the constant misogyny the band faced, Evanescence still pushed through, made amazing music and became role models for women in the metal and alternative rock scene. “Fallen” was filled with femininity in ways that weren’t common in the genre at the time. The lyricism, vocals and the instrumentals displayed the femininity missing in the rest of the male-fronted bands topping the charts at the time. These factors, along with the activism Amy Lee was committed to, propelled the band into many hearts of girls and women of the scene.
The imagery of the album can be found in the song “Imaginary.”The lyrics of this song illustrate a fictional world where the narrator doesn’t need to worry about their stressors. The lyric “paper flowers and candy cloud lullaby” portrays a delicateness that previously wouldn’t have been seen in such a male-dominated genre. This femininity continues in the vocals and instrumentals in the song “My Immortal,” where Lee pairs her captivating singing with the band’s signature piano and orchestral string instruments. This song brought a unique sound to a mostly alternative rock/metal album because of the distinct difference in intensity. Many critics of the song called it “banal,” and many others believed the band shouldn’t quit their day jobs because of it.
The main issue that many reviewers, mainly men, had with the album was Amy Lee herself. These buzzkills called their music “gag inducing” and refused to give them an actual chance just because the main vocalist was a woman. The entire band was affected by this misogyny and consistently faced rejection and judgement within the scene because they made girl music. Evanescence began to push back on this narrative being spun that women shouldn’t be allowed in the genre. They advocated for other women to pick up the mic or an instrument and take part in the music they like. Their campaigning opened the door for bands like The Pretty Reckless and Halestorm to make music today. Evanescence continues to inspire other women in metal and rock by giving them platforms to perform with them on tour or collaborating with them, like they did with Spiritbox’s Courtney LaPlante and Poppy.
Amy Lee has stated before that she doesn’t want Evanescence to be known as “the best female-fronted band; I want to be the best rock band, period.” She later claims that at most of their performances, she was one of the only women in the venue. Her hopes to have more women in metal and rock are slowly coming to fruition with the latest Aftershock line up. Multiple “female-fronted” bands were present to perform at the biggest rock and metal festival on the west coast. This lineup included but was not limited to: Blue Medusa, The Pretty Reckless, Babymetal, Eye Set to Kill and The Violent Hour.
This stacked line up is a sign that women and femininity is becoming normalized in these genres. Young women today can be a part of this scene and can see themselves in the music they like to listen to. They will no longer feel like an imposter in the spaces that shouldn’t have been exclusionary in the first place. While misogynists will always find a reason to complain, this shouldn’t discourage any women from entering the scene or even from forming their own band. So women of Riverside, get out there and be loud!
