1. Fallen (2003)
Fallen is the debut studio album by Evanescence. It was released on March 4, 2003, through Wind-up Records. The album was recorded in multiple recording studios, including Conway Recording Studios in Hollywood, California. It is commercially the band's most successful album to date, selling more than 7 million copies in the United States alone, and more than 15 million worldwide. It debuted at number 7 on the Billboard 200, selling more than 141,000 copies within its first week, eventually peaking at number 3 in June 2003. Internationally, it has topped the charts in more than ten countries worldwide. It was certified Platinum seven times by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and acquired multiple certifications worldwide. Upon its release, Fallen received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. It spawned four singles: "Bring Me to Life", "My Immortal", "Going Under", and "Everybody's Fool". "Bring Me to Life" and "My Immortal" peaked within the charts of more than ten countries, including Australia, United Kingdom, and the United States. The album earned the band five nominations at the 46th Grammy Awards: Album of the Year, Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song, Best Hard Rock Performance and Grammy Award for Best New Artist, winning Best New Artist and Best Hard Rock Performance.
2. The Open Door (2006)
The Open Door is the second studio album by Evanescence. It was first released in Poland on September 25, 2006, through Wind-up Records and subsequently in more than 20 other countries worldwide. Originally intended to be released in March 2006, the release date of The Open Door was changed due to guitarist Terry Balsamo's stroke, the loss of the band's former manager and Will Boyd's and Ben Moody's departure from the band. The album symbolizes a new beginning for the band, incorporating new elements in their old music such as gothic rock, symphonic rock and pop music as well as choirs on several songs. The writing process for the album took a period of over 18 months and the majority of the songs were written by Amy Lee and Terry Balsamo, while being produced by Dave Fortman.
The album received mixed to positive reviews from music critics who generally praised its lyrical content and the instrumentation accompanied by Lee's vocals. However, some critics gave a negative review towards the different sound from the band's last album Fallen (2003). The album earned a nomination at the 50th Grammy Awards for Best Hard Rock Performance with "Sweet Sacrifice". The band also won in the category Album of the Year at the 2007 MTV Australia Video Music Awards. The Open Door debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 selling more than 447.000 copies in its first week. It topped the charts in Australia, Europe, Germany, Greece and Switzerland and charted in top five in over fifteen countries. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) just over a month after its release, and has since sold more than six million copies worldwide. It was also certified Platinum, Gold and 2× Platinum in over fifteen worldwide markets. As of October, 2011 it has sold more than two million copies in the United States and over six million copies worldwide. "Call Me When You're Sober" was digitally released as the first single from the album on September 4, 2006 and it was later released as a CD single on September 27. It peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it charted within the top 20 in several more charts internationally. "Lithium" was released as the second single on January 1, 2007 while "Sweet Sacrifice" was released as the third international single from the album on May 5, 2007. "Good Enough" was released as the fourth single from the album and it failed to chart on the music charts. The Open Door had been supported by two worldwide tours.
3.Evanescence (2010)
Evanescence is the self-titled third studio album by Evanescence. The album was released on October 7, 2011, through Wind-up Records. The band started the writing process for the album in June 2009. The release of the album was changed several times; on February 22, 2010 the band entered the studio with producer Steve Lillywhite, but later they stopped recording the album with him because he "wasn't the right fit". During that time the album was scheduled for an August or September 2010 release, but Lee later announced that Evanescence had left the studio to write more material. On April 11, 2011, the band went back into the studio with a new producer, Nick Raskulinecz. According to Lee, the band drew influences from Björk, Depeche Mode, Massive Attack, MGMT and Portishead in the album. The songs on Evanescence contain elements of gothic rock, nu-metal and hard rock as well as new electro elements. Upon its release, the album received mixed to positive reviews from music critics who generally praised the new musical elements in the sound of the songs and Lee's vocals. However, some of them criticized it for being similar to the band's older material. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart with 127,000 copies in sales. It also debuted at number one on four other different Billboard charts including the Rock Albums, Digital Albums, Alternative Albums, and the Hard Rock Albums charts. The album was also successful worldwide appearing on the charts of over twenty countries. The band promoted Evanescence by premiering some of the songs online on various websites and appearing on several televised shows. In 2011, they embarked their third worldwide tour for the album along with The Pretty Reckless and Fair to Midland. The first single from the album, "What You Want", was released on August 9, 2011. "My Heart Is Broken", the second single of the album was sent to Hot/Mod/AC radio on October 31, 2011 and to pop radio on November 1, 2011. Lee confirmed that "Made of Stone" will be released as the album's third single.
