Evanescence - Evanescence

The self-titled third album is the one where Amy Lee stopped explaining herself. Released in 2011 after a five-year gap and a near-total lineup change, it was recorded with Nick Raskulinecz at Blackbird Studio in Nashville and Avatar in New York, and it swaps the string-drenched melodrama of the early records for synthesizers, heavier low end and a band that actually sounds like a band.

"What You Want" opens with a shout and never really sits back down. "Made Of Stone" and "Erase This" are the heaviest things in the catalog to that point, while "Lost In Paradise" and "Swimming Home" push into electronic and ambient territory Evanescence had only gestured at before, with Chris Vrenna handling additional programming. "My Heart Is Broken" gave the record its ballad without falling back on the "My Immortal" formula. Randy Staub mixed and Ted Jensen mastered.

It is the most underrated album they have made, and the bridge between the band that broke through and the one still working now.

Single LP on black vinyl, pressed by GZ Media with lacquers cut at Fantasy Studios. A clean, no-nonsense pressing of a record that spent years hard to find on wax.