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We Are the Fallen is an American-Irish Gothic Metal band formed in 2009 by former Evanescence members Ben Moody, Rocky Gray and John LeCompt, former American Idol contestant Carly Smithson, and former Disturbed member Marty O' Brien.
History[]
Early days[]
We Are the Fallen began forming when Moody had discussions with Evanescence band members Gray and LeCompt about the band moving in a different direction than originally planned. Moody felt something had to change in order to preserve their style of music and left due to "creative differences" with Amy Lee, the band's co-founder, and frontwoman. Years later when Gray and LeCompt also left the band, Moody reached out to them in an attempt to continue where they had left off in 2003 with Fallen, recruiting O'Brien in the process. The band held auditions looking for a lead singer in New York City and Moody feared that the search for the band's "soulmate" was going to take a long time due to the exhaustive process. Moody's roommate showed him videos online of Smithson performing her rendition of Evanescence's "Bring Me to Life" which was coincidentally the song all singers used to audition for Moody and the band. Ben was then introduced to Smithson who was developing a solo album after the tour with American Idol.
Moody and Smithson then discussed what they wanted to do musically and they discovered their needs were "identical". Smithson felt that Idol was for a family audience which wasn't "creatively and musically the best" for her at that time. She also stated that trying to make a solo album was lonely and "...now there’s four other people who bring all sorts of different things to the table and musically it's like everything I was trying to do ... heavy rock with great melodies."
Ben Moody stated in an interview: "Everything that I was told about Carly was right. She had a great voice, but she also has an incredibly strong presence, the kind of presence that is big enough to handle what it is this band does, both musically and visually. Because of that, she was perfect",
Development[]
We Are the Fallen officially debuted on June 22, 2009, with the launch of their official website. Fans could register their email address at the website to receive a free download of their first single, "Bury Me Alive". Only the first 100,000 registrants qualified for the download. The response to the free download overwhelmed their database and the song was made available via a free stream on their MySpace page while they worked to send the emails to those who qualified.
Universal Republic Records[]
The band originally planned to release two songs for free over the internet every two months and afterward compile them onto a record with orchestral interludes. They planned to tour theaters across the U.S. rather than clubs or arenas to focus on "performance elements that go beyond music."
These plans changed when it was announced that We Are the Fallen signed a record deal with Universal Republic Records on October 28, 2009, for the release of a full-length debut album. The band then released a remastered version of their original single, "Bury Me Alive", on February 2, 2010, including an orchestral outro extending the song by a full minute. The song was available for purchase exclusively online at digital media outlets. On the same day, the band set up an additional free download for an acoustic version of "Bury Me Alive" at their website. The video for the song premiered on March 25, 2010, on AOL's Noisecreep website. The song's popularity grew; The Vampire Diaries used the song in previews for the television show's season finale. "Bury Me Alive" was also featured on "Rumor Has It," an episode of the television show The Hills.
We Are the Fallen performed a 28-city concert tour in the U.S. with the Finnish rock band HIM finishing in New York on May 9, 2010. Their debut concert was held at King's College in London, England in front of a 200-person crowd on March 23, 2010. Following their tour with HIM, the band headlined their own 14-city concert tour in the U.S. and Europe.[19] The band also appeared at the Download Festival at Donington in 2010. We Are the Fallen performed at the "Cirque Des Damnés" show at the Avalon Theater in Hollywood, California on January 22, 2011. A DVD and live album from that show was slated for release later in the year.
The band's debut album, Tear the World Down, was released on May 10, 2010, in the UK and on May 11, 2010, in the U.S. where it debuted and peaked at number 33 on the Billboard 200.
Ben Moody revealed in a Facebook posting that the band was dropped by Universal Republic on May 27, 2011.
Post-Universal Republic Records[]
The band released in January 2012 a digital version of the "Cirque Des Damnés" concert performed the previous year. They also plan to release two EPs, one with all new music written by the band, and one with cover songs of '80s rock songs.
On May 20, 2012, guitarist Ben Moody uploaded a video onto his YouTube account. The video consisted of Ben Moody and lead singer Carly Smithson explaining the future plans for the band. Ben stated that he has written enough material for one and a half new albums. He also said that guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray have also been writing music. Carly said that she has written a "killer hit" that she has yet to preview for the rest of the band.
Comparisons to Evanescence[]
The band had to confront inevitable comparisons with Evanescence. Ben Moody told Kerrang! magazine in an April 2010 interview,"I really do think that the farther we go, the more distinct the two [bands] will become from each other... We're so different that I really don't see it being that much of an issue",
In response to interview questions, this is what Amy had to say about We Are The Fallen:
| " | It just doesn't have anything to do with me or Evanescence. The only thing that bothers me about it, really, is I keep hearing...about 'the original members'. The only original members of Evanescence are me and Ben; John and Rocky came into the band after we'd already recorded Fallen, so there's a lot of years there... that didn't include anybody but Ben and I. Other than that, I don't have an opinion or anything to say about it." |
This is what Tim had to say about We Are The Fallen:
| " | We Are The Fallen will NOT affect ANYTHING Evanescence." |