Origin

Origin
Demo album by Evanescence
Released	November 4, 2000
Recorded	1999-2000 (Sound Asleep Studios); 2000 (Ardent Studios)
Length	46:27
Label	Bigwig Enterprises
Singles from Origin
"Whisper" Released: 2000 "Even in Death" Released: 2001

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This article is about the album. For the song, see Origin (song).

General information

Origin was released on November 4, 2000, in Little Rock, Arkansas. Many different versions of Origin exist, but there’s only one true track listing and IFPI codes. It was produced in a plant in Richmond and only 2500 copies were originally made. Bigwig Enterprises stopped selling Origin in early February 2003 (a day or two before the Daredevil Soundtrack album was released) and removed it from their catalogue. Amy Lee does not consider this an album, but rather a collection of demos that they "dressed up" to send to different major labels. The album contains early versions of songs found on Fallen: "My Immortal", "Imaginary", "Whisper".

Contrary to popular belief, the album was not intended as a "shopping" album for record labels (i.e. talent scouting). Evanescence shopped to labels some Origin songs remade with the help from the band Dust for Life, after the producer Pete Matthews had decided to invest his time in promoting Evanescence project.

The original release contained a hidden track, which is located before the first track. In order to hear it, you have to rewind (while hearing what you are rewinding) the first song and reach -0:24 approximately (yes, minus). It is an outtake of the end of the bridge of Anywhere, featuring Amy Lee and David Hodges singing and a quote from the movie My Boyfriend's Back:

There's a lot of prejudice against the undead.

The front cover was created by Rocky Gray.

The end of the album was originally supposed to include the song "Listen to the Rain" between the songs "Eternal" and "Demise". Origin differs from other Evanescence records in that it features more electronic instrumentation and the tracks are more closely linked to one another.

Amy Lee talked about the band's older songs in an interview:

When this band started I was about 14 or so, and it was nothing more than a lot of song-writing and home recording. Throughout my high school years Ben and I (and later, David) filled all our spare time obsessing over songs, demoing them the best we could out of our parents houses, and playing the occasional club or cafe gig. Origin is a collection of our best home made recordings as of 2001 (I think. Maybe 2000…) Anyway, back then we were still finding ourselves- learning how to write. I’ve always felt that our music has grown and improved tremendously since then and want to keep doing better and better than before, instead of looking back. To be honest, its hard to listen to the really old stuff without laughing at myself a little. But of course those songs will always be special to me, and remind me of a time in my life that was both wonderful and terrible. It’s so cool to have them recorded, so I can go back and listen to my teenaged[sic] self- to remember things I'd forgotten. Besides the songs from Origin that were re-recorded and put on Fallen, we did play "Even in Death" live quite a bit, which was always fun, and I've always liked the idea of one day putting out a b-sides and rarities cd – there are some interesting songs that even the fanliest of you fans haven't heard.

Singles

"Whisper" was released as the lead single from Origin.

"Even in Death" was released later in a compilation called "The 7Ball Gas Collection - Volume 25"

Track Listing

0. "Anywhere" (Hidden outtake)
1. "Origin"
2. "Whisper"
3. "Imaginary"
4. "My Immortal"
5. "Where Will You Go"
6. "Field of Innocence"
7. "Even in Death"
8. "Anywhere"
9. "Lies"
10. "Away from Me"
11. "Eternal"

Outtakes

• "Listen to the Rain"
• "Demise" (was eventually merged into "Eternal")
• "Catherine"
• "Spanish"

Lineup

• Amy Lee - vocals
• Ben Moody - guitars, bass, drums
• David Hodges - piano/keyboards

Guests

• William Boyd - bass on "Away from Me"
• Bruce Fitzhugh - vocals on "Lies"
• Stephanie Pierce - background vocals on "Lies"
• Suvi Petrajajvri, Sara Moore, Catherine Harris and Samantha Strong - female vocal ensemble on "Field of Innocence"

Artwork

Working version (September/October 2000) and definitive version (November 2000).

The following images are original concept art produced by MonstorGraphix and Adrian James. The disc is a scan, but only because original vector-based artwork doesn't begin to resemble the actual disc. These are as accurate as images of this disc can get, and are gently watermarked to discourage bootlegging.

The insert is a tri-folded demi gloss, light-medium weight paper with one side of color images and the reverse side of grayscale. The tray insert is single-sided. The piece of plastic that the disc sits in is opaque.

In the front of the front insert can be noticed a latin text from the Bible, Romans 6:4: consepulti enim sumus cum illo per baptismum in mortem ut quomodo surrexit Christus a mortuis per gloriam Patris ita et nos in novitate vitae ambulemus ('Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life').

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  Front Insert; Front

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  Front Insert; Back

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  Back Insert

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  Disc

Original Release

In the official label's website Origin was available for purchase at the price of 15$. The album could be ordered both online via PayPal.com or via mail. Shipping were available for USA, and after some time also for Canada (at the price of 16$) and even for Europe (at the price of 17$). Now, real and fake copies are bought on eBay for upwards of $300.

These are screenprints of the pages related to Origin and to Evanescence on bigwigenterprises.com (all the images have been found through the WayBack Machine):

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  Origin Information

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  Origin Orders

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  Evanescence Partial Discography

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  "Out of Print" Message

Bootlegs and Fake Re-releases

Fake 2003 Re-Release

See also: Fake

Fake Release

In 2003, a "re-release" of Origin came out supposedly under the label 'Epic', although it was, in fact, a fake CD. It contained most of the tracks from the real Origin; however, different versions were used with some tracks, . In the case of "Whisper" and "My Immortal", the Fallen versions were used. The audio portion of the CD was very poorly produced, and in most cases, the songs were either corrupted or of low quality (as if downloaded as an MP3 and then burned on the CD). This bootleg has very elaborate and professional looking artwork, with a silk screened, factory pressed CD and a fold out booklet with a small biography (which mostly rambles on about the 'Christian band' controversy). The CD contained 'Bonus Tracks' such as "Missing" (which is very corrupted and of extremely low quality), the Nirvana cover 'Heart-Shaped Box', and a [rather bad] trance remix of "Bring Me To Life".The CD itself has a red silkscreen with black bird design with the word "sorry" on it. The jewel case has a gothic red design with a speckled face on the back along with the track listing. The inside tray artwork has an image of the band (the one from the booklet in Fallen). The cover has a skull design that is similar to the actual album released by the band. The most noticeable difference is the Evanescence Logo, which is pointy and unlike any design officially released by the band. On the back artwork the fine print/credits are actually copied from the back of Fallen.

This fake re-release was the first one of many more to come, produced in countries like Russia, Hong Kong and even the USA.

Modern Bootlegs

Authentic ("All rights") and Fake ("All right")

Recently, bootlegs are now becoming harder and harder to distinguish from the real thing. The authentic artwork, distinctive CD numbers and tracklisting—right down to the hidden outtake track — are all present and in (apparently) extremely good quality. There is some speculation that someone from Bigwig Enterprises is producing these items because of their immaculate authenticity, but this cannot be verified. Either way, these bootlegs are saturating the online auction market and making it nearly impossible to acquire a real copy of the album. They usually sell for around $40-$60 on eBay.

Despite the several different releases found in database websites like Discogs and Rate Your Music, there is only ONE true pressing of the authentic Origin, which happened a few days before its release date and was divided into 2 pressing batches. The first one is composed of 1000 copies of the CD with the code CRT BWE0002 N1222M in mirrored form on the inner foil ring. The second batch is composed of 1500 copies of the CD with the code CRT BWE0002 X0A21C also in mirrored form on the inner foil ring. Both batches have the same IFPI codes, which can be used, ultimately, as an actual proof of its authenticity (or not) in case one is trying to verify it. All other Origin releases available which don't own all these features should be considered bootlegs.

Rumours of pre-releases, promotional releases and UK releases have once been spread by they were proven to be misleading.

Identifying True Copies

Authentic printing vs. inferior bootleg

Having a reasonably limited first pressing, Origin is highly sought-after by collectors and fans of the band. However, the longer is has been since its release date, the harder it has become to come across an authentic CD from the true first pressing.

Apart from the same old pieces of advice anyone could receive (doubt groundbreaking bargains and sellers without reputation or decent and proper feedback), when faced with an online opportunity to buy an Origin CD, the buyer should always keep an eye to some specifics which might help determine the authenticity of the item:

• The artwork on the CD itself: fake CDs have distressed and bold logos while authentic ones have finer lines;
• The font used on the CD's name: some bootleg versions don't have the proper Trebuchet font or proper spacing between the letters;
• Rocky Gray and David Hodges names: they are often spelled incorrectly on the inserts of bootleg versions;
• Inner codes: bear in mind the first and second batches codes were printed on the inner foil ring of the CD without any other codes and were all mirrored;
• The shades of the cover and inserts: please refer to the top of the page to get a glimpse of what a true Origin should look like. Fakes and bootlegs often have a brownish/orange hue or have a crimson tint instead of the typical fiery-stained red;
• IFPI/SID codes: IFPI codes are almost impossible to be duplicated. They serve to identify the plant in which the master of the CD was manufactured and where it was later replicated (produced in large-scale). Authentic Origin copies have TWO different SID codes (one on the plastic inner ring and another one on the foil inner ring). In order to discourage bootlegging, these codes are not widely disseminated. However, as they are the best chance one has to identify false copies from original ones, in case they are needed, get in touch with moderators of Evanescence forums (like EvThreads or EvBoard); they will be able to get you in contact with a reputable member who has a proven authentic copy of Origin and might be able to divulge such information.

Also, beware of "signed items". Autographs don't legitimate anything, regardless of having or not "Certificates of Authenticity" or pictures showing when they were taken. The band is probably used to signing Origin copies when they go on tour offered by fans, regardless of being true or bootleg CDs.

Download

You can download a Perfect Rip of the album here:

• Download Album In FLAC (with log and cue sheet) (Click Here For More Information)

—note that using the cue sheet to burn a copy of the disc will create a silent gap where the hidden track belongs, but will not actually have the hidden track.

• or download the mp3s Here