Ex-Evanescence Members Debut We Are the Fallen With Smithson

We Are the Fallen — the new band comprised of onetime American Idol hopeful Carly Smithson and former members of Evanescence — made their debut in L.A. yesterday, performing two songs: their original first single "Bury Me Alive" and Evanescence's "Going Under." The band has already had to change their name due to a potential copyright issue (they were "The Fallen" earlier this week), and Buzznet reports that at a Q&A following the gig, guitarist Ben Moody said the moniker "seemed like a really good idea to encompass all of our fans that we already had with our previous band and I guess make it more of an inviting thing for all the fans to come in and be a part of something rather than just be a fan of a group." Video of the press conference is posted at Blabbermouth.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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