What You Want (Evanescence song)
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"What You Want" is a song by American
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Evanescence Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer and musician Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording independent EPs as a duo in the late 90's, and a demo CD, Evanescence released their debut s ...
. It was released as the lead single from the band's third eponymous album on August 9, 2011 through
Wind-up Records Wind-up Entertainment was an American independent record label founded by Alan and Diana Meltzer in 1997. It was based in New York City and was distributed by BMG Distribution. Wind-up's best-selling artists worldwide were Creed and Evanescence ...
. The song was written by
Amy Lee Amy Lynn Hartzler (; born December 13, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is the co-founder, lead vocalist, and lead songwriter of the rock band Evanescence. Alongside her contributions with the band, Lee has also particip ...
,
Terry Balsamo Terry Philip Balsamo II (born October 8, 1972) is an American guitarist and songwriter who is best known as the former guitarist of the American rock bands Cold and Evanescence. Balsamo is noted for his onstage expression of his fondness for Mic ...
and
Tim McCord Timothy Todd McCord (born June 28, 1979) is an American musician. He is a member of the rock band Evanescence since 2006, playing bass until 2022 when he switched to guitar. Previously, McCord played guitar for the band The Revolution Smile from ...
and produced by
Nick Raskulinecz Nick Raskulinecz () (born February 4, 1970) is an American record producer. He resides in Nashville, Tennessee. Production career Raskulinecz is from the Bearden area of Knoxville, Tennessee. He first produced and recorded bands in Knoxville ...
. Lee described "What You Want" as a departure from the band's previous sound and said she was inspired to write the song by several experiences she had with her fans. Musically "What You Want" contains a variety of musical elements and it uses
drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...
s,
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
s,
synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
s and a
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
. Lyrically, the song has a theme of
freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...
. Upon its release, "What You Want" received positive reviews from
music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...
who praised its instrumentation, Lee's vocals and the song's musical hook; several of them listed it as an album highlight. The song peaked at number 68 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and achieved higher success in its component charts. It also peaked at number 55 on the
Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...
, topped the
UK Rock Chart The UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart and UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart are record charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company (OCC) to determine the 40 most popular singles and albums in the rock and heavy metal genres. The ...
and appeared in eight charts in different countries. The
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
for "What You Want" was filmed in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
and it was directed by
Meiert Avis Meiert Avis is an Irish music video and commercial director. Avis has directed videos for artists such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Avril Lavigne, Paramore, Alanis Morissette, Flyleaf, Jennifer Lopez, New Found Glory and Josh Groban, ...
and Stefan Smith. It shows the band performing the song live in a small warehouse and Lee running in various locations. The video received positive response from critics who generally praised the imagery. "What You Want" was performed live for the first time on
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
and later on ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...
''. It was added to the set list of the band's third world tour,
Evanescence Tour The Evanescence Tour was the third worldwide concert tour by American rock music, rock band Evanescence. Staged in support of their Evanescence (Evanescence album), eponymous third studio album and comprising a set list of songs from that and the ...
(2011-2012).


Background and recording

"What You Want" was written by
Amy Lee Amy Lynn Hartzler (; born December 13, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is the co-founder, lead vocalist, and lead songwriter of the rock band Evanescence. Alongside her contributions with the band, Lee has also particip ...
,
Terry Balsamo Terry Philip Balsamo II (born October 8, 1972) is an American guitarist and songwriter who is best known as the former guitarist of the American rock bands Cold and Evanescence. Balsamo is noted for his onstage expression of his fondness for Mic ...
, and
Tim McCord Timothy Todd McCord (born June 28, 1979) is an American musician. He is a member of the rock band Evanescence since 2006, playing bass until 2022 when he switched to guitar. Previously, McCord played guitar for the band The Revolution Smile from ...
in New York City and the production was handled by
Nick Raskulinecz Nick Raskulinecz () (born February 4, 1970) is an American record producer. He resides in Nashville, Tennessee. Production career Raskulinecz is from the Bearden area of Knoxville, Tennessee. He first produced and recorded bands in Knoxville ...
. During an interview with
MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...
in June, Lee talked about the song saying, " ..the song that I think is the first single is the song that wraps it all up. It's got a cool meaning, a lot of great lyrics going on, it also just smacks you right in the face and it's heavy and it's great." She noted that the song was a departure from the band's previous material and acknowledged that they wanted the new single to be "more than a hit". Lee stated the song was inspired by and talked about her relationship with the band's fans, and the realization that following a music career "is what I'm supposed to do". She also explained that the theme of the song was freedom, saying that the song's lyric "Remember who you really are" was "exactly everything you could assume it means". Another inspiration for the song came from Lee's life, "That song is me talking to myself about not being afraid and coming back to this thing and living the life I was born to live. Sometimes, it takes a lot to do this. And I do love it very much, but there is always that fear of putting yourself under the microscope." Speaking about the sound, Lee described "What You Want" as "very danceable" and her own vocals as "fun and snappy and it gives a cool dynamic o the song. Lee stated that the process of recording the song was fun for the band as they had excess time. She said that initially the song was conceived while the band was just recording demo, but as time passed it progressed and grew into something more. She wrote a chorus for "What You Want" and played it on the piano. Lee revealed that she was initially embarrassed when she came up with the lyrics and the melody of the song as she thought the members of her band would think she was
Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...
due to the usage of a hook. During an interview with '' M Music & Musicians'' Lee revealed that she wouldn't have recorded the song if it had been brought to her before the recording of ''Evanescence'' as she would have thought it was "stupid".


Release

On August 22, 2011 Lee went to
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
's
Liberty Studios Liberty Studios is the longest-running production house in continuous operation in New York City producing films, video, advertising and e-commerce productions. The studio was founded in 1963 by Anthony Lover. Liberty Studios has received both Em ...
, to preview 5 mastered songs from ''Evanescence'' to a selected crowd of thirty people. "What You Want" was one of the five previewed songs. A snippet of "What You Want" premiered on
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
on July 11, 2011. During that time it was reported that the band's new single would be released in early August. After the performance by the band on MTV on August 8, 2011, the album version premiered on the channel's official website. The song was digitally released on August 9, 2011 exclusively on the
iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
, and to all other digital retailers on August 16. In the United Kingdom, the song was released on August 21, and a
CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...
of the song was released on September 9, 2011 in Germany. The band revealed during an interview that there were a lot of songs they were planning to release as the album's first single, but it was a "natural choice" to release "What You Want". To promote the single, the band partnered with SoundTracking and
GetGlue tvtag (formerly GetGlue) was a social networking website and mobile app for television fans. Users " check into" the shows, movies and sports that they consumed using a website, mobile website, or mobile app. GetGlue's service was launched in Ju ...
. Fans who identified an Evanescence song using the SoundTracking application and shared it to
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, using the hashtag #Evcomeback, entered themselves to win an album from the band. If fans checked into Evanescence using GetGlue, they unlocked an exclusive sticker. The song was well received by the band's fans. After James Montgomery from
MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...
showed the snippets of the song, he asked the fans on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
to share their opinions about it. According to the fans tweets, the new songs were well received and praised. Kara Klenk of the same publication also confirmed the positive reception adding, "In the fast-paced music world where artists need to constantly reinvent themselves and pump out music, videos, appearances, and tours to keep their fans happy and interested, it's rare for a band to take a multi-year hiatus and come back to legions of fans who have anxiously awaited their return."


Composition

"What You Want" contains a variety of musical elements and influences of several music genres:
industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten a ...
,
gothic pop Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...
,
nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...
, classic
synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...
, electro-pop dance and baroque metal along with a pop
hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...
. Several critics noted that some of the gothic and metal elements were prominent in the band's previous material, mostly due to their songs' piano-driven melody. Lewis Corner of the website
Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
noted that the classical strings present in the song reinforced the band's
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
influences. Dane Prokofiev of ''
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
'' further compared the song with
Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 ...
's music while Rick Florino of
Artistdirect ARTISTdirect is an American online digital media entertainment company. Overview Founded in 1994, it owns several websites, including artistdirect.com and artistdirectinterviews.com. These websites are a group of affiliate websites offering mul ...
noted similarities to works by
Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...
. The song's beat was further described as dynamic, "slamming" and loud. As the song progresses, the melody goes through "dramatic crashes" and
crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependi ...
s. "What You Want" opens with rapid
drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
and soon moves into a guitar-driven mode, accompanied by
synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
s. Throughout the song, Lee uses "pseudo
operatic Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...
" and "poppy" vocals. In the opening lines, she sings: "Do what you, what you want / If you have a dream for better / Do what you, what you want / 'Til you don't want it anymore." Those sounds are followed by a
hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
surging guitar and strings which were noted to be part of the band's characteristic sound. The chorus is instrumentally complete with crashing
cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...
s, "thrashing, high-wired rawk" guitars, electric guitars, keyboards and piano as Lee sings, "Hello, hello, remember me? I’m everything you can’t control / Somewhere beyond the pain there must be a way to believe we can break through." At the end of the song, Lee shouts the hook "Do what you, what you want," as her vocals are echoed and eventually fade away. Laurie Tuffrey of ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' summarized the song as a "standard goth-pop fare, full of rapid drum breaks, swathes of fuzzy riffing and a catchy, chant-friendly chorus." Overally, Scott Shetler of Pop Crush described its production as "polished". Several critics interpreted the song's lyrics during their reviews. Its theme was noted to be about freedom. Jason Lipshutz of ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' said that in the song, Lee is "trying to convince a romantic partner to stop 'spiraling down, down, down' and help her find a new beginning." ''
Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...
'' writer
Steve Beebee Steve Beebee is a journalist, author and broadcaster, best known for his work with ''Kerrang!'' magazine. Beebee is one of the magazine's longest serving writers. He is known for championing bands for their genuine entertainment qualities as oppos ...
wrote that Lee reaches a conclusion that "Love will guide you home." Talking about the lyrical content of the song, Laurie Tuffrey of ''NME'' opined: "It's quite hard to tell what the song's about, with lots of references to 'the unknown' and 'the pain', and it confusingly switches between suggesting people 'do what you want you want, if you have a dream for better' in the first verse and the decidedly creepier final chorus where Lee seemingly gets an ex-lover on the blower, only to tell them 'Hello, hello, it’s only me, infecting everything you love'."


Critical reception

Scott Shetler of Pop Crush described the song as a "forceful rock track that reminds fans why the group was one of the most successful crossover acts of the past decade" and praised Lee's "strong-but-pretty vocals". James Montgomery from MTV News, praised the song saying that the "elastic-yet-lock-step energy not only makes the song the perfect comeback single for a band that's been gone for far too long, but it manages to capture the very essence of what inspired them to press on." Tom Goodwyn of the same publication wrote: "A big thumping drumbeat and driving guitar riff kick things off, before giving way to a stomping chorus written with NFL stadiums in mind." Karen Bliss of the magazine ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' praised Lee's "haunting" and "crystalline" vocals in the "industrial-strength sound" of "What You Want". Nick Catucci of the same publication gave the song three stars writing, "Amy Lee trades anguish for defiance, goosing her wail with welcome sass. Still, she's nearly overrun by the music, a collision of two-ton guitars, strings and piano." Steven Hyden of ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' wrote: "Lee really can sing, and the opener 'What You Want' shows she has the pipes (and even the submerged spunk) to become the new
Pat Benatar Patricia Mae Giraldo (''née'' Andrzejewski, formerly Benatar; born January 10, 1953), known professionally as Pat Benatar, is an American rock singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has had two multi-platinum albums, five platinum alb ...
this generation desperately needs." Rick Florino of Artistdirect gave the song five out of five stars praising the hook as one of the best in the band's career adding that it managed to make the song "instantly unforgettable". Florino further called the song "another classic from Evanescence" which will "revive rock music again" and concluded:
At the heart of this epic, Lee relays another personal story that impacts intensely, especially as the song breaks during the bridge and her voice takes flight like never before. Lyrics like 'Somewhere beyond the pain there must be a way to believe' sear and soar, as Lee continues to hypnotize like no other singer in rock or pop for that matter.
While reviewing ''Evanescence'' as a whole, Catucci of ''Rolling Stone'' called the song "pummeling but pretty." In another review for the same publication, Matthew Perpetua wrote that the "heaviness is less top-heavy" in the song before adding that the band "never sounded so brisk and dynamic". Camille Dodero of the same publication called "What You Want" a "hair-blowingly grandiose" song. Melissa Maerz of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' gave the song a B rating and said, "the song's grinding guitars, massive drums, goth-princess piano frills, and warrior-grrrl vocal rage feel like 2007 all over again." Melinda Newman of
HitFix HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...
praised the chorus lines saying that it should have been chosen as a theme song for the film '' Contagion''. Robert Copsey of Digital Spy described the song as a "hefty slab of dramatic rock which includes the band's trademark electric guitars with melodic choruses". In another review, he awarded the song four stars out of five stating "electro it certainly ain't, but the result is as dancefloor-friendly as it is mosh pit-ready." He further praised the "catchy-as-
cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
" chorus and gave a mixed review about the lyrics and the title saying "fortunately their words seemed to have been a touch overzealous; though it's clear from the trailer for the group's third album that they've been spending a night or two on the tiles." Lewis Corner of the same publication concluded: "'What You Want' proved... the band's melodious rock sensibilities remain firmly ". Tamar Anitai of MTV, Theon Weber of ''Spin'',
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
of
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
and
Edna Gundersen Edna Gundersen is an American journalist who was a longtime music writer and critic for ''USA Today''. Gundersen grew up in El Paso, Texas. She attained a degree in journalism from the University of Texas at El Paso and then wrote features and en ...
of ''
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'' chose the song as an album highlight. ''Entertainment Weekly''s Kyle Anderson also chose it as a highlight, further describing it as "fierce". ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' Mikael Wood wrote that "'What You Want' rides its central riff with a bulldozer's efficiency." Marc Hirsh of ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' found a "metallic lurch playing off of Lee's goth-empress vocals" in the song. Hirsh went on to call the song a "strong declaration" announcing the band's comeback. In 2011, ''
Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...
'' ranked the song number four on its list of the 10 greatest Evanescence songs, and in 2020, ''
Kerrang ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-off ...
'' ranked the song number ten on its list of the 20 greatest Evanescence songs.


Chart performance

On the chart issue dated August 20, 2011, "What You Want" debuted at number 68 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, selling more than 78,000 copies according to
SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...
. The song also debuted at number 32 on the ''Billboard'' Rock Songs becoming the "Greatest Gainer" of the week on the same chart. Later, during the digital release of ''Evanescence'', it moved from number 15 to number 13. It debuted at number 35 on the ''Billboard'' Alternative Songs chart in the United States while also peaking at number 7 on the ''Billboard''
Mainstream Rock Chart Mainstream Rock is a music chart in '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched i ...
. As of November 2011, it has sold more than 112,000 digital downloads. On the
Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...
, "What You Want" debuted at number 55. "What You Want" peaked at number 30 on the Brazilian ''
Billboard Brasil ''Billboard Brasil'' was a monthly Brazilian magazine launched on October 10, 2009, with a print-run of over 40,000 copies. It is distributed nationwide by Brazil's biggest distributor Dinap. The ''Billboard'' charts printed in the magazine and ...
'' chart on August 12, 2011. On August 22, 2011, the song debuted on the
German Singles Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...
and peaked at number 84. It charted for three weeks and left the chart on October 2, 2011. On September 3, the song debuted at number one on the
UK Rock Chart The UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart and UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart are record charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company (OCC) to determine the 40 most popular singles and albums in the rock and heavy metal genres. The ...
, removing Evanescence's own single "
My Immortal "My Immortal" is a song by American rock band Evanescence from their debut studio album, ''Fallen'' (2003). It was released by Wind-up Records on December 8, 2003, as the third single from the album. An alternative version appears on the band's ...
" (2003) from the top spot. That achievement helped the song debut at number 72 on the main
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
the same day. "What You Want" debuted at number 86 on the
ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
in Australia on April 2, 2012. According to the ARIA Charts' official website, the song debuted in April, though it was released in Australia in August 2011.


Music video


Background and development

The filming of the
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
for "What You Want" started on July 30, 2011 in a
warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...
in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, and it was directed by
Meiert Avis Meiert Avis is an Irish music video and commercial director. Avis has directed videos for artists such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Avril Lavigne, Paramore, Alanis Morissette, Flyleaf, Jennifer Lopez, New Found Glory and Josh Groban, ...
and Stefan Smith. The video featured the band's fans who played a crowd on a concert by Evanescence. During an interview, Lee revealed that the music video for the song was one of the band's "realest" videos adding, " ..this is more a personal video. We've done a lot in the past that erevery 'fantasy,' and this is sort of the real us. ..I just wanted to do something that really felt personal for a change. Obviously, I'm wearing crazy makeup, and that's not my everyday, but, you know, I want ... to connect with the fans again. We all do. We miss them. A lot of this record is about them, and that's why they're going to be here and be in it, too." In an interview with MTV News, she described the concept of the video:
"This video is sort of, like, the history of the band. This club etis emulating old shows we used to play in the beginning — we used to play this club called Vino's in Little Rock rkansas— it's sort of like back then, the gritty, dirty club, sweaty. And basically, it's also
bout Bout can mean: People *Viktor Bout, suspected arms dealer *Jan Everts Bout, early settler to New Netherland *Marcel Bout Musical instruments * The outward-facing round parts of the body shape of violins, guitars, and other stringed instrumen ...
New York, where I've been, ndwhere
assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...
Tim cCordlived in the past few years since we've been gone. And it's sort of about escaping New York and. ..coming back out into the world."
However, before the filming of the video, the band was still finishing the album and when the time to shoot the video came, Lee didn't conceive an idea about how it should look like. As she felt the song was different for the band, Lee knew that they didn't want to "go the classic, sort of fantastic, epic hing" Lee asked her sister Carrie to help her around the concept of the video. Her sister said that they should film the video for the song in New York and Lee agreed with her idea, "She just started saying things that were right on. She was like, 'This should be in New York. You guys need to do something different, this song feels different.' And she started talking about running across the Brooklyn Bridge, and it being where I live, and I was like, 'Oh my God, this is great.'" However, the final shot of the video filmed at
Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
was Lee's own idea. The shot represented the band coming back in the world and "heading into the unknown, coming into a new world".


Synopsis

The video begins with shots of several skyscrapers in New York, which are followed by scenes of the band performing in a warehouse that has been converted into a stage (similar to Vino's bar which is where the band used to regularly perform before they became popular). The crowd at the concert is seen singing along with the band. The video continually cuts the singer walking through Brooklyn in a dark dress and makeup. She walks through a train station, streets and the
Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...
. During the
bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
of the song, Lee runs through the Brooklyn Bridge and jumps on the other side, landing on her feet. At the end of the video, the band meet up and walk to the beach where they walk into the sea. The final shot shows the band walking in the sea as the video fades out.


Release and reception

A twenty-two second teaser of the video was released on September 9, 2011. The video for the song officially premiered online on September 13, 2011 and it was made available for digital download on the iTunes Store the same day. James Montgomery from MTV News, said that the video was a departure for the band "eschewing the dark fantasy worlds they've created in previous videos in favor of good old-fashioned realism: the blood, sweat and tears that not only took them to the top, but have fueled their current comeback, too." Later, he added that the video "recalls the halcyon days of big-ticket rock videos" and some "claustrophobic, cathartic performance footage." ''Entertainment Weekly''s Grady Smith, called the video "heavy goth-rock head-banger" and added that the shots of Lee falling from the bridge were similar to the music video for "
Bring Me to Life "Bring Me to Life" is the debut single by American rock band Evanescence from their debut studio album, ''Fallen'' (2003). Wind-up released it as the album's lead single on April 7, 2003. The song was written by Amy Lee when she was 19, after ...
" (2003). Melinda Newman of the website HitFix compared the video with the movies ''
The Crow The Crow is a supernatural superhero comic book series created by James O'Barr revolving around the titular character of the same name. The series, which was originally created by O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his fiancée at t ...
'' (1994) and ''
Run Lola Run ''Run Lola Run'' (german: Lola rennt}, lit. "Lola Runs") is a 1998 German experimental thriller film written and directed by Tom Tykwer. The story follows a woman named Lola (Franka Potente) who needs to obtain 100,000 Deutschmarks in twenty min ...
'' (1998). She further praised the lighting, the photographs and the mood which according to her, were "perfection, especially the city scapes at night and the intense looks on the fans faces, as they are enraptured by Lee. It's a big budget shoot, the kind we don't see that much of anymore." Jason Lipshutz of the magazine ''Billboard'' praised the video with its "crystal-clear" shots of the concert and the "hazy" shots of Lee running through New York. Nicole James of MTV Buzzyworthy simply said "rock videos + themes = the only kind of math I like" referring to the music video for "What You Want". A more negative review of the video was given by Laurie Tuffrey of ''NME'' who called the video "uninspiring". He further found
CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...
effects and concluded that Lee was "looking for some love to infect" while running through Brooklyn streets. As of April 2022, the song has 65 million views on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
.


Live performances

Evanescence performed the song live for the first time on MTV, on August 8, 2011 during a broadcast called MTV First: Evanescence. After the performance the band had an exclusive interview with the publication. Writing for the channel's website, James Montgomery described Lee's vocals as "powerful" during the performance. On October 15, 2011, Evanescence performed the song during a televised appearance on the ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...
'' show. They later added the song to the
set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...
on their third worldwide tour in support of ''Evanescence'', titled Evanescence Tour. While reviewing a concert by the band, Rick Florino of Artistdirect wrote that Lee sounded "pristine and powerful" during the chorus of the song. He further praised Tim McCord's bass and Terry Balsamo's guitar, "volleying with Troy McLawhorn as Evanescene's methodical metallic theatrics hypnotized." He concluded that the song "proved to be an undeniable anthem echoed throughout the room by every voice present." Evanescence performed the song during their concert at the 2011 Rock in Rio festival on October 2, 2011.


Track listing

;Digital download #"What You Want" – 3:40 ;CD single #"What You Want" – 3:40 #"What You Want" (Elder Jepson Remix) – 3:18


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Release history


See also

*
List of UK Rock Chart number-one singles of 2011 The UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart is a record chart which ranks the best-selling rock and heavy metal songs in the United Kingdom. Compiled and published by the Official Charts Company, the data is based on each track's weekly physical sales, ...


References

{{Authority control Evanescence songs 2011 singles Songs written by Amy Lee Music videos directed by Meiert Avis Songs written by Terry Balsamo Songs written by Tim McCord 2011 songs Wind-up Records singles Song recordings produced by Nick Raskulinecz Industrial rock songs Gothic rock songs Songs about freedom