To promote the band's second album, The Open Door, Amy Lee and John LeCompt visited cities in Europe including London, England on September 6, 2006; Barcelona, Spain on September 8, 2006; and Paris, France on Monday, September 11, 2006. At the previews, the new album was played to fans who won various competitions, Lee and LeCompt answered questions and performed acoustic tracks from the album before signing autographs. On October 2, 2006, the day before the album was released in the United States, Evanescence appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and performed the song "Call Me When You're Sober". The band also spent time in New York City for press and a photo shoot for Metal Edge magazine.[14]
The 13-track album[15] was released in Canada and the United States on October 3, 2006;[2] the United Kingdom on October 2, 2006; and Australia on September 30, 2006.[16] The album sold 447,000 copies in the United States in its first week of sales and earned their first #1 ranking on the Billboard 200 album chart, becoming the 700th #1 album in Billboard since the chart became a weekly feature in 1956.[10]
Evanescence performing at a concert in Brazil in 2007.
The album progressed slowly for several reasons, including Amy Lee's desire to maximize the creative process and not rush production, other band members' side projects, guitarist Terry Balsamo's stroke, and the controversy surrounding the dismissal of their former manager.[17] Although Lee stated on Evboard that Evanescence's new album would be completed in March 2006,[18] the release was pushed to October 3, 2006, allegedly because "Wind-up Records...wanted to make a few changes to the upcoming single "Call Me When You're Sober", which hit modern rock and alternative rock radio on August 7, 2006.[19] The music video for "Call Me When You're Sober" was shot in Los Angeles and is based on the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. The Open Door became available for pre-order on the iTunes Music Store on August 15, 2006; the music video for Call Me When You're Sober was also available.
Lee claimed that she wrote a song for the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but that it was rejected due to its dark sound. Lee went on to state that it was just "more great stuff for [The Open Door]".[20] Another song supposedly written for Narnia was the Mozart-inspired "Lacrymosa".[14] The producers of Narnia, however, refuted her claim, stating this information was "news to them" and that no Evanescence music had been planned for inclusion in the soundtrack.[21]
The tour for The Open Door began on October 5, 2006 in Toronto and included locations in Canada, the U.S. and Europe during that year. This first tour continued on January 5, 2007 and included stops in Canada (alongside band Stone Sour), Japan and Australia (alongside band Shihad) and then returned to the US for a second tour in the spring (alongside bands Chevelle and Finger Eleven).[22][23] As part of their tour, Evanescence performed on April 15, 2007 on the Argentinan festival Quilmes Rock 07 along with Aerosmith, Velvet Revolver and other famous local bands.[24] Also, they co-headlined on the Family Values Tour 2007 along with Korn and other bands.[25][26]
