The untitled eighth studio album by Korn was released in the United States on July 31, 2007, through Virgin Records. The standard edition holds 13 tracks, while the deluxe edition contains 14 tracks ("Sing Sorrow" as the bonus track). The disc was released without a title, in what vocalist Jonathan Davis reasons as "why not just let our fans call it whatever they wanna call it?" On message boards, retail sites, and fan sites, the album has commonly been referenced to by such titles as 8, Korn (not to be confused with the band's self-titled debut album), Korn II, Korn 2007, and Untitled.
Album: Untitled
Released: July 2007
The untitled affair was the second studio album without former guitarist Brian "Head" Welch as well as the second studio disc to be co-written and produced by Atticus Ross and The Matrix (though The Matrix left early during the project). The album has been described as more atmospheric, heavy, and at times progressive. Davis comments that the disc draws from influences by The Cure and The Beatles.
Long-time drummer David Silveria did not appear on the album, as he has decided to take a break to recuperate, spend time with his family and run his restaurants. The remaining three members enlisted renowned drummer Terry Bozzio (for 6 tracks), current Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman, and lead singer Jonathan Davis, who hasn't played percussion since certain tracks on 1999's Issues..
In a first, the band recruited keyboardist Zac Baird as a studio member for this eighth album. Baird has toured with Korn as the live keyboardist donning a Horse mask, and more recently black-and-white face paint.
The deluxe edition contains a bonus DVD containing behind-the-scenes footage, hundreds of never-before seen photos of the band, as well as a t-shirt that can be acquired online with purchase of the deluxe edition.
The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart selling 125,000 copies its first week. This is one notch higher than their previous effort "See You On The Other Side". In the UK, the album debuted in the charts at number 15, making it the fourth highest debut in the UK of their eight studio albums.
Background information
On April 27, 2007, a new song entitled "I Will Protect You", was posted on Korn's MySpace. The track is nearly five minutes long and features a technically proficient drumming section during the bridge. The first single from the album, entitled "Evolution", premiered May 16, 2007 on Los Angeles' KROQ with help from Fieldy and Munky. Both tracks from the new LP can be heard on the group's official MySpace and homepage.
An MTV article published on May 17, 2007 includes an interview with Munky as he details the process of the new studio album, while also revealing several song titles.
On May 28, vocalist Jonathan Davis joined Radio 3FM immediately after his performance at the Pinkpop Festival in Holland. He commented on the band's upcoming album, stating it "will not be titled." He elaborated, "We had the world's greatest drummer Terry Bozzio in and Brooks Wackerman from Bad Religion in and I played drums on some songs too. I'm so proud of it, we just can't wait to show people what we've done." Titling the album has become an issue, as Tod Martens of Billboard.com refers to the album as Untitled.[citation needed] Apart from the band's logo, the cover art contains no text, implying that the album has no title instead of literally being called Untitled. Vocalist Jonathan Davis has said, "We didn't want to label this album. It has no boundaries. It has no limits and why not just let our fans call it whatever they wanna call it?"[citation needed]
"We always wanted the atmospheres, and to really go deep," guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer told Billboard. "It wasn't until this record that we really felt comfortable to do that. As records progress, the urge to do that becomes greater. We feel like we've finally solidified ourselves in the rock world, and wanted to take this one a little deeper into that direction. It's less pop, and it's more experimental."
The album was released through EMI/Virgin on July 31, 2007. The band will venture on the trio's Family Values Tour 2007 several days prior to the release and tour in support of the new record.
On June 15, 2007, bassist Fieldy told Norwegian television channel VG TV that the new album "has a couple of songs on there about [Jonathan Davis] talking about almost dying, which are real heavy because he really experienced death almost so he wrote some songs about it. They're pretty touching, it's cool."
On July 20, 2007 at approximately 2:00 PM (EST), the album was leaked onto several BitTorrent networks in its entirety.
Critical reception
Critical response to the album has been mixed, with the most positive reviews coming from IGN, The Gauntlet, and Billboard. IGN noted that "There's an overall cohesion from start to finish, and repeated listens continue to reveal new and intriguing elements at every turn, which bodes well for the future" while The Gauntlet wrote ""Untitled" is the most articulate recording the band has delivered to date." Entertainment Weekly also praised the album as being the band's best release "since 1999's 'Issues'"
Contrarily, All Music Guide critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that the band is going through a "middle-age slump" and that the album "doesn't break them out of it". Rolling Stone asserted that Korn sounds "wounded and diminished", while Sputnik Music and PopMatters agreed, calling it "tired, bland and dated... merely going through the motions rather than creating honest music".
The album's Metacritic score is 50, while the user's average score is 7.1/10.
Track listing
1. "Intro" – 1:57
2. "Starting Over" – 4:02
3. "Bitch We Got a Problem" – 3:22
4. "Evolution" – 3:37
5. "Hold On" – 3:05
6. "Kiss" – 4:09
7. "Do What They Say" – 4:17
8. "Ever Be" – 4:48
9. "Love and Luxury" – 3:00
10. "Innocent Bystander" – 3:28
11. "Killing" – 3:36
12. "Hushabye" – 3:52
13. "I Will Protect You" – 5:30
Bonus Tracks
1. "Sing Sorrow" (Deluxe Edition bonus track) – 4:33
2. "Overture or Obituary" (iTunes pre-order track) – 3:02
Bonus DVD
1. Making of Documentary – 48:13
2. Korn Photo Slideshow – 3:39
(WikiPedia)
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