Korn - The Untitled Album Review
Posted by Brandon Ratliff on 07.31.2007
So bland they didn't even want to give it a name...
Korn – The Untitled Album
Release Date: July 31, 2007
Label: Virgin Records
Produced By: Matrix, Atticus Ross
First Single: Evolution
Recommended Downloads: Evolution, Starting Over, Ever Be
Korn is:
Vocals: Jonathan Davis
Guitar: James “Munky” Shaffer
Bass: Reginald “Fieldy Snuts” Arvizu
Drums: Terry Bozzio
Tracklisting
1. Intro
2. Starting Over
3. Bitch We Got A Problem
4. Evolution
5. Hold On
6. Kiss
7. Do What They Say
8. Ever Be
9. Love And Luxury
10. Innocent Bystander
11. Killing
12. Hushabye
13. I Will Protect You
Remember back in 1994? Kurt Cobain’s, and subsequently the death of grunge was looming over the heads of rock fans. This is all my own personal speculation, but I think with those events in place, music fans needed something new to latch onto. Something fresh. Enter Korn. Their self-titled album was something pretty unique for the time, and still holds up as one of the best hard rock albums from the 90’s. Well, due to the fact that this album was something that was practically unheard in the mainstream for the time, Korn quickly became dubbed as the godfathers of nu-metal…a title that would soon become much more of a negative than anyone would have liked.
Like any sub-genre that quickly becomes popular, just as quickly were there hundreds of clone bands trying to capitalize on the wave. Like any other genre, the proverbial bandwagon eventually collapsed under the weight of everyone piling on. And just like that, nu-metal was dead. A few of the more prominent bands from that era are still around today, even though most of them never really fit into the genre all that well anyways. Korn, on the other hand, had to work to not be forgotten. With their fanbase rapidly declining after the extensive wait between Issues (which saw them taking a slightly different direction) and the massively overproduced The Untouchables, the band decided to start flooding the market with new content. Since 2002 with the release of The Untouchables, they have released an album of some sort every calendar year. Less than a year and a half later came the self-produced Take Another Look In The Mirror (which in my opinion is one of their best albums). Shortly before releasing their greatest hits set in 2005 (slightly less than a year after Mirror), guitarist Brian “Head” Welsh left the band.
Well, long story short, the band kept the amount of content high, but they have went through quite a bit since. Drummer David Silvera went on “hiatus” last year, though considering they recorded this album with a new drummer, it is questionable if he intends to return. But due to all of the losses, and the simple fact that the band needed to change or just quit, they opted for the former. So is Evolution (pun most definitely intended) a good thing for Korn?
Click the picture to buy the album.
The first thought you will likely have when listening to the untitled album is that the band seems to have made a natural evolution (not that time) from their sound on See You On The Other Side. They move into an even more industrial territory, which is very evident on first single “Evolution.” As mentioned prior, it feels very natural when in comparison to the last album without sounding too much like that material. There are a few very solid songs, such as the aforementioned single, and the oddly catchy “Ever Be,” but none of the songs really stand out as great or very memorable.
This album, like Other Side, suffers from two major problems. See, when the last album came out, it was seen as a departure. An experiment. However you wish to see it. The band did work with mega pop producers Atticus Ross, the Matrix, and Dallas Austin (though none of the latter’s tracks, including their collaboration with rapper The Game made it to the final cut of the album) after all. But since they decided to work with the same producers again (sans Austin), they got the same effect. If you are a fan of Korn’s older material leading up to Mirror, and you aren’t too keen on the changes of the last album, chances are you will like this one even less. Again, it is hard to tell there is even a bass guitar in the songs (as most of the time it sounds like it was programmed in), much less what used to be Fieldy’s trademark slapping sound. That is probably the biggest complaint I have with this album actually. Not just Fieldy’s apparent absence mind you, but all of the music. All of the music sounds so digital and so programmed, that there is no doubt that if you were to switch Jonathan Davis with any other vocalist, you’d not know this was Korn save for maybe one or two points on the entire album that have somewhat of a Korn sound to them.
Like with the last one, this album isn’t terrible. But, unlike the last one, it sounds like a lazy attempt to make a new album. “Starting Over” is the only song that sounds even remotely like Korn, and while a band growing and changing is usually a good thing, this just sounds so bland for the most part, it is practically unforgivable. A vast majority of the music could have been written and recorded on a nice keyboard in the studio, which pays a testament to the fact that, without Welsh, this is just not the same band. Shaffer’s guitar work on both albums has been, while fitting with the music for the most part, very generic and uninteresting. Terry Bozzio fills in adequately on drums, but the drums do little more than keep the rhythm is a very basic way, unlike in albums past. Simply put, this album is a slab of inoffensive industrial tinged rock. But remember, when you read the word “inoffensive” pertaining to music, what the writer really means is dull, bland…boring.
And one last thing. Excuse the language, but what the hell is this album called exactly? Does it just not have a title, or is it called Untitled? I’m so confused.
The 411: Korn puts out yet another album in another calendar year and the results are less than stellar. All of the music is very bland and forgettable, and the vocals are about what you would expect. Maybe Korn has gotten to the point where they figure they can just kind of do whatever they want and it would sell, but if their rapidly decreasing sales (and arguably, quality, with the exception of Mirror) per album isn’t a key that something has to change, I don’t know what will make them see whatever it is that they need to see. Because at this rate the next album will just be them sitting around a table making bad gay jokes with a monkey in the background throwing poop everywhere. Maybe that is stretching it a bit, but this if you were on the fence after the last album, this one will be what pushes you to the other side…and apparently that is where they want you. Why? Who knows.
