Innocent Bystander

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Untitled
Regular edition cover; art by Richard A. Kirk
Studio album by Korn
Released	July 27, 2007
Recorded	October 2006–March 2007
Length	48:47 (regular edition) 53:16 (Deluxe Edition)
Label	EMI, Virgin
Producer	Atticus Ross
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Billboard (favorable) link BostonNow link Entertainment Weekly link The Gauntlet link IGN link The New York Times link Rocklouder link Rolling Stone link
Korn chronology
MTV Unplugged: Korn (2007) Untitled album (2007) Playlist: The Very Best of Korn (2008)
Singles from this album
"Evolution" Released: May 17, 2007 "Hold On" Released: October 8, 2007 "Kiss" Released: April 7, 2008
Alternate cover
Deluxe Edition

The untitled^[1][2] eighth studio album by American rock band Korn was released on July 27, 2007, through Virgin Records. The standard edition holds 13 tracks, while the deluxe edition contains 14 tracks. The album was intentionally released without a title, as vocalist Jonathan Davis reasoned, "why not just let our fans call it whatever they wanna call it?"^[1] The album has been certified Gold in the U.S.^[3] Untitled has been marked by fans as the most dissapointing album ever recorded by Korn, and it was also Korn's worst selling and charting album they have released to date, with the album barely surpasing sales of 500,000 copies.

Background information

This album was the first without former drummer David Silveria, instead, Korn enlisted the help of Terry Bozzio, Brooks Wackerman, as well as Jonathan Davis for drumming. Also, the band recruited Zac Baird for keyboarding in this album. 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. Davis went on to say "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?"

Terry Bozzio's contributions

After successfully recording six tracks with Bozzio, Zac Baird announced that Bozzio would not be touring with the band on the Family Values Tour 2007. Jonathan Davis claims "things just got weird [with Bozzio]." Brooks Wackerman of Bad Religion was brought in to record some tracks, and even Jonathan Davis himself contributed, something not done since 1999's Issues. Munky stated in an interview that Bozzio had imposed himself on the band. He mentioned that among other things, Bozzio had demanded to be a full member of the band while receiving 25% interest; the band felt that this was "offensive," therefore, Korn decided not to tour with Bozzio.

The Matrix's departure

When premiering the single "Evolution" on KROQ on May 16, 2007, guitarist Munky noted that the band re-recorded much of The Matrix's tracks with Atticus Ross because of the band being dissatisfied with how the material had turned out. This was later confirmed in a Reuters/Billboard article:

Musical style

"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." Munky said of the songs, "I don't want to say that it's heavy, because that pisses the other band members off. It's still the Korn sound, but it's also very atmospheric."

Release

The album was released through EMI/Virgin in various territories, starting on July 27, 2007. The band ventured on the trio's Family Values Tour 2007 several days prior to the release and toured in support of the new record. The deluxe edition contains the bonus 14th track "Sing Sorrow," a bonus DVD containing behind-the-scenes footage, hundreds of never-before seen photos of the band. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, a personal best since Untouchables. Despite debuting at #2 like "Untouchables," it sold nearly one fourth of the units in its first week. It also fell off the charts within twelve weeks and accumulating twenty weeks all together.

Release history

• July 27, 2007 – Germany
• July 30, 2007 – United Kingdom,Mexico
• July 31, 2007 – United States, Canada
• August 8, 2007 – Japan
• October 14, 2007 – Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore
• December 18, 2007 – United Arab Emirates

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",^[4] while The Gauntlet wrote ""Untitled" is the most articulate recording the band has delivered to date."^[5] Entertainment Weekly also praised the album as being the band's best release "since 1999's 'Issues'".^[6]

On the contrary, Allmusic 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."^[2] Rolling Stone asserted that Korn sounds "wounded and diminished,"^[7] while Sputnik Music and PopMatters agreed, calling it "tired, bland and dated... merely going through the motions rather than creating honest music."^[8]

The album's Metacritic score is 51, while the user's average score is 7.2/10.^[9]

Track listing

Bonus DVD

• Making of documentary
• Korn photo slideshow
• "Evolution" (video)
• "Hold On" (video)

Personnel

Chart performance

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Singles

References

External links

• Korn's official website