MTV Unplugged (Korn album)

MTV Unplugged: Korn is an acoustic live album by American nu metal band Korn, released worldwide on March 5, 2007, and on the following day in the United States.

MTV Unplugged
Live album by Korn
Released	March 5, 2007
Recorded	December 9, 2006 at MTV Studios in Times Square, New York City
Genre	Acoustic rock
Length	44:32
Label	EMI, Virgin
Producer	Richard Gibbs, Alex Coletti
Korn chronology
See You on the Other Side (2005) MTV Unplugged (2007) Untitled album (2007)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
CDNow	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[3]
Metal Hammer
Newsday	B−[4]
New York Daily News	(Very favorable)[5]
PopMatters	[6]
Revolver	[7]

Album information

The performance, part of the MTV Unplugged series, took place in MTV studios in Times Square, New York City on December 9, 2006, in front of a crowd of approximately fifty people. It was the band's first and only live album recorded as a three piece band since drummer David Silveria departed the group earlier that month.

The MTV concert was Korn's second televised acoustic performance, after appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on July 18, 2006.

The show was broadcast online on MTV.com on February 23, 2007, and was broadcast on television networks in America, Europe and Asia from March 2, 2007.

The exclusive acoustic set had the participation of other big-name artists including the Cure and Amy Lee. Additionally, Korn were joined by an array of instrumentalists and touring musicians, including guitarist Rob Patterson, backup vocalist Kalen Chase, keyboardist Zac Baird, and percussionist Michael Jochum.^[8]

The album debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 at #9, with about 51,000 copies sold in its first week,^[9] and experienced 55% decline in sales in the following week.^[10]

Richard Gibbs comments on the album

On December 24, 2006, Richard Gibbs made following statement on his message board:^[11]

"About a month or so ago my pal Jonathan (Davis) asked me to music direct/arrange Korn's appearance on MTV Unplugged. We videotaped at MTV's studios in Times Square two weeks ago and we are currently mixing that CD as well here at the Woodshed, yours truly at the producing helm again. For this project I added four celli, two basses, two cimbassos, two bass/contrabass trombonists, a saw player, a glass harmonica player, choir bells, and a six person taiko ensemble to Korn. Plus The Cure sat in for a mashup and Amy Lee (from Evanescence) sang along on Freak on a Leash. Fairly awesome."

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original album	Length
1.	"Blind"	Shuck/Shinn/Davis/Welch/Shaffer/Arvizu/Silveria	Korn	3:29
2.	"Hollow Life"	Davis/Welch/Shaffer/Arvizu/Silveria	Untouchables	3:24
3.	"Freak on a Leash" (feat. Amy Lee from Evanescence)	Davis/Welch/Shaffer/Arvizu/Silveria	Follow the Leader	3:55
4.	"Falling Away from Me"	Davis/Welch/Shaffer/Arvizu/Silveria	Issues	3:55
5.	"Creep" (Radiohead cover)	C. Greenwood/J. Greenwood/O'Brien/Selway/Yorke	Pablo Honey	3:51
6.	"Love Song"	Davis/Shaffer/Arvizu/Silveria/The Matrix/Atticus Ross	See You on the Other Side	3:50
7.	"Got the Life"	Davis/Welch/Shaffer/Arvizu/Silveria	Follow the Leader	3:48
8.	"Twisted Transistor"	Davis/Shaffer/Arvizu/Silveria/The Matrix	See You on the Other Side	3:00
9.	"Coming Undone"	Davis/Shaffer/Arvizu/Silveria/The Matrix	See You on the Other Side	3:35
10.	"Make Me Bad" / "In Between Days" (feat. The Cure)	Davis/Welch/Shaffer/Arvizu/Silveria, Smith	"Make Me Bad" is from Issues "In Between Days" is from The Head on the Door	5:35
11.	"Throw Me Away"	Davis/Shaffer/Arvizu/Silveria/The Matrix/Ross	See You on the Other Side	6:20
Total length:				44:32

B-sides

• "No One's There"^[12][13]
• "Thoughtless"^[12][13]
• "Dirty" (MTV Virtual Hills leak)^[13][14] (also on the Japanese edition of the album)

Additional content

The album's booklet contained a special code which granted owners of the recording an opportunity for an exclusive preview of Korn's then forthcoming studio album.^[15]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.^[16]

Korn Jonathan Davis – lead vocals Fieldy – bass Munky – guitar Additional musicians Rob Patterson – additional guitars Kalen Musmecci – backing vocals, percussion Michael Jochum – percussion Zac Baird – keys Jeremy Turner, Evie Koh, Julie Green, Erik Friedlander – cello Bill Ellison, Jeff Carney – upright bass Mike Davis, Jeff Nelson – trombone Dale Struckenbruck – musical saw Bill Hayes – glass harmonica Morris Kainuma, Andy Bove – cimbasso Hana Yoshikawa, Heather McPherson, Wynn Yamami, Midori Yasuda, Alan Okada, Merle Okada – taiko drums

Production Produced by Richard Gibbs and Korn Produced and Directed for MTV by Alex Coletti Musical direction and arrangements by Richard Gibbs Recorded by John Harris Assisted by Peter Gary, Max Feldman, AJ Maynard Additional Engineers – Vini Cirilli and Csaba Petcocz Second Engineer – Jorge Costa Assisted by Nick O'Toole Mixed by Terry Date Mastered by Stephen Marcussen Audio Post Production – Christopher Koch

Chart positions

Album Chart (2007) Peak position Australian Albums Chart[17] 45 Austrian Albums Chart[18] 10 Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[19] 95 Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[20] 70 Dutch Albums Chart[21] 54 French Albums Chart[22] 60 German Albums Chart[23] 23 Mexican Albums Chart[24] 58 New Zealand Albums Chart[25] 11 Swiss Albums Chart[26] 48 UK Album Chart[27] 131 The Billboard 200[28] 9 Digital Albums[28] 9 Rock Albums[28] 5 Tastemakers Albums[28] 7

Singles Song Chart (2007) Peak position Freak on a Leash (ft. Amy Lee of Evanescence) US[29] 89 Alternative Songs[29] 29 Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 22 Pop 100[30] 73

See also

References

1. "MTV Unplugged - Korn". Allmusic.
2. "Mtv Unplugged: Korn: Music". CDNow.
3. "Korn: MTV Unplugged Review". Entertainment Weekly. 2007-03-02. Archived from the original on 2012-07-13. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
4. "Rating". Archived from the original on March 12, 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2007.
5. "Korn shucks din for acoustic gem". New York Daily News. 2007-03-06.
6. "Korn: MTV Unplugged". PopMatters.
7. Wiederhorn, Jon (April 2007). "In the Rear". Revolver. No. 55. Future US, Inc. pp. 107–108. ISSN 1527-408X.
8. Archive-Chris-Harris. "Korn Quiet Down With The Cure, Amy Lee For 'MTV Unplugged'". MTV News. Archived from the original on December 19, 2014. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
9. Katie Hasty (2007-03-14). "Notorious B.I.G. Scores Another 'Great' On The Billboard 200". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
10. "Chart Recap: Three Debuts Break the 100,000 Mark". Coolfer.com. 2007-03-21. Retrieved 2007-03-29.
11. "Richard Gibbs Message Board". December 24, 2006. Archived from the original on February 13, 2012. Retrieved 2007-01-14.
12. "Official Korn Board". korn.com. 2007-01-21. Archived from the original on 2008-09-26. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
13. "MTV Unplugged: Korn (stream)". MTV.com. 2007-03-02. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
14. "MTV Virtual Hills". korn.com. 2007-01-21. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
15. "Exclusive preview of Korn's eighth studio album". korn.com. 2007-03-06. Archived from the original on 2007-03-04. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
16. MTV Unplugged (booklet). EMI, Virgin. 2007.
17. "Australian chart positions". australian-charts.com.
18. "Austrian chart positions" (in German). austriancharts.at.
19. "Belgian (Flanders) chart positions" (in Dutch). ultratop.be.
20. "Belgian (Wallonia) chart positions" (in French). ultratop.be.
21. "Dutch chart positions" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl.
22. "French chart positions" (in French). lescharts.com.
23. "German chart positions" (in German). musicline.de.
24. "Mexican chart positions". mexicancharts.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-04. Retrieved 2011-08-15.
25. "New Zealand chart positions". charts.nz.
26. "Swiss chart positions". hitparade.ch.
27. "Chart Log UK: Alex K - Kyuss". zobbel.de.
28. "MTV Unplugged - Korn". Billboard.
29. "Freak on a Leash - Amy Lee". Billboard.
30. "Korn > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Macrovision.