Korn
Chopped, Screwed, Live & Unglued

THE REVIEW

(Yes, it's me, that "asshole" TheTrooper who always gets criticized for his supposedly crappy and useless reviews, and even this time, I bet I'll be swamped with criticisms and insults, but I'm writing it anyway).

Many will consider this fanpack of 2 Audio CDs and 1 DVD a dirty commercial move by Korn, "that damn nu-metal band that said everything with their first two albums and then sold out to MTV," that's what many people think. I don't see it that way; Korn, along with other bands, metal and non-metal, helped redefine the face of rock music in the '90s. That's why I welcomed this kind of expansion of the album "See You On The Other Side" (also heavily criticized, for reasons unknown), full of remixes, live tracks, acoustic tracks, and videos.

The first audio disc is called "Chopped & Screwed," and it's not exactly the best feature of the fanpack; indeed, it's full of remixes made by a certain Dj Michael (who the hell is he?) of tracks from the latest album. The best ones are "For No One", "Coming Undone", and "Hypocripies". Curious is the last track called "Coming Undone Wit It," a (mini)medley between the Korn song and a song by Dem Franchize Boys, which is the usual nonsense of creating a rap track in collaboration with some rappers (see all that rap in "Follow The Leader," which I reiterate I don't like as an album, and the presence of Nas in "Take A Look In The Mirror"). Anyway, the first disc makes you want to ask for a refund rather than continue, but that changes with the more appealing "Live & Unglued" which features the first 6 live tracks that are truly excellent, good songs overall. We're talking about "Blind", "Somebody Someone", and many tracks from SYOTOS, including the gritty "Liar", "Hypocrities", "Throw Me Away", and the industrial Manson-esque "Love Song". The remaining 4 tracks are two more remixes of "Coming Undone" (after a while, the same song gets tiring though); the same is performed acoustically along with "Twisted Transistor", which are very beautiful as they also express the acoustic and more "quiet" side of Korn.

The Bonus DVD is halfway between the uselessness of CD 1 and the tastiness of CD 2 because it includes the videos for "Coming Undone" (enough with this song already, it's good, PERIOD), a "short version" of "Twisted Transistor" (truly pointless), and the video of the previously mentioned and dreadful "Coming Undone Wit It", while the video for "Liar" (which I personally had never seen) is decent, as are the videos for the acoustic versions of "Coming Undone" and "Twisted Transistor" as well as other live acoustic versions followed by a "Behind The Scenes Footage" showcasing Korn backstage.

In conclusion, this collection is really for fans only (like me); it has its strengths (otherwise, I wouldn't have given it 3 stars), but overall it's not useful at all for someone who wants to get to know Korn nor for someone who listens to them casually (but isn't a fan). I downloaded it because I think it hasn't been released in Italy yet, but when it does come out, you can save your money for the already announced "Korn: MTV Unplugged" and the successor of "See You On The Other Side," which are slated for release in 2007.