Mtv Unplugged
Korn has made a career out of playing loud, angry rock & roll––loud and angry enough that placing the band in the unplugged setting has, until now, seemed unthinkable. But the risk has more or less paid off. Tracks such as "Blind" and "Hollow Life" work best in this new context––each filled with a sense of drama but not melodrama, their essential emotional weight is given new heft by opting for intense calm rather than an epic––and overwrought––musical maelstrom. Others, such as "Twisted Transistor" teeter on self-parody; a guest turn from Evanescence vocalist Amy Lee for "Freak on a Leash" is inspired, one from the Cure for "Make Me Bad/In Between Days" doesn't quite live up to its promise on paper. But the band's reading of Radiohead's "Creep" is heartfelt and true, making this unplugged endeavor worthwhile and truly entertaining.--Jedd Beaudoin