The first time I heard Korn I was in my second year of college. I was going in t work on an audio project and emanating from a room down the hall was Korn's first album. I instantly fell in love, the sound was unlike anything I had heard to that point. I was into metal music, Metallica, Anthrax, that school of metal, plus the thriving alternative seen with Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. Korn was something new, heavy, primal, influenced by the hip hop world, but not rap-metal. This was a call to arms of the nu-metal world.
What we get here is the first volume of the collected hits. What we get is a 16 track collection of previously released songs, plus two new cover recordings and a previously unreleased mix of "Freak on a Leash." The tracks all appear to have been remastered, they sound great, especially the older tracks. Another interesting thing is the track ordering. Usually there are 2 formats that you see, at least in my experience. One is chronological order from the older songs to the newer songs, the other school of thought seems to just toss them on there in a random order. This album is different, it presents the songs in reverse chronological order, from the newer to the older tracks. I'm not sure why I like this, but I do.
I already own all of their previous releases, so the attraction here was having the big hits in one place, plus the 3 new tracks. The new tracks are a cover of "Word Up!" which sounds pretty good, but the meat is another cover track. They perform a cover of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall (parts 1,2,3)," and it sounds fantastic, true to the original song, yet having a distinctive Kornishness to it. The final new track is a remix of "Freak on a Leash" which also sounds good. One thing that Korn's music lends itself to is remixes, there is something about it that mixes well and can create new songs.
Overall, this is a great set. The highlights include Here to Stay, Falling Away from Me, Twist, and the song they will always be remembered for: Blind. To be honest, I did not think that they would have lasted this long, but listening to the albums, that thought was misguided. Their albums just keep getting better, keeping along the same lines, but they never sound as if they are repeating themselves. It is also good to see an band endure that still has all of their original members. Unlike other metal acts, you never hear about them getting in trouble with the law, they let their music speak for them, rather refreshing if you ask me.
There is another reason to get this album, it includes a DVD of Korn performing live at CBGB's in New York City. I don't believe it is a full show, but it is about 35 minutes long and features 7 song performances intercut with the band interacting with the crowd and the crowd reacting to the camera. They explain that they wanted to give back to the fans, so they played this free show at a small club, returning to their roots. The performances sound great, this band has become a tight unit over years of touring together. I have seen them a couple of times live, most recently about a year ago, and they do put on a great high energy show.
Bottomline. This is a great package for any fan of Korn, or anyone who may be interested in Korn. A perfect sampling of songs, plus that DVD makes it a no brainer.
Recommended.
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