Untouchables (album)

Untouchables
Studio album by Korn
Released	June 11, 2002
Recorded	April–November 2001 at NRG Recording Studios Hollywood, California and Metalworks Studios Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Southern Recording Studios Atlanta, Georgia
Genre	Nu metal, Alternative metal
Length	65:00
Label	Immortal, Epic
Producer	Korn, Michael Beinhorn
Korn chronology
Issues (1999) Untouchables (2002) Take a Look in the Mirror (2003)
Alternative cover
Limited edition with bonus DVD
Singles from this album
"Here to Stay" Released: June 11, 2002 "Thoughtless" Released: October 15, 2002 "Alone I Break" Released: November 11, 2002

Untouchables is the fifth studio album by American nu metal band Korn. The album was officially released on June 11, 2002 and featured the Grammy-winning single "Here to Stay". Untouchables debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 434,000 copies sold during its first week, second only to Eminem's The Eminem Show.^[1] The album received positive reviews from music critics.^[2] Untouchables was certified platinum on July 11, 2002.^[3] Untouchables has sold over 2.4 million copies in the US according to Nielsen SoundScan as of January 4, 2013 and over 5 million copies worldwide.

Conception

Korn commenced writing Untouchables in early 2001.^[4] Tension between band members grew and, in an effort to lessen their tensions and distractions, they continued writing in Scottsdale, Arizona, in hope that the new landscape would inspire them in writing songs. They finished writing the album then went back to Los Angeles, California to begin recording. Hostility between band members was still there.^[5] During the tour, band members began to consider firing bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu due to his drug abuse problem, but decided against it.^[6]

Untouchables was recorded at Conway Studio, in Hollywood, California and The Village, in Los Angeles, California. The album was produced by Michael Beinhorn and recorded by Frank Filipetti.^[7] The album featured the same member line-up as their previous four studio albums. It was mixed by Andy Wallace and mastered by Howie Weinberg.^[7] On the album's release date, June 11, 2002, a single, "Here to Stay" was released by Sony Music Distribution.^[8] The album was re-released on November 12, 2002, as a last-ditch effort to rejuvenate album sales, which had fallen shortly after the album's first week on the Billboard 200. This limited edition features different artwork, and a bonus DVD, containing a live version of "Here to Stay", performance versions of the "Here to Stay" and "Thoughtless" music videos, and a live recording of "Got the Life".^[9]

In a 2013 interview with Scuzz, the band revealed that the total recording costs of Untouchables were estimated at $750,000 due to living expenses and keeping their 15-person crew on retainer for the nearly two years it took to finish the album.^[10] Others have claimed that the album cost over 3 million dollars, which would make it one of the most expensive albums ever made.^[11]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
Amazon.com	[12]
Billboard	Favorable[13]
Entertainment Weekly	C[14]
New York Daily News	Favorable[15]
The New York Times	Favorable[16]
NME	(8/10)[17]
Playlouder	[18]
Q	[19]
Rolling Stone	[20]

Untouchables sold over 434,000 copies in its first week, but did not surpass the sales from The Eminem Show by Eminem and came at number two on Billboard. Korn's lead vocalist blamed Internet piracy for the drop in sales compared to previous albums, since the album had leaked onto file-sharing websites more than two months prior to its official release date.^[21]

Untouchables received mostly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, the album received a score of 80/100 based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[2]

Track listing

Full version track listing
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Here to Stay"	4:31
2.	"Make Believe"	4:37
3.	"Blame"	3:51
4.	"Hollow Life"	4:09
5.	"Bottled Up Inside"	4:00
6.	"Thoughtless"	4:32
7.	"Hating"	5:10
8.	"One More Time"	4:39
9.	"Alone I Break"	4:16
10.	"Embrace"	4:27
11.	"Beat It Upright"	4:15
12.	"Wake Up Hate"	3:12
13.	"I'm Hiding"	3:57
14.	"No One's There" (includes hidden track "Here to Stay (T-Ray mix)", starts at 5:06, after 6 seconds of silence)	9:24
Total length:		65:00

Edited version track listing
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Here to Stay"	4:31
2.	"Make Believe"	4:37
3.	"Blame"	3:51
4.	"Hollow Life"	4:09
5.	"Bottled Up Inside"	4:00
6.	"Thoughtless"	4:32
7.	"Hating"	5:10
8.	"One More Time"	4:39
9.	"Alone I Break"	4:16
10.	"Embrace"	4:27
11.	"Wake Up Hate"	3:12
12.	"I'm Hiding"	3:57
13.	"No One's There" (includes hidden track "Here to Stay (T-Ray mix)", starts at 5:06, after 6 seconds of silence)	9:24
Total length:		60:45

• "Here to Stay" (T Ray's Mix) is a hidden track on the limited edition, beginning at 5:06 after "No One's There". On some non-limited edition pressings, it is a full track.
• "Beat It Upright" was not included on the edited version of the album.

Bonus DVD

1. "Here to Stay" (live at Hammerstein)
2. "Here to Stay" (performance version)
3. "Thoughtless" (performance version)
4. "Got the Life" (live at Hammerstein)

Chart positions

Album Chart (2002) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[22] 2 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[23] 2 Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[24] 3 Belgium (Ultratop Wallonia)[25] 5 Canada (Jam! CANOE)[26] 3 Denmark (Tracklisten)[27] 11 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[28] 3 France (SNEP)[29] 6 Germany (Media Control AG)[30] 1 Ireland (IRMA)[31] 2 Italy (FIMI)[32] 3 Netherlands (MegaCharts)[33] 13 New Zealand (RIANZ)[34] 4 Norway (VG-lista)[35] 8 Polish Albums Chart[36] 8 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[37] 7 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[38] 5 UK Albums (The Official Charts Company)[39] 4 US Billboard 200[26] 2 US Internet Albums (Billboard)[40] 2

Singles Year Song US [41] US Alt. [42] US Main. [41] AUS [22] AUT [23] CAN [41] FIN [28] GER [43] IRL [31] ITA [44] NLD [33] NOR [35] SWI [38] UK [39] 2002 "Here to Stay" 72 4 4 12 44 21 7 35 15 12 58 18 34 12 "Thoughtless" — 11 6 — — 10 — 74 39 — — — 82 37 "Alone I Break" — 34 19 — — — — — — — — — — —

Personnel

Korn Jonathan Davis - vocals Munky - guitar Head - guitar Fieldy - bass David Silveria - drums

Production and other credits Michael Beinhorn - producer Andy Wallace - mixing Howie Weinberg - mastering

See also

Notes

• Arvizu, Reginald (2009). Got The Life. William Marrow. ISBN 0-06-166249-6

References

1. D'Angelo, Joe (2002-06-19). "Korn Can't Kick Eminem From Top Of Billboard Chart". MTV. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
2. "Untouchables Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
3. "RIAA Gold and Platinum Data". RIAA. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
4. Arvizu 2009, p. 160
5. Arvizu 2009, p. 169
6. Arvizu 2009, p. 171
7. Untouchables credit page, June 11, 2002. Immortal/Epic, 614-88
8. ""Here to Stay" Overview". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
9. "Untouchables [Bonus DVD] Overview". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
10. "Korn Interviewe by U.K.'s Scuzz". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
11. http://www.nme.com/reviews/7246
12. "Untouchables Review". Amazon.com. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
13. "Untouchables Review". Billboard. February 2016. Archived from the original on October 11, 2006.
14. Serpick, Evan (28 June 2002). "Untouchables Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
15. Farber, Jim (23 June 2002). "Untouchables Review". New York Daily News. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
16. Pareles, Jon (9 June 2002). "Untouchables Review". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
17. Watson, Ian (4 June 2002). "Untouchables Review". NME. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
18. "Untouchables Review". Playlouder. Archived from the original on 12 August 2002. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
19. "Untouchables Review". Q. Aug 2002. p. 126
20. Walters, Barry (2 July 2002). "Untouchables". Rolling Stone.
21. "Korn Frontman Blames Piracy For Last Album's Disappointing Sales". Blabbermouth. (March 15th, 2003). Retrieved on October 19th, 2015
22. "Australian chart positions". australian-charts.com.
23. "Austrian chart positions" (in German). austriancharts.at.
24. "Belgian (Flanders) chart positions" (in Dutch). ultratop.be.
25. "Belgian (Wallonia) chart positions" (in French). ultratop.be.
26. "Untouchables - Korn". Billboard.
27. "Danish chart positions". danishcharts.com.
28. "Finnish chart positions". finnishcharts.com.
29. "French chart positions" (in French). lescharts.com.
30. "German chart positions" (in German). musicline.de.
31. "Irish chart positions". irish-charts.com.
32. "Italian chart positions". italiancharts.com.
33. "Dutch chart positions" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl.
34. "New Zealand chart positions". charts.org.nz.
35. "Norwegian chart positions". norwegiancharts.com.
36. "OLiS: sales for the period 17.06.2002 - 23.06.2002". OLiS.
37. "Swedish chart positions". swedishcharts.com.
38. "Swiss chart positions". hitparade.ch.
39. Zywietz, Tobias. "Chart Log UK: Alex K - Kyuss". Zobbel.
40. "Korn > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Macrovision.
41. "Korn > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Macrovision.
42. "Korn Album & Song Chart History". Billboard.
43. "German chart positions" (in German). musicline.de.
44. "Italian chart positions". italiancharts.com.