Review Summary: Simply unnecessary
Originally released as a bonus disc accompanying the fourth Korn album,
Issues, and later re-released separately as a way of satiating fans waiting for the next album,
All Mixed Up is as confused as its title unintentionally suggests. Featuring content that at the time had been previously unreleased, the potential for what this EP could’ve been is completely wasted. Consisting of three remixes, a live track coalition and a non-album studio song, more than half the EP disappoints while the remainder feebly attempts to make up for it.
The radio remixed crowd favourite ‘A.D.I.D.A.S.’ opens the album on an unimpressive note, baring absolutely no modifications to the original song besides sloppily replaced profanities. Why anyone decided fans might want a swear-free version of a sex song is beyond understanding. In any case, eschewing the redundancy of this songs inclusion on the EP, it’s not until the next track things truly start to go downhill. The unjustly titled ‘Good God (Dub Pistol Mix)’ runs for over six minutes, and in that time about twenty seconds is recognisable as “Korn influenced”, which can mostly be attributed to the inclusion of a recognisable vocal except by Jonathan Davis which loops a single phrase in the most uncreative of ways. The rest is so vaguely based off the Korn track of the same name that without reading the title, it would be near-impossible to determine what original track was being remixed. Fortunately, Josh Abraham is much more clear in his approach to remixing, as evident in his electronic interpretation of the
Follow the Leader single ‘Got the Life’. The end product manages to actually maintain interest while closely following the original song structure, with the addition of electronically altered and replaced instrumental content.
Marking the end of the remixed content is a live recording of Korn performing ‘Twist’ and ‘Chi’, two songs taken from
Life is Peachy. While it’s nothing spectacular, the live recording is actually pretty enjoyable and at this point in the EP it’s a welcome break from lacklustre remixes. The two tracks meld into each other as they do on the studio album and each of the members performs their duties flawlessly, creating a rendition that mirrors the original sequence while still retaining that sloppy ‘live’ feeling.
Finally, the listener arrives at the only ‘new’ content. Ending the album as it does, ‘Jingle Balls’ appears as somewhat of a reward for getting through the rest of the EP bar the live tracks. Somewhat sadly, it’s the only truly worthwhile track here and even then it’s nothing essential, even for long-time fans of the band. It is a pretty unique track and certainly nothing like anything Korn have done before or since. Clearly, it’s not meant to be taken seriously as it’s essentially a metal performance of the Christmas jingle under a similar title. Jonathan displays the deepest and most throaty vocal performance of his career beyond anything that has appeared on any Korn album, besides perhaps the dry-lung vocals at the end of ‘Helmet in the Bush’. The rest of the band run through a death metal influenced version of the classic songs basic melody and create an enjoyable experiment if nothing else.
In the end, 'All Mixed Up' is simply unnecessary and amounts to nothing more than a collection of odds and ends with little import for casual listeners or even die-hard fans beyond the novel intrigue of ‘Jingle Balls’ and perhaps the live tracks. The remixes are completely useless in terms of presenting interesting takes on Korn classics and the radio remix manages only to be a waste of time when it differs so little from the original. Truly, this EP is embodies its title perfectly yet evidently not in the intended manor. Its existence is as insubstantial as it appears.
