"Twisted Transistor" is a song written and recorded by American

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, with a metal umlaut) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop music, hip hop, funk, industrial music, industrial, and grunge. Nu ...

band

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...

for their seventh studio album, '' See You on the Other Side''. It was released as the album's first single in September 2005.

Reception

Critical reception

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

critic Johnny Loftus commented positively on the song: "It's Korn all the way, cocky and funky. But it's slick too, concerned more with the shock value of groove than trying to be some poor kid's slap bass confidant, his surrogate therapy session." ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' also praised it as a standout on the ''See You on the Other Side'' album: "The track burbles and grinds with turgid glee and warped sensibility."

Virgin Media Virgin Media Limited is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 ...

called the song "undoubtedly the strongest" track on the album, for "big hooks and catchy metal choruses". In contrast, Don Kaye of ''

Blabbermouth.net ''Blabbermouth.net'' is a website dedicated to metal and rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. It is run by the website's founder Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001. In October 2001, the rec ...

'' was more critical, describing the song as having "insipid lyrics about a girl putting a radio between her legs to literally get off on the music".

Commercial performance

The song has become Korn's second most successful single to date on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching number sixty-four, and became their highest charting single on ''Billboards

Mainstream Rock Songs Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...

chart, peaking at number three, until it was surpassed by " Never Never," which reached number one in 2013. Its success was continued overseas, where it charted in many countries, including number twenty-seven in the UK, number twenty-four in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and number six in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Charts

Music video

The video for the song was directed by Ryan Ratajski and features a '' Spinal Tap''-esque

mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...

produced by "documentary filmmaker Rob Piner" (a reference to ''This Is Spinal Tap'' director

Rob Reiner Robert Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and liberal activist. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael Stivic, Mike "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitc ...

) where four rappers play the parts of Korn:

Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, DJ, and record producer. Regarded as a progenitor of the club-oriented hip-hop subgenre crunk, his production and voice presence were inst ...

as Jonathan Davis,

Xzibit Alvin Nathaniel Joiner (born September 18, 1974), better known by his stage name Xzibit (pronounced "''exhibit''), is an American rapper, actor, television presenter, radio personality, and record executive. He began his musical career in 1992, ...

Fieldy Reginald Quincy Arvizu (born November 2, 1969), also known as Fieldy, is an American musician, best known as the bassist for nu metal band Korn. He is also the guitarist/bassist for rock band StillWell. Career Prior to Arvizu's time in Korn, ...

David Banner Lavell William Crump (born April 11, 1974), known professionally as David Banner, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, Banner's family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where he was raised. Banner gra ...

David Silveria David Randall Silveria (born September 21, 1972) is an American musician, best known as the original drummer for nu metal band Korn from 1993 until leaving the band in 2006. He then became the drummer for Infinika, which was formed in 2012 and ...

, and

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

James Shaffer James Christian Shaffer (born June 6, 1970), also known by his stage name "Munky", is an American musician best known as a co-founder and guitarist of the nu metal band Korn. He was ranked at No. 26 of Guitar World's 100 Greatest Heavy Metal G ...

. The real Korn appears at the end of the video as representatives of "Fony Music", complaining about how the music video isn't going to sell because it lacks "bling-bling" and "booty shakin'". There is also a section in the video featuring 'Jonathan' recording vocals in "Big Rick's Studio", a reference to metal and hip-hop producer

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...

, as Big Rick himself as he appears in the video bears a resemblance to Rick Rubin. The rappers have jokingly noted in interviews that "It might be a ewband coming towards you".

Track listing

UK release

* 7" VUS316, CD VUSCD316 #"Twisted Transistor" (radio edit) #"Too Late I'm Dead"

Australian release

*CD 3474592 #"Twisted Transistor" (radio edit) #"Appears" #"Twisted Transistor" (Kupper's Elektro-tek radio edit)

US promotional release

*12" VUSTDJ316 #"Twisted Transistor" (Dummies Club Mix) #"Twisted Transistor" (album version) #"Twisted Transistor" (Kupper's Elektro-tek Klub Mix) #"Twisted Transistor" (Josh Harris Fuck the Club Mix)

References

{{Authority control 2005 singles Korn songs 2005 songs Music videos directed by Dave Meyers (director) Songs written by Reginald Arvizu Songs written by Lauren Christy Songs written by Jonathan Davis Songs written by Graham Edwards (musician) Songs written by James Shaffer Songs written by David Silveria Songs written by Scott Spock Virgin Records singles Song recordings produced by the Matrix (production team)