I thought a lot about where to turn for my second discography trip.  Listening to a ton of albums and trying to compare and contrast them in a semi-cohesive manner is tough, and to be frank, some of the bands I’ve loved the most are also bands that I haven’t kept up with in recent years, so there’s lots of “new” stuff to take into account and to consider seriously.  Nine Inch Nails was a strong candidate, and so was Nirvana, especially with only 3 real albums under their belt.

Finally, I settled on Korn.  Why?  I don’t know; it probably boils down to the fact that, as of writing this, I happened to be more in the mood for Korn than Reznor’s later work.  Let’s go ahead and kick it off, shall we?

Korn (1994)

Korn’s self-titled debut is one of the strongest, most consistent, fully formed debuts to come out of the hard rock and metal genres.  In so many ways, this is what rock is all about, or at least what it was supposed to be about.  It’s passionate, it’s angry, it’s angsty, it’s against the grain.  It’s a sincere middle finger to a world that discards its misfits.  It’s a booming record that speaks straight to the heart of the dissatisfied and disenfranchised youth, but even more than that, it touches on that primal need that almost all of us have to break through the chains that bind.  It’s a record that reminds us to be whoever and whatever we are, and to do so unapologetically.

Davis’ lyrics on Korn weren’t poetic or symbolic or refined, but they were so clear and delivered in such an emotional way that they earned their own sort of profundity.  I can see where some (or a lot) of the lyrics might be construed as juvenile or pedantic, but they come from such a real place; they’re not just thrown in there for shock value.  Even for those with the largest vocabularies, there’s no substitute for a well-placed, well-earned “fuck you,” or some derivative thereof.  Davis’ delivery is what gives the album its emotional core.  His mix of screaming, shouting, moaning, grunting, and almost crying is the perfect manifestation of that frightened, frustrated voice that we all have in our head from time to time.

The emotional resonance is what makes Korn so enduring, but it’s important to remember why it stood out at the time as well.  By most accounts, this is the record where nu-metal began.  Nu-metal started out as something quite different than it turned into.  Most people remember it as chug chug guitar riffs with an annoying shout-rap style of vocals, but back in ’94 it had more groove metal elements and sounded a lot more like what we might describe today as “alternative metal.”  Traditionally, straight up metal has been a fairly rigid field of music that eschews catchiness and accessibility for things like technical mastery, speed, and/or heaviness.  Korn was one of the first metal records of any mainstream appeal that focused on rhythm.  They used their bassy, pounding guitar riffs as rhythmic elements that engaged listeners.  Furthermore, Fieldy’s slap bass technique, rarely heard in any form of contemporary music, always gave Korn’s music its own patina.  This was music that made you want to move your body; it was catchy, it retained familiar song structures, and best of all, Davis was singing about stuff that people could relate to and not the literal realms of darkness and crystal cities and cloud dragons and other fantasy elements that pervade “true metal.”

I could probably write a good 3 or 4 paragraphs about nearly ever track on Korn, because the quality is just that good.  The guys build up an energy on this album that’s hard to recreate, before ending with the emotionally draining “Daddy,” which sees our singer break down in tears right there on the recording.  Plenty of debut albums are “raw” and “real” and full of passion, but few of them are this consistent and fewer still achieve such a remarkable, unique, and best of all appealing sound.  I still love this album, I still listen to it, and I still get a modicum of that adolescent charge as I scream, whine, and groan right along with Davis.

Life is Peachy (1996)

Life is Peachy continues to baffle me to this day.  I can’t understand what Korn wanted to do, what they were trying to do, or what they felt they ultimately achieved on this record.  It’s not one of my favorites, but it was always a big hit with friends of mine that were into the band.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some good moments on here; I love “Twist,” and I also think “Good God” and “No Place to Hide” are strong cuts, but overall, a lot of the album’s tracks don’t stand out, and the focus on those chugging, churning guitar riffs from the first record seems to have shifted more to the bass.  A lot of these tracks feature Davis just sort of formlessly shouting over bass notes with some lead guitar, with most of the noise and distortion confined to the choruses.

Musically Life is Peachy never comes together for me.  It’s similar to the music of its predecessor, with a bit of a different perspective.  I’m not sure if the band was consciously thinking about hip hop at this point, because apart from “Wicked” (another decent track, and featuring Chino Moreno of The Deftones) it doesn’t have much a hip hop flavor.  The weird thing is that it doesn’t really have a metal flavor either.

Again, this is a bit of an aberration amongst Korn’s catalog for me, and I have a hard time even putting into words what it is that doesn’t click with me.  I guess it just feels disjointed and aimless, and borderline novelty pieces like “A.D.I.D.A.S.” and “K@#Ø%!” that are appealing at first but quickly wear thin don’t help the situation.  Even “Lowrider,” as awesome as it is, verges on the novelty-esque.  I’m not sure what Life is Peachy is, but I know what it isn’t: it isn’t heavy enough, it isn’t personable enough, and it doesn’t have those same slamming rhythms.

Blemish though it may be, it would be Korn’s next album that would ultimately define them for a generation.

 

Follow the Leader (1998)

Korn had done well enough by 1998 to gain mainstream recognition, but it was Follow the Leader that would propel them into the annuls of pop culture.  It can be hard to imagine it now, but at the time, this was a fresh new sound.  Within a few months, several bands tried to record their own “Follow the Leader,” and this album’s hip hop-twinged brand of metal would continue rippling through popular music for many years.

Like Korn, Follow the Leader is a nice, neat little package with a well defined theme.  It has the harsh, rumbling sound of the band’s debut, this time with obvious hip hop influence in the beats, bass lines, and the vocals to some extent.  In retrospect, I think casual listeners and even some historians tend to overstate the hip hop nature of Follow the Leader and moreover forget that, at its core, it’s still very much earning the “metal” in “nu metal.”  Korn didn’t simply throw the two genres together, they either bent hip hop elements to suit their style or modified their style to better compliment hip hop.  For instance, songs like “Children of the Korn” and “All in the Family” stay rooted in the style of hip hop, while tracks like “Got the Life” pepper hip hop around an otherwise metal song.  And there are quite a few songs where the supposed hip hop influence is even less overt, like “Freak on a Leash,” “Dead Bodies Everywhere,” and “Pretty.”

Overall, Korn offered up more of what they did on their debut – a generally “metal sound” imbued with catchy rhythms.  Playing with hip hop conventions would seem a natural part of experimenting with rhythm, I think it’s important for people to remember that this aspect of the music was indeed an influence; Follow the Leader is not full-fledged rap metal!

As for me, I certainly had a great time listening to this album.  I remember buying it not long after it came out, and it didn’t take long for my teenage self to get hooked.  The album again deals with issues of fitting in and rejecting norms, and has angsty but less unhinged subject matter than that of Korn.  I guess what ends up being so amazing about Follow the Leader is that it made booming, distorted guitars more approachable to the masses, and also made hip hop more acceptable amongst metalheads.  The band did a fine job of defining and establishing an appealing sound, and they did so without any major stumbles.

 

For most of us, it’s not easy to look back and just see Follow the Leader.  Most of us are reminded of the endless clones – Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, Staind, Slipknot, Papa Roach, Linkin Park, among many many others – so it can be easy to look back at this era and groan at the copycats, even though Korn themselves would only release one album in this style.  However, soon it became clear that Korn was a little overwhelmed and possibly even disgusted with what they’d helped to create, and on their next record, they made a conscious effort to distance themselves from the more overt hip hop elements.

Issues (2000)

By the year 2000, I don’t think anyone was wishing for another Follow the Leader, at least not those of us who were Korn fans.  In the two preceding years, we’d gotten enough rap-styled nu metal for a lifetime, so most of us were glad to hear that the band was, according them, “returning to their roots.”  Issues is neither as raw or aggressive as Korn, but it is a great album that probably comes closer to the debut than either of the other records.

Issues bring us a more musically refined version of Korn, with slicker production, more diversity, and a greater emphasis on musicianship.  It doesn’t quite have that same battering ram effect that Korn did, but it is an inspired record.  The guys take a more serious approach to melody and atmosphere and even begin to pepper in elements from popular industrial metal acts.  Issues has a spacious, epic sound, while remaining suitably heavy.  It doesn’t have the primal energy of Korn’s eponymous release, though it makes up for it by crafting a more musically relevant piece of art.

We have some exceptionally hard hitting riffs in songs like “Somebody, Someone,” “Counting,” “Wake Up,” and “Beg For Me,” while tracks like “Hey Daddy” show us the band’s foray into electronic aspects of music.  Although possibly construed as filler, I really enjoy the bagpipe driven “Dead” and the serene “4 U.”  Although the hip hop undercurrent has largely been left behind, they do give us the Limp Bizkit-like “Make Me Bad,” though it feels a little out of place.

All in all, Korn delivers a sufficiently crunchy and I daresay mature slab of nu metal, which at this point was veering towards alt metal due to their incorporation of other styles.  Rhythm is still the driving force behind this music, but it’s clear that the guys didn’t want to make the same album over and over and I appreciate their stab at combining downtuned riffing with real melodies.  In some ways I view Issues as Korn’s quasi-experimental album; it’s not quite as cohesive as Korn or Follow the Leader, yet it gives us all sorts of new sounds and textures that Korn had yet to showcase.

As it turns out, Issues would be an excellent primer for the next stop on our trip…

Untouchables (2002)

Bands have a tough time keeping up their momentum; it ain’t easy staying relevant, staying creative, and staying together.  By all accounts, fifth albums should represent a creative slump.  Even for bands that make an eventual comeback, the somewhat natural course of events shows us that bands have a difficult time keeping the spark alive by the time they’ve been together long enough to record and release five albums.  Well, it seems that Korn staved off this inevitably, if even by just one more album.

Untouchables is a record that didn’t grab my attention much at first, but as I kept coming back to it, I realized what an awesome record it was.  I can make some sweeping generalizations and say that Untouchables hearkens back to their first album, but it’s more than that.  It’s a more evolved record that puts what the band learned during Issues to good use.  Korn continues to carve out their own style of alt metal using the chugging riffs they’ve become known for in more complex ways.  They also continue to work in melodic choruses, some of which sound like a striking homage to the eerie harmonies of Alice in Chains, while others have a simple descending tune not unlike the industrial rock of the mid-90’s (think Stabbing Westward, Filter).

“Here to Stay,” the album’s first single and leading track, booms along with the best and the heaviest of Korn’s songs, proving that the guys still have an amazing penchant for rhythm without sounding stale or recycled.  “Hating” and “One More Time” are deft showings of their industrial leanings, with the latter having a positively infections chorus.  And then there are the grinding riffs of “I’m Hiding” and “Wake Up Hate.”  The more I listen to Untouchables, the more I like to think of it as “Issues Part 2.”  It expands on the ingenuity and diversity that Issues brought us while giving us a more consistent and confident delivery.

What Korn was losing in raw energy and aggression, they were making up for with technical proficiency.  It’s clear that music was becoming more cerebral than visceral, which isn’t always a bad thing, because musically, Untouchables is a standout album in the world of mainstream metal and hard rock.  The pain and passion is a little lacking at this point, but for the time being, the quality of the music keeps the record strong.

Take a Look in the Mirror (2003)

A short year and a half later, Korn gave us Take a Look in the Mirror.  This would also be the final album to feature the band’s original lineup of Davis, Head, Munky, Fieldy, and Silveria.  Still, it’s remarkable that the five of them were able to stay together as long as they did.  Stories abound regarding Take a Look in the Mirror, citing a rushed writing and recording process, difficulties within the band, the stresses of touring, a general lack of creativity, and Munky calling it “a forced effort.”  And the fans definitely didn’t take to it.

Personally I have mixed feelings on Mirror.  It isn’t nearly as bad as critics would suggest, though it does feel a little half-assed and phoned in.  If anything, I’d call this a transitional album.  Though it may not be indicative of the band’s best work, the band seems to be pushing themselves in a more traditionally metal direction while retaining enough of their “Korn flavor” to remain identifiable as such.

Perhaps the biggest flaw on Mirror is the lyrics.  They (or Davis) seems to have trouble finding inspiration, so we get weird angry tracks like “Break Some Off,” the quasi-empowering “Alive,” and what might be one of Korn’s most ridiculous songs to date, “Y’all Want a Single.”  Earlier I said that while Korn’s music may have had lots of cursing, it was used well and in a befitting expressive manner.  Well, go ahead and throw all that out the window for Mirror.  Words cannot express what a feeble and embarrassing effort “Y’all Want a Single” represents.

Overall this album has a heavier sound (Davis also does a fair bit of death metal-esque grunting and growling), yet it inexplicably manages to sound like a rehash of everything that’s come before.  I guess the best word for it is forgettable.  The riffs aren’t as intense, the melodies are a little weak, and the passion is blatantly absent.  The boys toyed around with some worthwhile sounds on the album, but it’s like they don’t know what parts to focus on and what parts to use sparingly.  The best track, by far, is “Here It Comes Again” with an edgy riff and multi-layered vocals in the chorus that give it an exotic flair.

Shortly afterwords, Korn would go on to release a Greatest Hits album, including their cover of Cameo’s “Word Up!”, which sounds exactly what one would think “Word Up!” performed by Korn would sound like.

See You on the Other Side (2005)

Billed as Korn’s first “experimental album,” See You on the Other Side saw Korn actively seeking out a new sound.  At the time, this was refreshing to hear.  Since the widespread success of Follow the Leader, Korn continually espoused a “back to our roots” approach at some point when discussing the following 3 albums.  With Other Side, the band teamed up with production crew The Matrix to take their sound in a new, more accessible direction.

Did it work?  I’m on the fence.  In a lot of ways it sounds like Mirror, which itself is still highly derivative of the well-tread grounds of Issues and Untouchables.  If I had one difference to latch onto, it would be the generally cleaner and crisper production.  While the guitars are still heavy and crunchy, they’re not nearly as fuzzy and noisy, and Fieldy’s bass has been cleaned up quite a bit to where it the music is tighter than the loose and fat sounds of previous albums.  Korn’s music has always flirted with the groove metal of contemporaries like Sepultura and Pantera, but they’ve discarded some of that in favor of a more beat-driven record with a noticeable pop flavor.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – in fact, I’m glad to see them try something new.  Although I question the overall success in creating an enduring body of music, they did produce a few awesome pieces along the way.  The best cut is “Coming Undone,” a rousing, spirited track that would be equally at place in a mosh pit or on in the club.  It’s a rhythmic masterpiece; the simple beat is Korn at their catchiest, with booming guitars to keep it heavy and energetic.  It would also seem that, if even only for a moment, Davis has brought some of the vim and vigor back to his vocal delivery with an urgency that we haven’t heard in a while.

“Love Song” is another song that captures the angsty mood of days past, and utilizes an effective “start-stop” structure as well as call and response vocals for a bit of a different sound.  “For No One” is one of the album’s harshest pieces, juxtaposed with a genuine soaring melody and some rap-ish vocals that remind me of Follow the Leader days.  There are several good reasons to listen to Other Side, though I still feel like the band are recycling old sounds and sticking too close to their comfort zone.  Yes, it does introduce some new facets to the music, though it has yet to explode into something new and groundbreaking.  Overall, it’s a good but not great album.  However, experimental albums (which I reckon this could be fairly regarded as such compared to the band’s previous material, though the next album gives the term “experimental” a run for its money…) are often the precursors to something great, so let’s go ahead and see what they’d come up with 2 years later…

Untitled album (2007)

I know that bands think they’re clever by releasing an unnamed album at some point in their careers, but damn.  It’s been done to death.  Davis said that he wanted to fans to “call the album whatever they want[ed]” but let’s get real: who the hell is going to make up a name for an album?  “Oh gee, hmm, I think I’d like to call it ‘The Ketchup Cocker Spaniel’!”  Naturally, what happens is that somewhere between fans, critics, and radio DJs, they try to come up with the most neutral term possible.  Of course we can’t simply call it “Untitled,” because then that’ll look like it’s the real title (another “clever” move by many, many artists – is it “Untitled” because it has no title or is it “Untitled” because the band named it “Untitled”!?), so it would seem the world settled on “untitled album.”  I think it should be even more cumbersome – “Korn’s untitled 8th studio album.”  Yeah, way to go, Jon.

Apologies for the rant, but it needed to be said.  Anyway, Korn went into recording “Untitled” as a very different band than it had ever been before.  Long time guitarist Head had left back in 2003, and prior to “Untitled,” drummer Silveria departed as well (and subsequently went totally fucking insane).  Officially, Korn continued as a three piece unit (Davis, Munky, and Fieldy), though they enlisted the help of a couple of non-permanent drummers as well as a keyboardist for the new album.  Initially they had planned to continue with producers The Matrix, but found themselves dissatisfied with the results early on.  The final product would prove to be one of Korn’s most polarizing albums to date.

What we have is a more cerebral, meticulously crafted body of work rather than the largely organic offerings of the past.  I’m sure that losing their long time drummer played a role in this new direction, and obviously the addition of a keyboardist means more electronic elements and the probability of a more manufactured sound.  One of the most distinctive aspects of Korn’s music has always been Fieldy’s slap bass technique, which is featured almost front and center on Mirror, yet is noticeably diminished by the time of Other Side.  “Untitled” contains very little of the driving clicks and pops, which really makes this album stand out next to the band’s previous efforts.

 

Where does all of this leave us?  For starters, a very different record.  I’d be hard pressed to call “Untitled” nu metal.  I’d actually call it industrial hard rock.  There are lots of electronic elements ranging from simple flourishes to complete atmospheres to lead instrumentation.  Several of the tracks feature readily identifiable industrial percussion, such as the exceedingly mechanical beat in “Do What They Say.”  The rhythms on “Untitled” are, for the most part, very measured and precise, with an austere and hollow quality that could easily be called “Nine Inch Nails-Lite” in style.

The guitars take a major backseat as all the little beeps and clicks and electronic textures take the spotlight alongside Davis’ vocals.  Davis generally adopts a more somber tone throughout the album; sometimes it works well and we’re able to see a more sensitive and composed side of his personality, but other times it tends towards the generic sound of the mid-90’s mainstream industrial rock acts that the boys seem to be emulating to an extent.  They don’t sound completely comfortable in their new shoes, and as a result, I don’t think they’re able to convey as much emotion as usual.

“Untitled” is a marginally difficult album to digest, especially for long time Korn fans.  It’s difficult to tell if this is a good direction for them or not, but one thing’s for sure; they finally gave us something wildly different.  The fuzzy, controlled chaos of “Innocent Bystander” might make it my favorite track, if nothing else because it really feels like they put everything into it.  It’s a very well focused record, but I can’t help but wonder if “consistency” contributed to the somewhat repetitious vibe running throughout “Untitled.”

Korn III: Remember Who You Are (2010)

This wasn’t the first time that Korn had mentioned going “back to basics,” so I tried not to put too much stock into that comment.  The title can be a little misleading; even long time fans were wondering, “where the hell was ‘Korn II‘?”  Ever eager to distance themselves from the overwhelming success of Follow the Leader, Korn symbolically appended the revisionist subtitle “Korn II” to their second record, Life is Peachy, further drawing the connection between Korn III and their early work.  I suppose it all boils down to the fact that this is their third album produced by Ross Robinson, but personally I don’t believe that Life is Peachy has all that much in common with Korn, but whatever; obviously there’s something about that album that I just don’t get.

Skeptical as I was, there’s no arguing with the music, and Korn really came out of the gate booming on this record.  The opening of “Oildale” reminds me in no small part of Manson’s “The Beautiful People” from nearly 15 years earlier, and then, just as I’m trying to size this new music up, it explodes into that familiar wall of distorted guitar noise, culminating in a chaotic climax with something resembling a guitar solo.

“Oildale” is one of the albums heavier tracks, and the rest of the album has a little trouble keeping up with its level of musical harshness, but regardless, the band did actually channel a good deal of that early energy into this release.  They’ve got their knack for crafting catchy riffs back, and this time, they come to us in a hasty, frantic fashion.  Davis is back to throwing his vocals around all over the place, and though I can’t be sure how much of it might be forced, it does make a powerful impression.  During the interim between “Untitled” and Korn III, the band went on a short hiatus where many of the members pursued their own solo projects; apparently this time away from each other and the concept of “Korn” itself successfully reignited the passion.

Korn III may not be quite as fresh and as intoxicating as what they achieved on their debut, but the album as a whole is quite enjoyable and features several strong cuts.  “Are You Ready to Live?” gets back to some of the more sinister and malevolent territory explored on Korn, while “Move On” features appreciably explosive percussion courtesy of new drummer Ray Luzier.  “Fear is a Place to Live” brings back machine gun riffing and vocals reminiscent of Davis’ scatting and more rap-tinged days.

Classic?  Maybe not.  A spirited effort?  For sure.  I don’t know if this will be heralded as “the comeback album” or not, but at the very least it ought to be remembered as one of the better later releases of theirs.

So, would we be on the edge of our seat anticipating a “Korn IV“?  Well, no.

The Path of Totality (2011)

Ten albums into their career, Korn decides to do something drastic.  Instead of a singularly focused effort, the band sought out the talents of various dubstep and electronic DJs/musicians to produce each track.  I really have to admire the boys for making such a bold move – they had an idea and ran with it.  Grinding guitars are replaced by harsh and aggressive synth notes, and organic drumming is eschewed in favor of complicated, precision beats with layers upon layers of electronic bass.  Whatever else is to be said about this record, one thing’s for sure: it’s not easily forgotten.

Remembering their last electronic album, “Untitled,” I wondered if Korn would adapt a little better this time around.  I suppose that my answer would be “better” but not quite all the way there.  Without a doubt, Totality features a number of scathing, unpredictable rhythms that virtually any fan of music can appreciate.  The problem is that Korn can’t quite wrap themselves around these complex menageries of synthetic instrumentation, and they tend to fall back on the same basic ascending and descending melodies that we’ve heard for years.

It’s not bad, and there are some moments where the whole package comes together, but the best parts of Totality are the breaks and intros where the “dubstep-ness” of the album is allowed to shine unadulterated.  Korn has a bunch of producers behind them doing something new, yet they don’t seem to be doing much of anything new themselves.  I hate to say it, but Korn’s influence waters down the intensity of the backing tracks, most of which are pretty damn cool on their own.

 

“Narcissistic Cannibal” is one of the album’s best and the breakdown is absolutely amazing.  “Sanctuary” also boasts another killer dose of electronic brilliance and stands as one of the better examples of the integration of Davis’ vocals.  Overall it’s fun to listen to this record a few times, but it fails to leave an enduring impression.  I think Korn knew what they wanted to do here; hell, I can’t help but wonder if they thought they might have another Follow the Leader on their hands; but ultimately I believe that the rhythms and patterns were a little too far out of their wheelhouse to effectively mess with.  It’s a cool experiment, but these aren’t the kinds of songs I”ll be coming back to again and again.

It’s not easy mixing genres as diffuse as alt metal and dubstep.  Inevitably, important pieces of both are lost, and what’s left can have a difficult time meshing well with each other.  I wouldn’t call it a failure, but it does begin to fall short of accessibility.  Korn, I applaud your ambition as artists, even if I won’t be constantly singing the merits of Totality.

The Paradigm Shift (2013)

And here we are, nearly at the end of our trip, with Korn’s most recent album The Paradigm Shift.  Notable is the return of second guitarist Head, who was eager to rejoin his former bandmates.  The band made some very enticing statements regarding the album, likening it to “the darkness of Issues” with “the heaviness of Untouchables.”  Sounds awesome right?

Of course it sounds awesome…but they didn’t quite pull it off.  It does mark a return to “their sound,” though I’d hardly peg it is “as dark as Issues” or “as heavy as Untouchables.”  There’s some cool riffing to be heard, and I think the guys tried to be as melodic as ever (though they really seem to have only a few tunes in their repertoire), but The Paradigm Shift tends to come off as watery and bland.  Some of these tracks, around half or so, actually descend dangerously close to mid-tempo alt rock levels.  Not good.

“Paranoid and Aroused” is one of the better tracks and does a reasonable job of tapping into Korn’s earlier work.  Others, like “Never Never” and “Mass Hysteria” are embarrassingly juvenile.  “Lullaby for a Sadist” almost sounds like an outtake from Manson’s Smells Like Children.  As far as a favorite goes, I’m not really sure…

 

Like I said, there’s a bunch of great riffs floating around, and Davis is back to throwing his vocals all other the place from grunts and growls to a serviceable singing voice.  The problem is that it all feels a little scattershot and thrown together.  There’s a lot of great components floating around – including electronic elements carried over from the previous album – they just don’t ever really come together in a way that captivates me.

I really wanted this album to be something special.  Instead, it’s chaotic – messy even.  It’s an entertaining enough list, I just can’t find anything to really hold on to.  And at this point I’m starting to get really, really tired of Korn’s so-called “melodies.”  Hardly ever do they gel with the rest of the track, and even worse, a lot of the choruses are starting to sound very much recycled.  Where do these tunes come from?  I don’t know, but they are absolutely crippling Korn’s music.  There’s a difference between being melodic and going up or down the scale in predictable manners.

Fortunately (maybe) it’s been a couple of years since The Paradigm Shift, so maybe we’ll see something new from Korn soon.  I’ll always keep my fingers crossed that they’ll be able to come up with something on par with Korn or Issues again, but I won’t be holding my breath.

Journey’s End

Well that’s it for this trip.  Are Korn’s best days behind them?  Probably.  It’s a shame that the band has lost relevance over the years, though they’ve had a better run than most and have managed to outlive most of their nu metal contemporaries.  It’s been a bumpy yet fun ride, and I’ll be glad to at least give a couple of spins to whatever new material the guys crank out in the future.

So now we have the obligatory ranking.  You might’ve noticed the absence of peripheral material from these guys, but the truth is they were pretty good at keeping their material on full-length albums.  Aside from a handful of B-sides, and a few soundtrack releases, the bulk of Korn can be experienced easily.

1. Korn
2. Issues
3. Follow the Leader
4. Untouchables
5. Korn III: Remember Who You Are
6. See You on the Other Side
7. Life is Peachy
8. The Paradigm Shift
9. The Path of Totality
10. Untitled
11. Take a Look in the Mirror

My ideal playlist – 80 minutes or less:

1. Blind (4:19) (Korn)
2. Twist (0:49) (Life is Peachy)
3. One More Time (4:39) (Untouchables)
4. Clown (4:37) (Korn)
5. 4 U (1:42) (Issues)
6. Children of the Korn (3:52) (Follow the Leader)
7. Here It Comes Again (3:33) (Take a Look in the Mirror)
8. Trash (3:27) (Follow the Leader)
9. Lowrider (0:58) (Life is Peachy)
10. Coming Undone (3:19) (See You on the Other Side)
11. Faget (5:49) (Korn)
12. Dead (1:12) (Issues)
13. Here to Stay (4:31) (Untouchables)
14. Narcissistic Cannibal (3:10) (The Path of Totality)
15. Helmet in the Bush (4:02) (Korn)
16. Beg For Me (3:53) (Issues)
17. Dead Bodies Everywhere (4:44) (Follow the Leader)
18. Oildale (4:43) (Korn III: Remember Who You Are)
19. No Place to Hide (3:31) (Life is Peachy)
20. Ball Tongue (4:29) (Korn)
21. Daddy (8:55) (Korn)

Eleven albums is a lot to take in.  But if you’ve never really gotten into Korn, there is a shortlist of “essential Korn” that fans of hard rock and metal should be familiar with.  Perhaps not coincidentally, I’d recommend the first four items on my list – Korn, Follow the Leader, Issues, and Untouchables.  That’s not to say you might not like later albums, but these certainly represent the band at their musical and creative peak and belong in most everyone’s record collection.  And since Life is Peachy sort of seems like the odd man out, it may be worth pitching in for good measure.

How familiar are you with Korn’s complete catalog?  Which albums are your favorites and least favorites?  Take a moment and let us know what you think below!

Written by The Cubist