Issue #2: Korn – Korn

Release Date:  October 11th, 1994

Recorded:  May – June 1994

Genre:  Nu-metal

Record Label:  Immortal / Epic

Duration:  65:51

Producer:  Ross Robinson

Personnel

Track Listing

Singles

Why Korn is One of My Favorites

For Issue #2 of my favorite 90’s albums, I’m again journeying back to 1994 to take a look at Korn’s self-titled debut. This is another hard hitting album from my teenage years with a certain rawness that continues to resonate with me. Korn’s library of albums has grown steadily over the years, but I can still remember the hype around the releases of Follow the Leader and Issues, their 3rd and 4th albums respectively. During the late 90’s and early 2000’s, a lot of self-labelled Korn fans held Life is Peachy in the highest regard, and I always found Korn’s debut album to be criminally overlooked by my peers.

Who can forget the iconic cry of, “Are you READY!?” that kicks off the album?  Like it or not, nu-metal became a very real genre for a few years, and like even the most derivative of styles, there was plenty to like about it. Korn’s debut is often hailed as one of the progenitors of nu-metal and takes far less influence from hip-hop than later examples. As a result, we’re left with an appreciably heavy release with a pop sensibility that holds nothing back in terms of emotional delivery. It can be a little jolting at first, but Jonathan Davis’ “singing” consists of a distinctive melding of screaming and crying at times (“Faget,” “Dadddy”) evoking an all too real image of extreme frustration, a mixture of anger and pain, and a voice crying out for the end of suffering. It’s like when the bullied kid on the playground finally has enough, and although his tears and sobbing are decidedly pathetic, his hatred for his oppressors has escalated to a frightening, perhaps even violent degree. It’s a freakishly accurate portrayal of the darker side of “nerd rage.”

Also present on the album are Davis’ equally sinister, menacing voices, effectively exploring different means of coping with excessive rage and hurt. Labored and heavy whispering create tension (“Clown,” “Divine,” “Faget”) while his croons represent a sort of child-like malevolence (“Ball Tongue,” “Shoots and Ladders,” “Predictable,” “Helmet in the Bush”). And just for good measure, a few deep, guttural growls work their way in (“Ball Tongue,” “Predictable,” “Lies”), evincing more traditionally metal undertones. To top it off, Davis also demonstrates his ability to truly sing, such as the opening bit of “Daddy.” Impressive still is his ability to “scat;” although most prominently displayed in Life is Peachy’s “Twist” (which is said to be an outtake from the recording of Korn), there’s also a good deal of it in the chorus of “Ball Tongue.”

The vocals have continued to set Korn apart from similar works over the years, but during its time, the music itself was an amazing accomplishment as well. It sets itself apart from “just another metal album” through its use of rhythm. These guys had a knack for heavy, rhythmic song structures, and though the practice has become commonplace now, Korn continues to shine as one of the finest examples. By integrating concepts such as syncopation and varied timing into the “heavy” sound, they reached a whole new level of accessibility. Metal drummers are typically known for flying through their songs at lightning fast speed, but there’s more to drumming than blast beats and double bass. Likewise, guitar solos are eschewed in favor of using the abrasive, bass-heavy, crunchy sound to compliment the beat. The whole album is full of impressive drumming transitions and almost hypnotic guitar work. Many complaints of nu-metal are leveled at musicianship and technical proficiency. I have the utmost respect for metal musicians who have honed their talents, but at some point, none of that matters, and it’s about how it sounds. Were Korn great musicians back in 94? I’m not qualified enough to judge that (though I’d like to think Silveria was noticed for his drumming on the album), but what’s important is what they managed to create with whatever talents they did possess at the time. Some of my favorites, rhythmically speaking, are “Blind,” “Ball Tongue,” “Clown,” “Lies,” and “Helmet in the Bush.”

Fieldy’s slap bass technique is worth touching on as well. It’s another component that gives the album a unique flavor, even if it isn’t readily identifiable at first. Apart from the bass notes themselves, the resultant sound from the strings being slapped produces an entirely new rhythmic element that compartively few other artists ever choose to utilize. There’s a small but distinct undercurrent of funk influence driving many of Korn’s rhythmic stylings, undoubtedly playing an important role in the almost danceable effect produced by the album’s strongest track. Perhaps dancing isn’t the right world; regardless, it’s hard to stop your body from moving in some way or another when these songs kick into gear. On a related note, it was around the mid-90’s that bass really made its way into metal. Even some of the best metal, when cranked up on a reasonable soundsystem, is noticeably lacking in booming bass. Korn may not have been the first album to incorporate a pleasant “thump thump” in its music (“groove metal,” which began gaining ground a few years earlier, was taking a “bassier” approach, though it never quite broke into the mainstream to the same extent as nu-metal), but this certainly wasn’t the norm back in 1994. You’d be hard pressed to find anything similar to the rumbling bass in the verses of “Clown” or the bass drop in “Faget” as Davis shouts, “You can suck my dick and fucking like it!” prior to this album’s release.

Along with Davis’ varying range of vocal styles and the pulsating nature of the music, we also have the album’s rather straightforward lyrical content. Korn deals mostly with themes of alienation, ostricization, social oppression, and the feelings that come along with them. It also touches on stereotypes, identity, and child abuse, and it’s clear that Davis has an intensely personal relationship with each of the tracks. There are literally dozens of quotable shouts and chants contained herein, mostly lashing out an intolerant and judgemental society. There are moments of triumph such as “Divine’s,” “Fuck you, I’m fed up with you / I’m not as good as you? / Fuck you I’m better than you,” moments of absolute defeat as found in “Daddy,” “I scream! / No one hears me / It hurt! /…./ Mommy why! / Your own child,” and still others hinting at a certain level of depravity, evidenced in, “I smile / While you’re afraid /…/ My life / Is ripping your heart out / And destorying my pain” in “Lies.” I could probably go on until I’d quoted half the album. There’s a real immediacy and urgency in the lyrics; they seem to flow quite naturally as a no-frills description of feelings and events, though several songs are cleverly underlined by additional meaning. They are both raw and manicured simultaneously, a feat not easily achieved.

Like my previous article regarding The Downward Spiral, Korn’s Korn is another album that I rarely skip tracks on. Then again, sometimes I’ll really have an urge to hear “Blind,” or “Clown,” or “Faget,” and crank it up for a few minutes of uncontrolled headbanging. Hallmarks of a great album are not only how well the album works as a single entity, but also how well each track stands on its own. A 4 minute experience is just as important as 70 minute experience.

I will grant that Korn has the potential to feel a little angsty and maybe even immature if you’re hearing it for the first time in your mid-20’s or later, but even if you can’t explicitly connect with the lyrics, it’s difficult to ignore the sheer energy. I find it impossible to deny that Davis was giving us absolutely everything he had to give us at the time, in raw, uncensored, unrestrained form. Rarely do artists let it all hang out like this, but Davis’ emotional approach on this album is 100% unmetered and one of the most vivid demonstrations of pure human emotion that I’ve ever heard. This is not to say that there’s no merit in finesse and polish, but on this record, it’s all out the window and it works beautifully because of it. Combined with Davis’ unique vocal presence are these hard hitting, driving riffs of crunchy guitar delight. The pounding music is the perfect embodiment of Davis’ subject matter.  Rarely are there times in a body of music when the “sound” matches the “words” so closely.

Poignant and fulfilling, Korn delivers what would ultimately become the spirit behind much of the nu-metal era and does so with an alacrity that many successive albums in the genre were unable to match. It also possesses a degree of consistency that other artists would have a hard time finding, boasting a slew of strong cuts as opposed to only “a couple of good ones.”  Throughout history there have been plenty of albums that spurred or even defined a certain sub-genre, and while influential, can sometimes be seen as dated and surpassed by their successors.  Unusually, Korn still stands as one of the heaviest mainstays of a movement it helped to create.

Written by The Cubist

Other albums from Korn in this series:

• 1998 – Follow the Leader – Issue #64
• 1999 – Issues – Issue #63

Back to The Cubist’s Album of the 90’s

Written by The Cubist

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I collect as much video gaming paraphernalia as I can get my hands on, especially when it comes to hardware. With over 40 systems including oldies like the ColecoVision and Intellivision, obscurities like the CD-i and 3DO, and the latest and greatest including the Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, and PS Vita, I get easily overwhelmed. Most of the time you can find me firmly nestled sometime between 1985 and 1995 when it comes to my games of choice, but I’m also having a great time seeing what the 8th generation has to offer.

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