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Korn - Korn review



Reviewer:
8.7

553 users:
7.8
Band: Korn
Album: Korn
Style: Nu metal
Release date: October 1994


01. Blind
02. Ball Tongue
03. Need To
04. Clown
05. Divine
06. Faget
07. Shoots And Ladders
08. Predictable
09. Fake
10. Lies
11. Helmet In The Bush
12. Daddy

Back in the old days when everything was easier and flowers were brighter and people weren't as "we're so Tr00 and Br00tall?" as today, some Californian guys decided to release an album so different and fresh that people first loved and then bizarrely hated deeply. That band is called Korn, but you all know this band already, so let me write about this, their first effort ever.

I can't recall the first time I heard this album and that's quite irrelevant, the fact that still when I hear it I go "Damn?these guys were cool" is absolutely significant (at least for me) because there are few albums, maybe 5 or 6, that after more than 10 years I still say those words if you know what I mean. This album is not technical, it hasn't amazing layers, there are no complex solos and even the lyrics are quite predictable; but it has overwhelming strength and the most amazing violent power I've heard in a Nu-Metal band, and maybe that was the primary feature you know? While other bands were focusing in being all progressive, elaborated and convoluted, Korn appeared and said, "We have cool music that's all" (the same thing happened when Nirvana arrived remember?) so most guys immediately ran to buy this album and found exactly what they were looking for.

I'm not saying these youngsters did things stupidly just to sound hostile, they knew how to arrange structures and how to create catchy songs without sounding cheesy, so as you can see, even when they weren't technical they were marvelous in the songwriting department. Most tracks have a different pace, irregular beats and some other interesting characteristics which entertain the listener from the beginning to the very end. As I already said, the lyrical content is quite childish, they talk about weird fag teenager problems then they add lines like "you're suffering because of me, it's divine"; but what the hell, I love Suffocation, Torsofuck and Cannibal Corpse and they talk about raping dead girls or about eating some random fat chick's feces, so I guess I'm not the proper person to talk about childish lyrics.

This is Korn my dear friends, they are the pioneers of a genre I don't care if you like it or not, but this is a band who didn't hesitate to experiment with new forms of music, and I really respect them for that I mean they even added Bagpipes for fuck's sake, not to mention this is maybe the only Nu-Metal band who never went backwards in their career, they keep releasing good albums and are, to this day, one of the most important bands in contemporary music call it rock, metal, pop, country or salsa it would be the same for me and for many people all around the world.

Best Tracks: "Ball Tongue", "Shoots And Ladders", "Daddy", "Clown", "Blind"

Written by Herzebeth | 25.04.2006




Comments

Comments: 22   Visited by: 230 users
26.08.2006 - 21:57
Bitch Boy

I loved your review. I like the way you described the album, but I liked more the way you express the whole feeling towards the band: "Some people first loved and then bizarrely deeply hated".
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27.08.2006 - 01:12
Damnated
Churchburner
Good review fof a good band. Untouchables stays the best of their release for me.
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Blessed is he that murders Christ in himself and in his fellow men.



Written by TheBigRossowski on 10.02.2009 at 16:01

if my wife and I can't conceive, I want a medical shipment of your sperm so our baby will be just like you.
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27.08.2006 - 04:49
Rating: 7
Xtreme Jax
Psycroptipath
Yeah really good review, for a good album. One of the first bands i listened to and still have a faint thing for them, though this album is one of my favourites from Korn... but rarely do i listen to them now.
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Hellcunt Smurf
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27.08.2006 - 05:50
Streetcleaner
Account deleted
This is the only Korn release that certainly deserves a 10 IMO
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12.12.2006 - 06:02
Rating: 7
jadawal

I listened to this alot when I was younger, this is a very respectable album and I still like it to this day.
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17.06.2007 - 04:25
Rating: 10
Jason W.
Razorbliss
For the most part, nu-metal has bored me or irritated me, but this, likely the first nu-metal album, has always impressed me. There isn't a touch of the overproduced and crisp sound that it seems Korn and most other nu-metal bands have and had after the release of this CD. The lyrics are childish at times, yes, but there is a genuine pain and passion all around, which I commend! I think the CD deserves a higher rating, but a classy review nonetheless In a time of Seattle grunge that bored me, this release and Tool's "Undertow" were rock/metal CDs that kept my faith in the more mainstream sounds.
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"After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley
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03.11.2007 - 07:15
Rating: 6
BurbotsRevenge
Foetal Butchery
if anyone is interested, i have this album up for trade. PM for more details...
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Dark death metal from Sydney: https://www.facebook.com/GolgothanRemains
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08.11.2008 - 08:16
Daggon
Underpaid M.D.
A well done album, even if it is nu metal or salsa (hahaha) still is a nice job from this guys, and yeah Davis has a strange and particular voice, catchy if you want, but I used to like it. Well I kinda agree with your review.
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"Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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02.01.2009 - 01:01
Rating: 8
V8Thrasher

Loved your review. for some reason all the nu-metal acts that followed were surprisingly below the standards korn set. this album is definately raw and powerful, but by no means is it complex. and thats what makes it a winner.
back in the day this was the band, and still remains one of my top albums.
to this day i still get a face of "what the hell is this" when i put up "ball tongue" or "faget". it seems this old school sound still shocks ppl. unlike the contemporary metal releases where everyone knows what death/grindcore is.


id rather have a listener be shocked and say what is this, instead of turn that metal crap off.
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30.04.2009 - 16:35
Kurimus
Account deleted
I got this album back in 2003(?) or something and had a passing interest on it, but then like most assholes nowdays I moved to the nothingbutmetal diet and hated Korn. After few years of idiotic regression I started to loose the narrow mindedness, but this album was forgotten; lying somewhere in the archives...

Recently I dug this up and started to listen to it and I must say that it's turning out really good!
But I still have this omnious feeling that there's something missing here. For this I was wondering: Does any of you guys have the feeling that something's sorta missing here?
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29.05.2009 - 13:34
Uirapuru
Liver Failure
Classic nu-metal work. Deserves the rate and the success. One of the first metal albuns i've heard in my life, and it still has a nostalgic feature. ''Blind'' and ''Clown'' highlights.:thumbup:
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member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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07.12.2009 - 21:05
Rating: 9
Andresopeth

Best Korn album, lot of originality and from the review i liked the comparation with Nirvana in how basic the disc may sound but how good is the music
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16.04.2010 - 20:45
Rating: 10
Kennoth

I like this review, it's right to the point. While I wouldn't call this album their best, it's very, very close to it. Powerful, raw and simple. Classics like Blind, Clown, Daddy or Faget never bore me....Anyway, even the hardest of the metalheads should give it a try...
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*insert something deep and profound*
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16.04.2010 - 21:00
Introspekrieg
Totemic Lust
Undeniably the reason I listen to metal, as I'm sure it is for many others. I also agree that they may have peaked with Untouchables, that one is my favorite by them (the experimentation was good). You can't beat the teen angst and anger on this album... nice review.
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16.04.2010 - 23:03
soadbyob
Account deleted
Amazing, still a classic album
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02.08.2011 - 19:36
Cuca Beludo
Account deleted
My fav KoRn album is "See You On The Other Side", It's sound different from all korn album I've ever heard.
I don't know why everybody "Hate" korn, they have excellent songs and lyrics, Guess we have some Mind-Closed Metallers today!
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04.08.2011 - 01:18
Void Eater
Account deleted
Written by Guest on 02.08.2011 at 19:36

My fav KoRn album is "See You On The Other Side", It's sound different from all korn album I've ever heard.
I don't know why everybody "Hate" korn, they have excellent songs and lyrics, Guess we have some Mind-Closed Metallers today!

Yup, because enjoying music designed for mainstream consumption totally makes you more open-minded than everybody. I for one greatly envy Lady Gaga fans, they must be the most open minded people on earth!
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06.08.2011 - 20:42
Cuca Beludo
Account deleted
Written by Guest on 04.08.2011 at 01:18

Written by Guest on 02.08.2011 at 19:36

My fav KoRn album is "See You On The Other Side", It's sound different from all korn album I've ever heard.
I don't know why everybody "Hate" korn, they have excellent songs and lyrics, Guess we have some Mind-Closed Metallers today!

Yup, because enjoying music designed for mainstream consumption totally makes you more open-minded than everybody. I for one greatly envy Lady Gaga fans, they must be the most open minded people on earth!


No, you can listen every genre of music and be open minded, from Pop to Nu. Nu Metal is the only metal sub-genre that I hear peoples talking bad about, and nobody talks bad about other sub-genres! Why? Korn is different from all of their, but they are too bad?
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06.08.2011 - 21:03
Rating: 8
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Written by Guest on 06.08.2011 at 20:42

No, you can listen every genre of music and be open minded, from Pop to Nu.


Open-minded does NOT mean that you enjoy everything, that's bullshit.
Being open-minded is that you are ready to give everything a fair chance and listen to it without prejudices.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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06.08.2011 - 21:26
Void Eater
Account deleted
Written by X-Ray Rod on 06.08.2011 at 21:03

Written by Guest on 06.08.2011 at 20:42

No, you can listen every genre of music and be open minded, from Pop to Nu.


Open-minded does NOT mean that you enjoy everything, that's bullshit.
Being open-minded is that you are ready to give everything a fair chance and listen to it without prejudices.

This. I actually like Korn's first album a fair bit. Does that make me more open minded? Nope, it means I like the damn music. People have different tastes. Some people may very well listen to numerous nu-metal bands without any prejudices and just dislike all of the music.
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06.08.2011 - 23:28
Rating: 8
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Written by Guest on 06.08.2011 at 21:26

This. I actually like Korn's first album a fair bit. Does that make me more open minded? Nope, it means I like the damn music. People have different tastes. Some people may very well listen to numerous nu-metal bands without any prejudices and just dislike all of the music.


Well, changing the topic a little bit I do think this is a pretty damn good album and would take it over many bands both among the Nu metal movement or other kinds of metal. I also enjoy their rest of their discography but they totally went downhill after Take A Look In The Mirror.

But yeah, am I open minded because of that? Hell no.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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25.03.2014 - 00:30
Rating: 7
Mauro De Lio

Shitty review. more unidimensional than the album in question.
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