Track Listing

1. Blind
2. Ball Tongue
3. Need To
4. Clown
5. Divine
6. Faget
7. Shoots And Ladders
8. Predictable
9. Fake
10. Lies
11. Helmet In The Bush
12. Daddy

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12061 in Music
• Released on: 2002-12-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics

Amazon.co.uk Review
Combining the stop-start rhythms of Helmet, the hip-hop assault of Rage Against the Machine and the brooding vocals of Faith No More, Bakersfield, California band Korn concocted a golden formula that would reanimate the dormant corpse of heavy metal. The band's self-titled debut is a teenage-fantasy-endorphin-rush--a subversive noisefest as angry and hostile as Slayer but with a propulsive groove perfect for skateboarding, vandalism, or jumping up and down until you're nauseous. Songs like "Blind", "Clown", and "Shoots and Ladders" blend dark, bleak riffs with head-spinning guitar effects and scream-and-response choruses. But even at their most vitriolic, Korn imbue their blustery music with a cathartic element of fun. --Jon Wiederhorn

CD Description
"Are you readyyyy?!" With that question--an inquiry that begins as a growl and ends as a scream--Jonathan Davis provides a fitting beginning to this searing collection of relentless, metallicised thrash/funk. His question is well-posed; this is not music for the faint of heart. Producer Ross Robinson and Korn have found a formula that works: start with a layer of fuzz-soaked guitar, add some big beats, and finish the whole construct off with a healthy dose of Davis's tortured vocals.
This is dark music, scary music. It's also occasionally funky music. "Ball Tongue", with its stop/start syncopation, tinny guitar whine, and stripped-down-to-the-bone verse, is a perfect encapsulation of the Korn style. The track also contains a trace of (gasp!) Hip-Hop flavour, but youwon't be hearing this L.A. quartet on the dance floor any time soon. Their assault is severe, fueled with explosive bursts of guitar a la Metallica, as well as frenetic tempo changes reminiscent of Faith No More. The themes are frustration, alienation, pain, explored the way a bulldozer might peruse a patch of daisies.
Through songs like "Divine", where guitar and drums intertwine to form a sinewy, intricate rhythmic pulse, and "Fake", in which Davis's voice alternates between a dreamy sing-song and a demonic roar, Korn amply displays both their musicianship and their rage. But the disc's most startling moment is the last. "Daddy", in which the farthest reaches of human cruelty and depravity are held up andjudged by an abused child, begins with a haunting surprise--and ends in an emotional meltdown, a final purge, with Davis sobbing, screaming, "You ruined my life!" Korn exorcises their demons the only way they know how--with music.

Customer Reviews

Complete revolution
Korn's debut was so revolutionary to metal and so important that most fans of metal should try it out.The instruments sounded so different and fresh taht it showed korns individuality.The downtuning made some of the heaviest music every seen and definately one of the most original.Its a shame so many less talented artists(limp bizkit)had to use the sound and basically destroy it.This album is my favourite korn album along with untouchables which everybody should listen to.

Evolution
What an Album! I Recieved it today and I was just over the moon. The Intro of the Album really gets the mood set and the rest of the songs are just Brilliant, I didn't understand why so many people were Bad-Mouthing It.

Personally, I think this was their Return to Form since they Released the Untouchables, Sure it's not as heavy and raw as most of their other albums but thats what makes it so good and it still keeps the Angry Attitude and Uniqueness that made them Korn.

This album is recommended to anyone whether they have heard Korn before or Not.

Favourite Tracks: They're all Brilliant but I would recommend 'Evolution' and 'Love & Luxury'

Different, but still as great!
I'm not surprised to see some negative reviews from 'diehard' KoRn fans - this album is a bit different from what has gone before, but it's still totally and uniquely KoRn, and still just as good (if not better, in some ways). It is less heavy in places, and alot more experimental, but a band has to develop and evolve or it just becomes stale and samey, and this band have never done that. It still sounds like KoRn though.

On this album they are trying out some new angles and new musical devices. The sound and structure of the songs is often more complex than before, and the album has real depth to it and a very dark mood overall. I can't find a weak song on the album, but don't expect them to be as catchy and immediate as 'Right Now' or 'Make Me Bad'. Many of the songs here are less likely to be stomping live tracks (although 'Evolution' sounded pretty good in the Download tent!), but that doesn't make them less good songs, just different, and perhaps in a sense a bit more thoughtful, so that it needs to be listened to a few times to be fully appreciated.

It's a progression, and in a good direction, not like some Nu-Metal bands who have just stuck to the same stuff and got boring, or abandoned their sound entirly to become just another commercialised nothing. Commercialism or wimping out this isn't. Rubbishy downfall of a Metallica style this isn't. The closest parallel I can think of is Black Sabbath - they couldn't just make the Paranoid album over and over, as great as it was, and moved on to make 'Sabotage' and 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath', two of their best albums, but not the same as what came before - less sheer heaviness and more thoughtfulness, careful construction and experimentation.

This is a directional developement for KoRn, but I think it works superbly. Buy it, give it a try, remember that it's going to be a bit different and might need a few listens, and give it a chance.