Korn
Issues

All I want in life is to be happy
It's strange to me how things can be fucked up
Every time I move forward I feel more dead."

A bagpipe, a reverberated drum, and the words above are the natural introduction to the fourth album by Korn, the godfathers and MASTERS of that Nu Metal which they have echoed across the world for years.

Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, and hundreds of improbable followers have branded the name of the Bakersfield band into their Pedigree.

An undeniable influence but also a heavy burden for the psyche of an unstable Jonathan Davis who, within the suicidal delirium of "Falling Away From Me", pours out the poverty of an existence that leads nowhere, except underground.

A song among the most successful of the entire Californian repertoire and the flagship of this "Issues" that decidedly starts off on the right foot.

Disposable girls are the moving target of an epically hallucinated "Trash", while the intimate "4U" separates it from a "Beg for Me" which is an elastic and flattering attestation of gratitude towards its audience.

"Who the hell cares if my life sucks?

I only know one thing. I won't give up!"

"Make Me Bad", with its soft verse and catchy refrain, is cruel and presents a Davis in great shape, just before he has a nervous breakdown in "It's Gonna Go Away". Things that happen.

With "Wake Up" the five emphasize their devotion to the numerous fanbase in a track that, to be honest, turns out to be rather flat and stagnant.

The umpteenth interlude (the platter contains no less than five) "Am I Going Crazy?" precedes the rubbery "Hey Daddy", allusive (and not even so subtly) to the sexual abuses suffered by the frontman at a young age.

"Nothing is right. I'm so scared."

The cries for help of a "Somebody Someone" dictate the nervous progression of a significant and signature piece of the Korn-sound, between sick arpeggios and a shattering rhythm section.

No less is the delusion of omnipotence revealed in "No Way" and the paranoia of "Let's Get This Party Started", both heralding psychoses and uncontainable fobias.

"Everyone I see is ready to screw me."

"I wish you were me and then

you could see how tired I am."

It's the unscrupulous record executives' speculation that is the theme of the powerful "Counting", while the disturbed "Dirty" ends the exhausting psychoanalytical session.

"I wish you could see the world through my eyes.

Every day stays the same..."

Probably less blunt and aggressive compared to its predecessors, "Issues" has the enormous merit of capturing a mature band at the peak of its definition of Crossover.

Less hip-hop and more electronic compared to the recent past.

More groove and less diffusivity compared to the near future.

Perhaps not the best, but undoubtedly the most balanced of their records.