KORN
ISSUES

ON THE IDENTIFICATION CARD, THEY ARE LABLED AS THE FATHERS OF MODERN CROSSOVER, THAT IS, NU-METAL. HOW COULD WE DENY IT? WHO HAD EVER TAKEN AN INTEREST IN SUCH MUSIC, FROM RECORD LABELS TO CRITICS, BEFORE THEY BURST ONTO THE SCENE LIKE A BOLT FROM THE BLUE WITH THEIR REVOLUTIONARY DEBUT ALBUM KORN (1994)? AND NOW, ALAS, THEY ARE THE NEW CHAMPIONS OF MTV, OF THE ALL MUSIC NETWORK, ETC. THEY ARE AN INSTITUTION. JUST 6 YEARS AGO AT THE TIME OF THEIR DEBUT, THEIR MUSIC SPANNED MULTIPLE GENRES, FROM METAL TO GRUNGE, DARK, TECHNO, AND HOUSE, TO THIS NEW ALBUM, WHICH PROPOSES A NEW WAVE LINE FROM THE 80S THAT WAS STILL NON-EXISTENT IN THEIR PREVIOUS ALBUMS. WITH A TRIBUTE TO THE EARLY SEPULTURA. CRAZY RHYTHMS DIVIDED BETWEEN SCREAMS AND MELODIC LINES AND PARANOIA AMONG AN UNMISTAKABLE SOUND. THIS IS KORN. AFTER THE DISAPPOINTING, IN MY OPINION, FOLLOW THE LEADER, COMES ISSUES, WHICH SEES JONATHAN DAVIS'S QUARTET CHANGING DIRECTION FROM THEIR PREVIOUS CHOICES. AS MENTIONED, NEW NEW WAVE CADENCES ARE ADDED. SUPPORTED BY A CALMER ATMOSPHERE THAN USUAL, AS EXEMPLIFIED BY TRACKS LIKE SOMEBODY SOMEONE, COUNTING DIRTY, ETC. EVEN THOUGH THEY LACK THE BURSTS OF VIOLENCE, THE CRAZY SCREAMS OF JONATHAN DAVIS, AND THE DEVASTATING RIFFS TYPICAL OF THEIR PREVIOUS ALBUMS, ARE NOT DEVOID OF PUNCH. I WOULD DEFINE THE SOUND QUALITY AS UNSURPASSABLE, COMPARABLE TO DOLBY SURROUND. KORN HAS ALWAYS SPOILED US, BUT WITH THIS ALBUM, THEY DEMONSTRATED SURPASSING THEMSELVES, BREAKING THE BARRIER OF THE IMMORTALS. A UNIQUE, FLAWLESS, SIMPLY DEVASTATING SOUND, ALSO CREDIT SHOULD GO TO BRENDAN O'BRIEN, WHO MAKES A LIVING AS A PRODUCER. NOW IDOLS OF THE MTV GENERATION, KORN DESERVES CREDIT FOR THE IMPORTANCE OF A GENRE OTHERWISE UNDERESTIMATED. CROSSOVER IS A LITTLE COMMERCIAL GENRE. RADIO DOESN'T PLAY SONGS WITH VERY HARD SOUND, AND SO KORN SOFTENED THEIR SOUND, AND KORN HAS, STARTING WITH THE NEXT ALBUM, COMMERCIALIZED. HOWEVER, I BELIEVE THIS IS KORN'S BEST ALBUM AFTER THE DEBUT KORN, LIFE IS PEACHY, AND THE GREAT RETURN TAKE A LOOK IN THE MIRROR. AND I THINK THAT THOSE WHO CRITICIZE IT ARE THE ONES WHO DON'T LOVE KORN'S MUSIC AND THEIR REALLY BEAUTIFUL LYRICS. BUT THE MESS THAT THE INSTRUMENTS MAKE. WITH THESE CDS, THEY HAVE BROUGHT TOGETHER OLD AND NEW FANS, AN ESSENTIAL ALBUM FOR EVERYONE, 4 STARS THAT DO NOT QUITE REACH 5. ENJOY YOUR LISTENING, EVERYONE.