Take a Look in the Mirror

by

Korn

Edit

So, look in the mirror KoRn. What do you see? I'll tell you what I see. I see a group of GROWN MEN that had 2 good albums in them and can't progress musically.

Sigh. This is it. This is officially the LAST KoRn album I will EVER buy. Let me start by saying that I was a HUGE KoRn fan back in the day. I liked them since high school when I was about 18 years old. Currently, I'm a nearly 26-year-old graduate student.

When I was 18 years old, I was a little "angsty"...a little "Goth," (though then it certainly wasn't all the rage that it is now), a little cynical, a little rebellious. But times have changed. I grew facial hair; I experienced hardships that have made me a better man today. I have felt loss, pain, aggression, love, despair, alienation and all of those lovely things associated with life and well...adulthood. I would now consider myself an adult, not a grown-up by any means...but certainly an adult. So, after my boring little spiel about my life what does this have to do with KoRn? I'm glad you asked...here it is:

I GREW UP.

Yes, I certainly did. But I'm not extraordinary. No, no, not by any means. I think that it's natural for any human being to mature, to grow, to gain knowledge, either by books or by experience. Apparently, KoRn is immune to this.

For 6 straight albums we hear songs about despair, anger, frustration and lyrics LOADED with obscenities talking about violence, misogynistic and homophobic subject matter, and abuse. 6 albums deep and we're still getting lyrics like the ever eloquent:

"Shut up, I'll F*CK YOU UP!"

Oh, how clever. I don't think a 30-year-old songwriter could ever express anger so clearly and succinctly as that.

Here's a disclaimer to all the teenagers that LOVE this album. KoRn are 30-year-old men with wives, jobs and MILLIONS of dollars. What do they have to be angry about? YOU HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR THERAPY NOW!

Has KoRn never thought in their 10 years of putting out albums to make a "happy" or even "hopeful" song? How about a song with an ultra fast tempo? How about a song with a punk-rock influence? How about a prog-rock song? How about a thrash-metal song? How about changing their guitar tone? How about even playing a "GASP" 6-string guitar on a song or two? Holy crap, NO WAY...that might actually offer some VARIETY on an album!

KoRn's first album was one of my all time favorites. What made it different than most of other KoRn releases? It was honest. Hearing Jonathan Davis cry at the end of that album, hearing the very personal lyrics of Faget and what was that?...a bagpipe? I had NEVER heard metal so brutally honest without all of the macho posturing typical of the genre at that time. This album was different, unique, and powerful. It was musically interesting, and groundbreaking, it was truly a musical masterpiece.

KoRn's only REAL musical turn was the critically panned Issues which is actually a very solid album. KoRn actually attempted to mature musically. The vocal melodies were outstanding, the production pristine, and the conception was also fairly decent. Although, upon repeat listening the interludes get tiresome, the album as a whole (minus the interludes) was packed with some very well written-songs. An equally amazing feat considering the short length of time between Life is Peachy and it's release.

Untouchables was utter garbage, and I had about given up at this point...but I held out hope that maybe, just maybe KoRn was going to come through.

Boy, was I WRONG. When I dropped this CD in my Discman, listened to 2 or 3 songs and skimmed the rest, I knew it. I knew it was over. This album is just TRASH. A stinking pile of redundant, recycled, trite, TRASH. Here's a warning, ANYTIME a musical group tells you they're producing their OWN album AND that they're returning to their roots: TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT.

The production is terrible, sludge, sludge, and MORE sludge. The songs on this album are so "samey," boring and uninspired that the only reason to point any of them out individually is to rip a particularly bad song to shreds, or state some positive new ideas. That being said 2 songs that just BEG for an evaluation:

Alive - Does ANYONE notice that this song is ALMOST EXACTLY the same as Need To on their self-titled album?

Nas? Nas? So let's add this to our "I'll get some rap/hip-hop metal cred by using a "real MC" in our song" list. Other notable artists that made it in the KoRn hall-of-fame: Ice Cube, Q-Tip, Slim Kid Tre (from The Pharcyde). All they need now is Outkast, B-Real, and Jay-Z.

I can't express my disappointment with this album enough. I feel cheated, betrayed even. I don't usually like making judgments about people, but KoRn seem to be a bunch of guys who have not matured as people, or musicians. People learn from their mistakes, they learn from their anger, they learn from their disappointments, failures, etc... You know what happens next? THEY MOVE ON AND MATURE!

I have seen very little musical growth from KoRn. If you CAN pirate this album, do so. It's not worth spending a dime on. KoRn has lost every shred of integrity they may have once had with this release. Anyone in their 20's who still likes metal should do their best to avoid this at all costs.

Instead, go buy a Meshuggah, Sevendust, Glassjaw, or Thrice album if you want some aggression and musicality...