What do you think of Korn?

LoughNeagh2017 · 13-09-2018 9:47pm #1

I've been trying to get into them recently as they have some masterpieces that are some of the most memorable songs of a generation but much of the rest of their stuff is completely average in my view. Nice instrumentals but the songs are hardly ever catchy or memorable, I suppose they are a band who can still put on a great concert because they can pull out the hits from all their albums to play live but listening to their albums in full was an insufferable experience for me.

Ally Dick · 13-09-2018 9:48pm

I think the singer's voice is poor

verycool · 13-09-2018 9:51pm

Was in to them up to Follow the Leader back in the day. Can't take yer man Davis seriously any more. Still singing the same *emo* bs and got tiresome.

Shortly moved on to grunge, sludge, and brutal death metal after that.

Rolllo · 13-09-2018 10:00pm

Have to agree, first few albums were good craic, just became mediocre after that. Saw Jonathan Davis solo set this summer and he's a much better singer than he was back then, pity his tunes are bland as hell. And yes he's still singing about getting picked on and being misunderstood at 47 years of age, and despite being a famous rock star for more than half that.

Anesthetize · 14-09-2018 12:41am

I band I listened to when I was 14 and thought I was cool and edgy. In the 17 years since, I have explored a lot of music. From the icy extremes of black metal, to the floaty textures of ambient techno. From the entire indie spectrum to 70s prog.

Korn's place in music history is almost laughable. The fact that they're still going makes them look even more pathetic.

RayCon · 14-09-2018 8:00am

Never saw the attraction .... thought they were sh!te from the first time I heard them.

Sugarlumps · 14-09-2018 10:30am

Caught them in the SFX, incredible gig/energy.

Grayditch · 14-09-2018 10:32am

Loads of great songs and great fun live. Not really an album band for me, though.

Wanderer78 · 14-09-2018 10:34am

Always liked them, great live, I'd see them again

Sabre0001 · 14-09-2018 10:41am

Enjoyed the singles and bits on free magazine albums, but didn't really explore much further than that. Saw them a year (errr...many) years ago at Download and was good fun.

LoughNeagh2017 · 14-09-2018 4:55pm

Ally Dick wrote: »

I think the singer's voice is poor

That is part of their problem, at Download 2006 Matt Heafy of Trivium sang Blind for them and it sounded better. Jonathan Davis sounds like Roger the Alien from American Dad.

Arghus · 15-09-2018 12:12am

They've a few bangers alright and I still have a soft spot somewhat for the downtuned heaviness of Life is Peachy, but in general they just remind me of being a teenager and not having a great taste in music. I used to think Jonathan Davis' scat singing was cool, now I think it sounds ridiculous.

Frankly, grown men in their millionaire 40s shouldn't still be singing about being bullied in high school.

It's amazing how they got so huge for a few years because they are a pretty mediocre band.

fyfe79 · 15-09-2018 7:30pm

Cousin of mine was massive into them when their 1st album came out - '94 I think. Some of their stuff was cool - "Got the life" for example. And their 'best of' was decent as well, still play it the odd time. I wouldn't call myself a 'fan' though!

Wrongway1985 · 16-09-2018 3:13am

'94 yeah , picked it up when I was getting into the genre and like a number of other bands in those days chose it based on album cover without hearing a single note first strange times!

Like another poster mentioned edgy, dark at the time at my age then an eye opener not so much as time wore on. For nostalgic reasons I like them that's about it, saw them live last bout 4 years ago enjoyable party band a far cry from hearing them for the first time.

16-09-2018 3:55am

They never did anything for me. I tried, but couldn't stand the singer's voice or style, couldn't abide the guitar sounds. I wouldn't dare call them shíte, just not my cup of tea.

They were huge though and definitely have their place in history.

PCros · 18-09-2018 4:58pm

They were one of my favourite bands back in the day and yes I totally agree they started to decline in quality after Untouchables, one or two songs here or there after but just wasn't the same.

To say that Korn's place in music history is laughable is just nonsense to be honest, but each to their own I suppose.

I was lucky to see them live 4 times here and the last was with Slipknot who they gave a run for their money on the night which overall was a great gig. That is one thing they are still masters at is a good live gig.

One thing from my teenage years was that I remember staying up till all hours to watch the below on RTE2 as they showed it live...that crowd at 6:58 when Blind kicks in still give me goose bumps!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR88BgYMlbQ

mordeith · 18-09-2018 5:03pm

Freak on a leash was our pre pub drinks anthem in college. Four or five of us after a bottle of buckfast in some student house... "Boom da dee dee da di da da Let's Go!"

corks finest · 18-09-2018 5:12pm

Expensive,but nice

S.M.B. · 18-09-2018 6:04pm

PCros wrote: »

They were one of my favourite bands back in the day and yes I totally agree they started to decline in quality after Untouchables, one or two songs here or there after but just wasn't the same.

To say that Korn's place in music history is laughable is just nonsense to be honest, but each to their own I suppose.

I was lucky to see them live 4 times here and the last was with Slipknot who they gave a run for their money on the night which overall was a great gig. That is one thing they are still masters at is a good live gig.

One thing from my teenage years was that I remember staying up till all hours to watch the below on RTE2 as they showed it live...that crowd at 6:58 when Blind kicks in still give me goose bumps!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR88BgYMlbQ

I did similar. Remember recording it and watching it a lot as to listen to the Issues songs that were clearly still a Work In Progress.

I still have regrets over not seeing them at that SFX show and instead I first had a chance to see them on the Untouchables tour when they were on the way down.

Also agree that calling their place in history as laughable is ridiculous. They had quite a major impact on the Metal/Rock genre and the mainstream and while people might have little time for their music or the music that came to prominence in their wake, you don't have that much influence without doing something right.

Sonics2k · 19-09-2018 11:06am

Korn, Life is Peachy and Issues are still astonishing albums, with Follow the Leader not far off.

As a band they had a definitive and totally individual sound, Jon's voice was powerful, the guitars were powerful but eclectic, clicking/slapping bass was basically dead for most other bands in Rock and David Silvera is still (imo) one of the best drummers ever.

Each song was powerful and meaningful and Daddy is still probably one of the most haunting songs ever.

BUT. My god did it all go bland after Untouchables came out. Occasionally just delving in to generic heavy metal and Jon is still doing that whiny voice thing for reasons unknown, because he used to have an astonishingly powerful voice as shown in the Woodstock video above.

Korn in their prime were quite probably one of the best rock/metal bands of the 90's.

If you haven't listened to the first two albums, go and do it right now.

Edit: I should say I've seen them in concert about 10 times, between 97 and 2005. 'Blind' live is an unforgettable experience, especially in their prime.

Sabre0001 · 19-09-2018 12:04pm

New album on the way

https://twitter.com/MetalHammer/status/1042016384073572353

Anesthetize · 19-09-2018 6:57pm

Korn's debut isn't as groundbreaking as people make it out to be. It just made dark, down-tuned alternative metal more safe and radio-friendly.

Listen to Streetcleaner by Godflesh, or Hate Songs in E Minor by Fudge Tunnel instead. Both were released a few years before Korn's debut.

jpm4 · 19-09-2018 8:48pm

Anesthetize wrote: »

Korn's debut isn't as groundbreaking as people make it out to be. It just made dark, down-tuned alternative metal more safe and radio-friendly.

Listen to Streetcleaner by Godflesh, or Hate Songs in E Minor by Fudge Tunnel instead. Both were released a few years before Korn's debut.

Bit of a daft comparison to be honest. You can pick all sorts of bands who obviously influenced them, but that debut album pretty much set the tone for all mid to late 90s mainstream metal bands, it was certainly groundbreaking in that regard.

Anesthetize · 19-09-2018 9:23pm

jpm4 wrote: »

Bit of a daft comparison to be honest. You can pick all sorts of bands who obviously influenced them, but that debut album pretty much set the tone for all mid to late 90s mainstream metal bands, it was certainly groundbreaking in that regard.

Making metal more commercially friendly isn't quite the same as expanding metal into other genres. Korn just took bits of what other bands were doing and sugar-coated it for kids.

Also, look at some of the mainstream metal bands who followed them in the mid to late 90s. With the exception of Deftones, and System of a Down to a certain extent, the trail looks pretty grim. Limp Bizkit? Static-X? Spineshank? They set a very sour tone.

S.M.B. · 19-09-2018 10:01pm

Anesthetize wrote: »

Making metal more commercially friendly isn't quite the same as expanding metal into other genres. Korn just took bits of what other bands were doing and sugar-coated it for kids.

Making music that is more commercially friendly isn't quite the same as sugar coating for kids either. Korn were not a manufactured band designed to release bubblegum metal to sell to the masses. After a few albums they stumbled upon a sound that proved to be extremely popular amongst the mainstream.

And the band shouldn't really be discredited for the lesser bands that followed. I don't think anyone is saying that Korn ushered in some golden age of music.

Sonics2k · 19-09-2018 10:12pm

Anesthetize wrote: »

Making metal more commercially friendly isn't quite the same as expanding metal into other genres. Korn just took bits of what other bands were doing and sugar-coated it for kids.

Also, look at some of the mainstream metal bands who followed them in the mid to late 90s. With the exception of Deftones, and System of a Down to a certain extent, the trail looks pretty grim. Limp Bizkit? Static-X? Spineshank? They set a very sour tone.

Your logic is faulty.

Metallica were not the first band of their type, but are certainly considered one of the best, would it be fair to fault them for the thousands of awful hair metal bands that followed?

The Misfits are attributed with the creation of American Punk, do we blame them for Good Charlotte?

You may not like Korn and that's fine. It's basically how I feel about Dave Mustaine, Axl Rose and Van bloody Halen, but it's very wrong to dismiss their contributions to Rock in the 90's.

rob316 · 20-09-2018 9:38pm

Love system of a down and Slipknot is my guilty pleasure it's a bit rubbish but don't care. Never like Korn, same heavily down tuned guitar riffs over and over.

pot p · 27-09-2018 4:59am

I don't mind korn with butter or mixed in with pasta but how people eat it with tuna is beyond me

Tar.Aldarion · 28-09-2018 2:41pm

Korn were really popular when I was young, saw them with Slipknot a couple years ago and had wished they had more time on stage, they were class live.

frag420 · 28-09-2018 2:56pm

Loved the first album, still do. At the time it was a nice change from grunge and a middle finger to the upcoming indie bands my mates were championing!

However the sound has not aged well, JD is still milking the loner kid vibe despite being a multi millionaire middle aged man!!

If they did a nostalgia tour playing the first two albums I would be there with bells on...other than that, no!!

RicketyCricket · 05-10-2018 5:33pm

Loved Korn around the time of their first 2 albums. Haven't cared too much for a lot of their stuff since. Good bits here and there. Quite liked the last album. Korn and Life Is Peachy are the only albums I return to with any regularity though. Blind is still a killer song.

What do you think of Korn?

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