Follow The Leader

I didn't know those "No parents allowed" signs that angsty pre-teens put on their bedroom doors could record albums. Pretty cool!

This was genuinely the worst thing I’ve heard. Not a single second did I enjoy it and it’s genuinely insulting that this garbage is on this list. In no world should someone want to listen to this.

White male aggression poorly disguised in nu-metal form - what could go wrong. Corn shit. One of the very very worst things you can do in life is to listen to any of this, let alone all of it. 0/10 1 plunger for my ears/brain 🪠

01) It's On! - 5,0 02) Freak on a Leash - 5,5 03) Got the Life - 5,0 04) Dead Bodies Everywhere - 4,5 05) Children of the Korn - 4,5 06) B.B.K. - 4,0 07) Pretty - 4,0 08) All In The Family - 4,0 09) Reclaim My Place - 4,0 10) Justin - 4,0 11) Seed - 3,0 12) Cameltosis - 4,5 13) My Gift to You - 4,0 14) Earache My Eye - 2,0 TOTAL: 4,14 (41/100) Current ranking: 233/239 Never in a million years did I think I'd be listening to a Korn album, especially when it's 36 degrees Celsius outside. My brain is mush anyway, God only knows what will be left of it after seventy minutes of this noise. Here I am about halfway through the album, and I have to admit that it sounds different than I expected. Not better, just different. I thought Korn was some noisy, serious metal band and what I got was practically Limp Bizkit. I fu**ing hate Limp Bizkit. This was always between one and two stars, but two stars required a little more effort.

This is trash.

The singing was whiny and the rapping embarrassing.

Nope.

Sigh

p838. 1998. 1 star. Foul mouthed, obnoxious, unpleasant and distinctly average heavy metal/rap fusion. This hurt my ears. "You hate me/And I hate you". Yup, about right.

Awful. Nothing redeeming.

it could be 2 if the album was shorter

Now I know why Korn fans were so weird.

I was a bit confused by the plethora of negative reviews. Chunky riffs gave it promise. Then he started doing whatever you call those vocal twitches. At first time I thought he was about to vomit. Then he does another weird one followed by the dreaded "growl-shout." I agree with the reviewer who couldn't stop laughing. This is hilariously bad. Absolute shit, but funny.

Okay then, my time has come. My first Korn. Here we go. The production on it isn't bad. But the Fred Durst song finally broke me. This one's a big nope for me. It does make you really miss when rock was fun.

Damn, this has aged like fine milk.

Pre-1001 Generator I would have guessed that I wouldn't like this album because I'm not really into metal. Now I can confidently say metal isn't my favorite but it's not without its positives. Still searching for the positives in this one. Can't believe they got Ice Cube on this.

1/5. I heard jokes about this band and didn't want to give it a bad rating without listening to it myself, honor and all that. Today, I regret honor because that was just bad writing. I can definitely see why this is in this book, I should listen to it so I can set the standard of what not to do if I wanted to write music. I mean it was definitely very popular for a reason, which is why I don't have much hope for the future. Not terrible song: Seed, Freak on a Leash, Reclaim My Place

Why???

No thanks.

This is the kind of album that exists so that parents can yell at their kids to turn it off.

WHY IS THIS HERE

Yesterday I learned I hate Korn… more than I originally thought was possible.

After the hype at the time, although i was never a fan, there´s nothing much left right now. Only 1 or 2 songs on this album that do not irritate all the time..

Is this 'death metal'? Whatever, it's for 13 year old boys, not for me.

I had Slipknot earlier in this list and I ended up enjoying it; so I went into this with an open mind. It's awful, they try so hard to be edgy but I'm not buying it, just a bunch of try-hards acting like they're hard. Dropping some slurs in All in the Family totally lost any lingering respect I might have had for the fact that they can make chords happen on their instruments. I'd give this a 0 if I could. Garbage.

This was so bad that I have to assume it was just a mean joke, right?

This does not deserve to be on the list for any reason. What the f***?

My senses were in less pain than in the case of Slipknot, yet my sensibilities were all the more injured for it.

A man in the congregation stands up. "I actually like nu-metal"

Definitely one of Korn's greatest albums! It very much deserves to be on here! It's most known for the singles Freak On A Leash and Got The Life. The other tracks are criminally underrated. Definitely one of Nu-Metal's greatest achievements! Some of this is just mind-blowing. Also, the collaboration with Fred Durst on All In The Family was a nice touch, even though most people (Including Jonathan Davis) hate it. It's an okay song and doesn't deserve the hate it gets. Really good stuff!

following

Excellent! This album is SICK!

Great album

Pretty decent nu metal

One of the great album of the 90 and certainly worth it to be on this list.

Top 3 nu metal album

Tons of hate, nonsensical vocal sounds, offensive lyrics, extended range guitars, fuckin' bagpipes... unfathomable cheesiness. Fred dust feature and an absurd bonus track lock this in as one of the most ridiculous but hype albums of the era. Unlike much other metal, you can understand the lyrics that are actually words. That's a pro or a con based on who you ask. Half the haters secretly enjoy this shit.

dude this album FUCKINGGG RIPPSSSSS. me personally i am a big korn fan so i feel like this will be a biased review but who cares it’s my review. this is a nu metal classic, korn is in their prime by this album and it’s just perfect. i want to talk about the bass, it’s so crunchy and so addicting to listen to. the way each song transitions to each other is so seamless, from its on! to freak on the leash. first of all let’s talk about freak on the leash, it’s so hauntingly good. dare i say it’s kind of a sexy song?? no okay. anyway got the life is good and it gets you up and stuff, i’m a skip to children of the korn and that song just wants me to get up and get active, it’s such a perfect blend between rap and metal hence nu metal but the ice cube feature is so perfect i don’t care what anyone says. i will say ice cube is so perfect for any type of nu metal music. (korn also covered one of his songs “wicked” also with frontman of deftones chino moreno). B.B.K is one helluva song. again the bass is so good it’s rips. it’s the main instrument of the song basically but this songs ur korn song i mean who else can make this song but korn. and the little pitch noise through out the song adds to the grittiness of the song. ima mention the guitar too as it echoes throughout the song, there’s a slight mellow part then it just rips into the most epic guitar you will hear. and then jonathan davis nonsense of words. the drums are also flawless… OF COURSE I HAVE TO MENTION ALL IN THE FAMILY FEATURING LIMP BIZKIT FRONTMAN FRED DURST. it’s so catchy, i love the dynamic both jonathan and fred have in the song. they are just fucking with each other and i love to hear it. but i do wanna talk about how the topics talked in the more serious songs are meant to be taken serious and the lyrics are devastating. it’s dark and jonathan and the band does their thing to partake in the more serious songs. korn are most known for their more darker songs and they tend to get disturbing but it’s poetry in music form. it’s really good, this albums a classic. 10/10

One of the best albums I’ve ever heard

Korn is one of my favorite bands and I've already gone through their whole discography. Follow The Leader is one of their best albums.

love korn

The start of NUbmetal

08/01/2026 It took me far too long to get into Korn years ago. But when I gave them the time of day, I realised that they are very talented and unique with what they do. Spotify listeners: 12.6 million

Follow the Leader Artist: Korn Released: August 18, 1998 Label: Immortal / Epic Producers: Steve Thompson, Toby Wright, Korn -------------------------------------------------- 1. Lyrical Landscape -------------------------------------------------- Jonathan Davis wrote almost everything in a windowless North-Hollywood rehearsal room while battling methadone withdrawal and the first panic attacks of his life. The result is a diary that is less “I hate my parents” and more “I hate what is inside my head.” • Body-horror as self-talk – “Dead Bodies Everywhere” turns a family pool party into a Cannibal-Corpse tableau; the bodies are metaphorical (old selves) but the nausea is real. • Technology vs. identity – “Freak on a Leash” uses the music-video metaphor of a bullet flying through beauty to ask who actually pulls the trigger when media eats its stars. • Generational betrayal – “Children of the Korn” (feat. Ice Cube) is not a hip-hop cameo, it’s a custody battle: the parents who grew up on Cube are now the cops Cube used to rage against. • Suicide as spectator sport – “Pretty” is sung from the POV of a 14-year-old girl live-streaming her own overdose; the lyric never resolves, it just ends on the line “Are you watching?” Davis still uses scat-porn vowels and playground taunts, but the syllables are now clipped, sampled and reversed—he is literally speaking in the voice of the record that is sampling him. It is the first Korn record where the lyrics feel like they are being data-mined while you listen. -------------------------------------------------- 2. Musical DNA -------------------------------------------------- Tuning: A-D-G-C-F-A-D (7-string, 15–70 gauge) but Fieldy tunes his 5-string bass so low the low-B is slack enough to slap against the pickup—creating the trademark “click” that is not percussion but subtractive bass. Drums: David Silveria tracks to a click only once—on “It’s On”—then disables it. Every other song is tempo-mapped to his natural heartbeat spike (96–104 BPM) which is why the grooves feel like panic attacks rather than mosh calls. Guitars: • Munky & Head run every rhythm through either a DigiTech Whammy (set to –1 octave, no dry signal) or an old Eventide H3000 reversed 400 ms. There is no “clean” guitar on the album; even the supposed clean intro of “Justin” is a distorted signal with the treble EQ band completely killed. • “Seed” and “BBK” are built on 3-note cells that loop every 5 beats, creating a 5-over-4 polyrhythm that never resolves—your ear waits for a down-beat that is mathematically designed never to arrive. Vocals: • Davis double-tracks every scream through a toy Panasonic cassette recorder, then flies that back into the SSL console 15 ms early. The result is a chorus of Davises that arrive before the main vocal—like the thought you hear before you think it. • “Earache My Eye” is not a cover, it’s a hostile takeover: Cheech Marin’s original vocal is time-stretched 26 % slower, then harmonized with Davis at –7 cents to make the comedy sample sound demonically sad. -------------------------------------------------- 3. Production Architecture -------------------------------------------------- Studio: NRG Recording, North Hollywood (the same room where Dre mixed The Chronic). Console: SSL 4000 G+ with 52 channels of outboard. Budget: $1.8 million (1998 dollars), the most expensive nu-metal record until Linkin Park’s Meteora. Key Moves: 1. No re-amping. Every guitar tone is the exact amp (Mesa Dual Rec + Bogner Fish pre) that you hear; microphones (SM57 + Royer 121) were never moved once the sound was printed. The idea was to make the record feel like a snapshot, not a collage. 2. Vocal mic = Brauner VM-1 tube, gain-staged so hot that Davis’ whispered lines clip the converters—turning intimacy into distortion without a pedal. 3. Fieldy’s bass is split into 4 bands: sub (<80 Hz) is mono, low-mid (80–200 Hz) is stereo-widened, high-mid is sent through a distorted Ampeg SVT, and everything above 2 kHz is muted—creating a bass sound that is simultaneously wider and thinner than anything on rock radio. 4. Toby Wright spends three days cutting 2 000 individual snare hits from David Silveria’s takes, then re-assembles them so that every snare lands exactly on the grid while the kick and cymbals stay human—an early manual version of what we now call “sample-replacement.” The effect is subtle: the kit feels tight but not robotic. -------------------------------------------------- 4. Thematic Coherence -------------------------------------------------- The album is a circle: • Opening track “It’s On” starts with a backwards child’s laugh that is the same laugh at the end of hidden track “Michael & Geri.” • The laugh is sampled from a 1975 public-service film about latchkey kids—Korn are literally looping the sound of abandoned children to talk about abandoned children. • Every interlude (there are 5) is built from the same 3-note guitar motif slowed down 800 %—the motif is the “seed” that grows into every riff on the record. The album is therefore a fractal: the big picture is the small picture, repeated until it feels huge. -------------------------------------------------- 5. Cultural Influence -------------------------------------------------- Quantitative: • Debuted at #1 on Billboard 200 (first heavy record to do so since Metallica’s black album). • 5× Platinum (5.9 million US, 14 million world). • “Freak on a Leash” MTV video of the year 1999—turned animation house Bullet-time into a mainstream aesthetic two months before The Matrix. Qualitative: • Invented the “radio edit with DJ scratch intro” template still used by everyone from Linkin Park to Olivia Rodrigo’s “Brutal.” • Normalised 7-string guitars on Top-40 radio; before Follow the Leader only Steve Vai nerds owned them. • Popularised the idea of the rap-rock “feature” as cultural exchange rather than novelty (Cube, Nas, Pharcyde) paving the way for Collision Course and the 2000s mash-up era. • The click-bass + no-guitar-chorus production recipe is still the default setting in Logic Pro’s “Modern Rock” patch. -------------------------------------------------- 6. Pros & Cons (2024 ears) -------------------------------------------------- PROS 1. Still the most sonically expensive-sounding nu-metal record ever made—every frequency is intentional. 2. Songwriting economy: 14 proper songs, zero fat, every hook under 4:30. 3. First heavy album to treat rap as equal partner, not comic relief. 4. Production innovations (reverse-vocal ghosts, 5-over-4 loops, manual sample replacement) are now standard but still feel fresh because they were done with tape and ears, not plugins. 5. Emotional core hasn’t dated—social-media anxiety, parental burnout, teen self-harm are bigger issues now than in 1998. CONS 1. Interludes / skits (“Sean Olsen,” “Earache My Eye”) are 90-second inside jokes that kill vinyl side-flow; streaming makes them un-skippable annoyances. 2. Lyric imagery is so specific to Davis’ methadone hallucinations that it can feel voyeuristic rather than relatable. 3. Fieldy’s bass tone—revolutionary then—now sounds like a broken subwoofer in a Honda Civic; the click dates the record harder than the rap features. 4. Album is mastered to –6 dB RMS (hot for 1998, nuclear for 2024); digital clipping is audible on earbuds. 5. Spawned a thousand terrible imitators who copied the clothes, the tuning and the guests but missed the compositional rigor—so the record carries cultural guilt-by-association. -------------------------------------------------- Bottom line Follow the Leader is the last moment when nu-metal was still an experiment, before it became a costume. It is a $2 million panic attack that accidentally invented 21st-century rock production. The lyrics are too personal to become universal, yet the sound design is so precise that every modern heavy record is still answering the questions it asked.

5 stars for being the most ridiculous hour of music I've ever listened to.

Pulled out my CD and threw it in. Forgot how profane it is. I listened to this so much when it came out.

The sound of rage discovering a budget, a microphone, and zero intention of calming down. Rating: 4.6/5 Short Review: This album is pure late-90s psychic pressure — ugly, loud, juvenile, and brutally effective. Follow the Leader took Korn out of the shadows and shoved them straight into the mainstream without sanding off the edges. It’s chaotic, groove-heavy, and emotionally unfiltered, full of songs that feel like they were written during a nervous breakdown and recorded five minutes later. Is it subtle? No. Is it sophisticated? Also no. Does it work anyway? Unfortunately, yes. Favorite Track: Freak on a Leash

Really sexy

I grew up listening never listening to the full album. Korn is very unique and they bring a lot energy to this album. They let you know right away ITS ON!

Never heard Korn before and what a surprise! helped me to focus at work and i had a little TBT moment back from my childhood. I remembered dead bodies everywhere from mtv! what a moment! 5 stars!

Previous review "Shocked to see so many 1s. I listened to this album a lot throughout my mid teens. I still like it now. I prefer Limp Bizkit, but they're a great band that jilted a generation." Not worthy of a "1". It got a string of 5s throughout 2023 and 2024, but then dropped to a 4 for quite a while. Still sad to see so many 1s, but still a 5 for me, of course.

pretty good

I will always love this album.

Excellent album

The best KoRn record, one of the best in nu-metal, always gets in any top20 album list of mine

Zo hard, zo strak, en zo goed geproduceerd. Heel origineel

I tend not be a huge heavy metal fan but Korn is King in this genre. Strong metal rifts and you can understand the lyrics. One of the great bands for those who like to be fully energized.

Favourite Tracks - Freak on a Leash, Got the Life, Dead Bodies Everywhere

One of the best albums from the nu metal era. Classic.

YOOOOOOOO GOAT album when I was 13. First CD I bought myself.

Een album dat numetal combineert met rap, waarom vind ik dit zo ontiegelijk vet? Het codewoord: groove. Het komt het beste naar voor bij Got the Life, maar eigenlijk is het vrijwel elk nummer waarin die groove zit. De manier waarop de drums onvoorspelbaar en teringstrak zijn, de gitaren op de perfecte manier een distorted muur van geluid zijn en de bass die zo laag gestemd is dat de snaren tegen de klankkast kletteren. Die doen het voor mij. De zang en de scratch djs of hoe de gitaristen halve djs zijn, heb ik het niet eens over. Wat een muzikanten, op hun manier. Tering. En dan vind ik dit niet eens hun beste album. Begrijp me niet verkeerd, als je 1 album van Korn moet kiezen voor deze snoblijst, dan zou ik deze kiezen. Maar ik heb zelf het debuut, snob die ik ben, nog vaker geluisterd. Maar dit album heb ik fysiek in bezit gehad. Oh man, die groove. Hoe dik. Schijt aan die rap, want daar koop ik zeker niet zo'n album voor. Maar die groove, die albums kun je echt op 1 hand tellen. 5 sterren, want die groove

Nu Metal might not be the greatest of genres, but damnit, if it didn't have some killer albums, this included. 4.5 bumped up to 5.

Drop-D tune lords, Korn pushed themselves into the national consciousness with this album. While it hasn't sustained them, it was certainly an influential and highly listenable effort. Factor in the video prowess they brought, and deal was sealed.

Just because

The juvinile is suprisingly self aware. The rock rocks.

Heavy and noisy masterpeace! Music and vocal are brilliant!

Dad metal. A classic.

Called "Follow The Leader" because it's what every metal act copied to get popular. Thus, "nu-metal" is born. This album is Korn taking it to the masses of the world but it is not really as good as their debut or "Life Is Peachy". But then again, "Korn" and "Life Is Peachy" didn't have a song like "All In The Family" on it, so maybe this is the best one?

Cool

Nu metal is dope! :)

Korn!

Moc

Hell yeah borther

Amazing album. still sounds great after all these years

Een stukje jeugdsentiment. Heerlijk. Alles wat hierna geschreven is, is eigenlijk gewoon [oude man wil weer jong zijn en geeft een 5 voor wat 'ie al kent]. Aan de reviews te zien snapt een groot aantal gebruikers het niet. Mensen die nu-metal kut vinden moeten maar eens kijken wat er tegenwoordig allemaal in de top 40 staat. Schoorvoetend zullen ze moeten toegeven dat we het met Korn, System of a Down en Slipknot eigenlijk nog niet zo slecht hadden. Het waren in ieder geval nog originele nummers met een nieuw geluid, gespeeld door bandjes. Nu zitten we met zo'n autotune cowboy als Morgan Wallen die z'n werkstuk heeft overgeschreven van Mika. Of menig huismoeder's favoriete rapper Snelle die nu zanger Snelle is. Een heerlijk dik basgeluid, enorme gitaren die haast klinken als onheilspellende motoren, die zanger met z'n typische maar goed bijpassende stem. Volle bak ambiance. Een muur van geluid en dan in de goede zin. Freak On A Leash is een groots nummer met een iconische videoclip en bevat een iconische breakdown. Na Got The Life zijn de dikste bangers van dit album wel geweest, maar ik luister dit met plezier helemaal uit. Ik snap zeker dat niet iedereen dit 5 sterren geeft, maar toch wordt naar mijn mening dit album hier wel ondergewaardeerd. Ik ben nog subjectiever dan normaal en ga wel 5 sterren geven.

90s heyday

This album is really fun and really challenged the metal genre's old clichés. This is nothing like the classic metal of the 70's and 80's. But at the same time it's very metal. 'Freak On a Leash' is pretty much impossible to not have heard at least once if you are a metal head. It's in many ways a very fun feeling album, but the subjects it deals with are anything but. The bass is super heavy, but also a bit funky. The guitar has heavy riffs but also these spacy ambiance whines. And the vocal switches between dark and raspy to clear into basically scat. All of this makes this album very oppressive in it's sound, but at the same time also kind of silly. This was the album that really legitimized nu-metal Standouts Freak On a Leash Seed My Gift to You 5/5

Hey cultural Touchstone for the goth Industrial 20-something that dance to this in clubs

Come on! What’s not to love about this record. Jonathan Davis’s tortured melodic vocals and violent guttural screams combined with Brian Welch’s dissonant and outrageously heavy guitars really made for something special. Arguably the first Nu Metal band, it’s impossible to imagine any band coming close to mimicking the magic of Korn. I’ve always loved this record, and I really enjoyed this excuse to sit down and listen to it beginning to end. “Reclaim My Place” is my favourite song on this album, it’s just such an excellent exhibition of what makes Korn so special. Jonathan Davis repeatedly yelling “what the fuck?!” takes a great song to the next level. 5*

Great album. Weird, melodic and heavy.

This album is a perfect example of how repeated listens can change your perspective. Back in the ’90s, I wasn’t the biggest Korn fan, because I always felt like their best tracks were the radio hits, and the rest of their albums were mostly filler. Fast forward 20 years, and revisiting Follow the Leader was a surprisingly enjoyable. It’s probably the nostalgia factor that pulled me in this time. The album brought back memories of that era, and there’s something comforting about its familiar sound. While it may not have been a favorite back then, I’ve definitely come to appreciate it more now for the trip down memory lane it offers.

So, this is a very weird album to include on the list. It is technically thier highest selling album, and probably their most popular, but ask any korn fan, and I don't think any of them will say this is their favorite. Personally this is my 3rd of 4th favorite korn album behind their debut, Life Is Peachy and maybe Issues. If you were to include any korn album on this list I think the debut would make the most sense being that it birthed the nu metal movement. When listening to this album I always skip All In The Family (the album is 10x better when you do), but I actually just got the vinyl for Christmas so I guess I'll listen to the whole thing. Okay it's been a while since I've listen to that and it was worse than I remembered. I draw the line at limp bizkit. The biggest downside to this album is the hip hop tracks, some of them just aren't that good, but I've grown to enjoy them for what they are. There are also some really good riffs and break downs throughout this album. Pretty is a really messed up song, so look up the backstory if your into that kind of stuff. Korn also puts on a pretty good live show if you ever get the chance to see them. I understand why this is rated so low, I just think this music has a fun blend of funk, metal, riffs to headband too, and singable choruses. What I'm trying to say is that this is just a stupid fun album. Low 5.

Korn is one of my favorite bands of all time, second only to Linkin Park so i came into Follow The Leader expecting nearly everything from it, and yet somehow, I'm still so impressed with how amazing this album is. This album had an incredible sound which blurred all the right lines between heavy, weird and haunting which made my whole listening experience so enjoyable. So many songs also had some really fun and unique ideas with an example being All In The Family which is just two intoxicated men just thinking of the best disses on each other and i just loved every single second of it, in fact every song here is just a pure banger. Hybrid Theory may forever be my #1 but this is still easily a close second. Best Song: Dead Bodies Everywhere Worst Song: Earache My Eye

My personal musical tastes were forged in the fires of the late nineties and the furnace of Nu-Metal. While there is much of the genre and scene from that era that I cannot atone, I will forever be in debt for the spark this album and others from then ignited in my soul. Despite some abhorrent, deeply misogynistic and homophobic tracks on this record that were juvenile then and appalling now, this is a bonafide 5 stars from me. It all starts for me with the iconic album cover and artwork from Todd McFarlane. Profound, thought-provoking, and even a little cheesy I just love the mood that it sets for the music within. Being of the CD age, I remember that this album started on track 13 after a minute of silence (something lost as we've transitioned to streaming). As It's On finally kicks in, the ride begins with all the hallmarks of the Korn sound from the chugging dual guitars, to Fieldy's one-of-a-kind bass, to Johnathan Davis' singular voice. Freak on a Leash, Got the Life, Dead Bodies Everywhere and so much more defined the music of my life at that point and they still hit the same today. This was peak cameo/collaboration in rock and metal music and the featuring tracks on this record are sus, for sure (although Earache My Eye is ridiculously fun and an inspired inclusion on this record, if you ask me). While I have grown and so has my musical palette, I don't listen to this as often as I once did. And while I don't listen to it much these days, I enjoy every moment of the experience when I do. High school is a strange time for all of us and I'm glad I had this album there with me then.

Look at the cover. C'mon! So disturbing in a thought-provoking way, it's great. I'm not really a Korn fan because they're too creepy for my liking, but gotta admit that they've mastered their unique sound. Can't help the head banging. Dare I give them a 5?!

Confirma a capacidade do Korn criar algo verdadeiramente especial. Sua mistura única de riffs pesados, vocais atormentados e letras introspectivas, Follow The Leader da Korn é um álbum que captura a angústia e a raiva da juventude de uma maneira crua e poderosa.

Korn was the band that ushered me into metal. I was 14 when the self titled record came out. And it changed my life in a very positive way. I don't listen to Korn much these days. It's cheesy and sometimes embarrassing. Nu Metal is having a resurgence at the moment. But I'm not returning to it. I've moved on to other genes of metal and I'm happy with my memories of Korn and a few other nu metal bands from the era. But I strongly feel like this was the peak album from the era. It's not Korn's best record, but this third record is kind of like a thesis of the genere. It captures all of the elements that make it what it is. It's got a lot of really songs on it. And a few big misses. But it is culturally significant. And it's the last good Korn record.

KORN!

I love this album - includes Freak on a Leash. Great metal, unique sound, solid lyrics. Earache My Eye is a little much, but I loved the rest.

Distinctive bass sound, constantly compelling changes in tempo and dynamics, great guest performances, and it’s actually even funny! An achievement for its time, and it still holds up. Many, many imitators, but still nothing sounds quite like it.

5/5 - not my first Korn album, but my fave

after listening to some very average music this album came in and saved me i have always loved it but dont revisit it all that often because i thought i was more of a fan of just the hits but this listen really made me appreciate how good korn are and i am happily rating this 5 stars i do want to note that if i did decimal star ratings then this would not stay at 5 just because i feel uncomfortable listening to some of the things being sung and it does make me enjoy the album less

Pô muito bom kkkkkk 4.5/5

топ

очень тяжелый, давящий и злобный ню метал, который сдобрили частичкой доброты для мейнстрима. В общем, топовая штука и в контексте музыкальной истории. Алкоальбом: коктейль нефть, чтобы он прям черный был и крепкий, но слегка сладкий на послевкусии

Classic from my teen years. Hadn't heard it in a long while and was refreshing.

Никогда не слушал коян кроме как прям хиты хитяры. Давайте оценивать. Гитара очень сочная, вокал хриплый, но при этом разборчивый. Почему-то в голове у меня корн=дистёрбед, но это вообще разные группы. Слушай, ну первый трек уже кайф прям, мне нравится ритмика! it's On! Я послушал весь альбом и это ТУПО ТОП. Альбом пушка бомба, коян очень хороши. Одобряю!

Classic Korn

This one was one of my favourites when I was 16 and it still is today. I can totally understand people not liking it. It had a very unusual vibe to it when it came out. The kind of music you either love or hate

Not my favorite KoRn album but still a good listen!

All the features were a nice addition My gift to you including bagpipes (?) is crazy

I unironically love this shit.

Freak On a Leash is one of my favourite songs!! Got The Life is always catchy and All In The Family is hilarious. Great album.

A classic

I'm a child of the Korn

It's awful; I hated it. Five stars

Rawk!

I like this every bit as much as I did when it came out. So much, even, that I would have sworn I was listening to it years before it actually came out. Seriously, why was I thinking this came out out in 94? Must have been the other KORN albums I was listening to at the time. Anyway, hard, thrashy, angsty, fun bass guitar, and even the campy scatting have always just done it for me on this album. I haven't listened to this in probably 15 years, and I still know most of the lyrics and have the song order memorized. And I don't even like nu metal! Really, my only criticism is it's about 15-20 minutes too long. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Korn always has a wonderful way to gradually build intensity and energy until it explodes into a wave of energy. Reminiscing back to my youthful days, I can just envision the swelling wave of the mash pit. They even bring back the impact of the bag pipe in "My Gift to You," reminiscent of the opening to their first album. Jonathan Davis's scat abilities in "Got the Life," "Freak on a Leash," and "Seed" bring wonderfully creative approaches to a song's journey. Though dark, the song writing, such as "Dead Bodies Everywhere" lyrically reaches into the depth of emotional struggles. The featured artists on songs Children of Korn, Slimkid 3, and especially Cheech Marin appearing as a guest vocalist for Earache My Eye reflect artists and genres influencing and contributing to Korn's breadth of music.

Firstly, someone should write a thesis on homophobia and constructions of masculinity in 'All In The Family'. Things were different in 1998, but listening back to it now, it just seems absolutely bizarre (not to mention completely offensive). Now that's said, listening to this took me back to the time of MiniDiscs... Can't say I listen to KoRn that much anymore but I actually enjoyed the album. Maybe nu metal IS making a comeback.

When I was a freshman in high school, a quirk in my class schedule kept me from taking honors-track biology; as a result, my last-period class was the only "on level" class I ever ended up taking. That class was full of what everyone in my other classes referred to as "the dumb kids." I would love to say I took issue with that label but it seemed accurate at the time; now I realize they were the kids who were bearing the brunt of a lower-class existence in suburban Dallas around the turn of the millennium, which is another way of saying most of them never had a fucking chance. It was a motley assortment of burnouts, bullies, *cholas*, ugly goths, party girls, 14-year-old girls with 19-year-old boyfriends (which is how we talked about statutory rape back then), metalheads, future opioid casualties - and me, a bright kid who lived in a nice-enough house in a nice-enough part of town and went to church every Sunday (and it was one of the strict churches, to boot) and had a dad who made enough money so that his mom could stay home full-time and who had already started thinking about *which* college to go to because the fact that he’d be going to college was a foregone conclusion. I learned a lot in that class - some of it biology, some of it more properly classified as sociology. I vividly remember, during our lesson on the human reproductive system, one of the girls asking about birth control, and my teacher (the girls' track coach, who would resign in disgrace the following year after getting caught hooking up with his star sprinter) telling her that he absolutely couldn't answer her question, no way, no how, lest he incur the wrath of the school board and the Texas Legislature. I remember this happening toward the end of the year, because when I saw that same girl again the following fall she was visibly pregnant. That year I heard all kinds of stories from my new friends - some of them true, some of them clearly bullshit, some of them seemingly bullshit but simultaneously plausible given that the world everyone else lived in seemed to have no boundaries. I heard, or overheard, tales of whose parents would buy them beer so they’d have a drinking buddy, whose parents were in jail again and so they had to drive themselves to school despite not having a license or ever having driven before, whose older siblings could get them cocaine, who was getting a train run on them and where to meet if you wanted to participate. One time somebody passed around a flyer for a weekend party that had mock road signs on it depicting two stickmen fucking, a heroin needle, and another stickman vomiting in a toilet. I was impressed by the creativity if nothing else. I swear at least one person in that class wore a Korn shirt every single day. No wonder: there needed to be some sort of art to resonate with the amount of *pain* in that classroom - with the sheer fuckedupness of the world those kids existed in, the filthy water they swam in. Somebody had to bear witness. And if the artists most qualified to do so were a bunch of tweakers from the Central Valley then so be it. This is an uneven album; it suffers from Nineties Overlong Album Disease by about twenty minutes, its first few tracks write a check that the rest of the album doesn’t quite cash, and the guest turns in particular are all lowlights (Ice Cube sounds pretty checked out on “Children of the Korn”). But calling the album “uneven” also implies that there are highs, and that’s absolutely true; “Freak on a Leash” and “Got the Life” retain the crazy energy that made them *TRL* mainstays at the time, and there are several more harrowing album cuts that work perfectly, such as “Pretty,” a tale of Jonathan Davis’s nightmares courtesy of his time working as a morgue assistant (I’d say “how metal is that” if the experience hadn’t genuinely fucked him up as bad as it did). The lyrics here are dumb-kid obvious because they prioritize telling the truth over poetry. And while I won’t defend “All in the Family,” I can at least understand the impulse behind it coming from Davis, a child sexual-abuse survivor whose experiences left him admittedly confused about his own sexuality and defensive about it. Furthermore, something about Korn’s groovy, atonal sound just sort of works, and there’s a persistent adventurousness about it that’s somehow appealing. In fact, hearing this again reminded me that one of my friends in that biology class was learning to play the bagpipes because he’d heard them on “My Gift to You” and had seen Davis perform in a kilt, which led him to get super interested in Scottish culture. (That same friend got blown up in Iraq several years later. So it goes.) I haven’t seen anybody from that class in twenty years. Occasionally I think to Google one of them; too often the first thing that comes up is a three-line obituary. I guess I should feel lucky.

Boas batidas

É inacreditável o quão inovador esse álbum é para sua época. Se ouvisse na adolescência eu seria muito fã!

Great album, but not their best. Life is Peachy is their best album. However, this album has a bunch of bangers.

You really should listen to a NuMetal album before you die, and this is the one. The monster hits, the collaborations, the drop-tuned guitars. It's a vibe. Maybe you had to be an angsty teenager in the '90's to appreciate this, but it was and is a thing. Influence 4. Hits 4. Quality 4. Intangibles 3. I like it a lot 3.

One of the better albums of the Nu Metal era and the one that kind of got me on a track to real Metal. Maybe a bit too long, but a lot of great tracks. Even though I really don't like Limp Bizkit, I always liked the self ironic "All in the family" with Fred Durst and the opener and first single "Got the Life" led me to buy this record in the first place.

There some heavier bands. Some faster bands. Some “darker” bands but I don’t think anyone achieved that combination with an incredible dose of anger better than Korn. It can be uncomfortable to listen to, it so angry. And the fact that they achieved pretty broad success is a testament to the quality of writing and performing. This isn’t my favorite album but is a great example of turn of the century nu-metal

Excellent

Interesting and unique music

Still holds up well. Bouncing aboot to it in kitchen

Damn im honestly surprised by how low of a ratingbthis community is giving this album. I expect any metal newer than the 70s to be pretty polarizimg but damn. This album is iconic for the 90s. I dont think its Korn's hest offering but it has some of their biggest hits and the tour that supported it is a known legend. Freak on a leash's music video is probably their most streamed and its a banger of a hit. Not every song is good and some is even pretty rough. But still, classic fucking album

Love Korn.

I am genuinely surprised by the amount of negativity this album gets. Yes, it is edgy, and had middle school lyrics. Yes the scatting is a bit strange, but out of the ~50 albums ive had so far this is definitely a far realm from the other things ive deemed as 1s.

KORN IS ON THE LIST????? Korn has always been a singles band for me but I like em. It's so easy to make fun of freak on a leash but it is a genuinely good song. I had a weird time with this album where I was surprised by how much I liked it. Please remember I am a big fan of Slipknot and Linkin Parks first two albums. So hearing more bass centric of that sort of vibe was very cool. I was truly riding towards a 5. But never has a single song completely turned me off more than All in the Family did. That is one of the worst songs I have ever heard. The back and forth rap battle (?) of Durst and Davis is so bad, it's not even like charming or funny, it's just awful. The outdated homophobia and slurs are problematic but barely even contribute to just how boring and stupid that whole song is lyrically. Limp Bizkit had to reach their shitty little hands out and truly ruin what is otherwise a very enjoyable album. I can't even find proof that this was like label pressure or anything, just a terrible, terrible misstep. I struggle to even want to give this a 4 even though the other 14 songs range from enjoyable to phenomenal. Truly never has a single song ruined my opinion on an album more. Breaking out from that moment, which is near impossible, this album is cool for at least helping grow the acceptance of really good experimental guitar work in these "heavier" genres. Rage/Tom Morello was obviously pushing this way beforehand but in the popular "metal" genre this is a cool time capsule. There are some songs on here where the main guitar part and melodic element is just like octaved up guitar playing some bullshit, which is awesome. Riffs dumb and fun, Davis's mouth sounds are dumb and fun, the bass playing is dumb and fun, the whole rest of this album is dumb and fun. I'm sure there are some outdated, gross lyrics I missed because he's not he easiest to understand but I do have to say I caught that horrible chorus on Cameltosis so I am sure there is much more (earache too). Assuming this is the only Korn album on the list, and for as much as I really do enjoy like 6 songs found throughout other albums, and just ignoring all in the family, I want to give this a four. Hold on I'm tapping back in after diving deeper, there was an Family Values tour of Korn and Limp presumably named after the song, which points more towards that song being a cash grab which makes me hate it even more. Ugh. Let’s live with a four for now but if this has a 3 above it know I came back because I couldn’t live with myself.

4+/5, great album, would rate it higher if it weren't for the homophobia

classic.

Pivotal nu metal album that blends intensity and creativity in a very satisfying way. Unfortunate that this album is a victim to the same over-bloat/under-editing that all albums from this era seem to be subject to, but there are a lot of heavy and iconic songs to enjoy throughout. Top tracks: Freak on a Leash, Pretty, Justin

Listen to an academic on the subject and they'll tell you Korn's debut album "defined Nu Metal". Those people are wrong, this is the album that defined the Nu Metal sound because this is the one that hit the mainstream like a fucking nuclear bomb. Within a year every label was scrambling to sign any band who downtuned their guitar and whined about how girls hate them and their life sucks. So, what do you get for your money here? Honestly, not a whole lot. Freak On a Leash is still an absolute monster, Got The Life is a decent radio friendly single and the rest is either lost in the glut of copycat acts of the time or putrid and childish even by Nu Metal standards. You should hear it because it's a foundational album in heavy metal's last commercial charge before Rap and Electro-pop took over the world. But honestly, it's not even the best album Korn ever wrote.

3.7 3x+ cool album (various days but in lounge due to flight delay to TPA)

Es un álbum introduciendo al nu metal, pero no sé si me encanta la mezcla con hip hop, aunque si es un sonido que marcó una generación

I think I appreciate Korn more now than I did in 1998.

surprisingly good! fred durst is not allowed to say it though.

So iconic, but feels particularly juvenile looking back. Fred Durst absolutely can’t reclaim

Hell yeah brudder

Favorite Korn record for sure. Jonathan Davis is a demon on vocals, bass is just Korn bass, doesn't get much more "Korny" than that. Head's tone on his guitar is very very grungy and heavy but clear for a "Nu-Metal" esc. record, reminds me of Brad Delson's tone. Definitely one of the top pioneers of the post-grunge, nu-metal/rap metal era of music. Super fun listen, also has an Ice Cube feature, which I had no clue existed, and is a pretty fun/oddly synergistic listen. Nothing much else to say! Personal Ranking: 8.5/10 Favorite Tracks: Its On! Freak on a Leash, Got the Life

I get the appeal

Some classics, some just okay

You know what… I actually really enjoyed this when I thought I’d hate it as much as I was dreading it because I’ve heard of Korn (and had no desire to listen to Korn) I decided to put it on at the gym because I thought that is probably one of the only places I could catch a vibe with it and it’s actually good! Will I listen to it again? Probably will never think “hey I feel like listening to that Korn album” but I enjoy this album for what it is even though it’s not my genre

Enjoyed this way more than I expected. Instrumentation is sick, lyrics are edgy, that's korn

This is why you should do meth 🌽🌽🌽🌽

Gritty riffs, driving beats and some innovative sounds in the mix. I liked it!!!

Korn, THE nu metal band of the late 90s, was not in my list of music that would be on this list. That said, this was the album to choose to represent them. Their most famous song is easily Freak on a Leash which is featured on this album. They’re scream-o style, mixing metal instruments with a mixture of hip hop elements, rap segments, and…well…lots of aggressive screaming, draws you in and consumes the mind. Their songs range in messaging from angry to horny, and not much else. Their pairing with Fred Durst is always a reminder that he was, at one point, quite famous. And we have to live with that. Though, the rap battle they have is humorously sophomoric. Nothing like two grown men calling each other goofy names in an aggressive manner. Cynical tone aside, I did enjoy this album. They were very talented, and their style spoke to a younger me, a me filled with all the fixings of adolescence. Namely, angry and horny.

Jonathan Davisin ja Fred Durstin dissbattle xd. Metallille lähtee tottakai peukku. Just semmosta mitä odotinkin, semmoista outoa, vähän häiritsevää, poukkoilevaa kamaa. Just mitä Freak On A Leash on. Ei oo lempityyliä, mutta ymmärrän. Parhaat: Freak On A Leash, Seed, B.B.K.

This is the critic's pick for nu-metal, because it's the most palatable. I think there are "better" representations. I don't like the lead singer's idea of "scatting", because it sounds like a meth-head trying to do Cab Calloway. Musically, It's hard and fast and chunky at the right places. The lyrics are crass and big and ego-driven. Not a bad album, but not their best, and not the best of the genre. My Rating: 4/5

Never actually listened to much Korn, or gave this a fair listen until now. It's good, but the memes and jokes almost ruined it for me. They weren't wrong...

Not really a big fan of this music. But they may be one of the best at it. And didn't mind it overall.

Let’s goooooooo lucky day

I was surprised that I liked this Korn album, I almost didn't even listen to it. Who knew I was into nu metal? I really loved the vocals, though I could’ve done without the scatting. I suspect the scatting would grow on me after a few more listens. I even enjoyed the guest vocalists. Solid album overall.

A throwback for sure. I was a nu-metal kid back in late middle and early high school. This was one of my favorite albums of the era. It's always interesting to revisit it. There's a few songs that didn't age well; however, there's quite a few bangers here as well. It's not for everyone, but strangely enough, it's a comfort album for me.

4 stars

I'm thrilled to see nu-metal on this list! Minus one star for that cringey/ gross Fred Durst rap battle.

Heerlijke nu-metal chaos

Some absolutely great tracks early on in the album. I've listened to that one countless times as a teenager so maybe I've already got a connection with it but I think the tracks are well constructed. The second half of the album, after All in the family, is much weaker to me. That track itself marks a shift I think, and Cameltosis seals it as something I wouldn't enjoy listening, particularly with lyrics that feel very outdated to say the least. That said, the first half is a must listen to understand what came later in the 2000s.

blood for the blood god?

Great album. Didn’t like it at first but it’s grown on my over the years

This kind of metal is a total 50/50 for me on whether or not I like it. I love bands like System of a Down and Deftones, but I can't stand Limp Bizkit or Three Days Grace. That being said, this is surprisingly good. Maybe it's the guy making the dog sounds that's winning me over, but this album's pretty fun. That being said, All in the Family is awful. Because of course Mr. Bizkit comes onto this album to say the f-slur three times. It's definitely a negative outlier, though. The rest of the album is really good. Freak On a Leash is a classic and there were a few songs I've never heard before that surprised me like My Gift to You and Dead Bodies Everywhere.

One of my favorites from middle school and early high school. My taste has grown a lot since then but I still enjoyed this when listening to it again. Yes, the vocals/lyrics can be kinda cringy but I still think they have a place. The instrumentation I still think is really good; I enjoy the clicky bass and how creepy the guitars sound sometimes. I understand this album might be too edgy for most people but I think I'll always have a soft spot for it.

Suprisingly i actually really liked it

Got the Life ja Freak On a Leash on aivan käsittämättömän kovia biisejä, mutta albumi kokonaisuutena ei iske itelle. 3,5/5.

It's good

This is me in grade nine, baby! The bass player Feildy is awesome

I was never a Kornhead, but this was pretty good - really interesting take on the nu-metal genre of the 90s. They're really good at writing these eerie yet catchy tracks. The last track with the bagpipes was a weird one, and the Cheech and Chong cover caught me by surprise. Overall this was really good and I'd listen again and check out more of their discography.

so fuckin sick. bangers everywhere. all time group. ‘it’s on’, ‘freak on a leash’, ‘dead bodies everywhere’ and ‘seed’ were standouts among an album that fully throughout kicks ass

Another 90s metal band I could not get into as a teenager but I enjoyed most of this album (didn’t care for the Ice Cube collab). Solid album!

Jonathan Davis seems like he would be really lame to hangout with...but this album is pretty good. Even though he tries to rap a couple times lol.

When I was in grade 5 or 6 we went camping as a family somewhere in Manitoba. Likely hecla or birds hill park. But I’m not certain. I remember running around and biking around this campground and this group of young adults had a stereo playing music all weekend. They didn’t have much selection so they kept playing this one popular artist at the time. Having the song stuck in my head. I mockingly sang along and my mom thought I loved this song. So later that year for Christmas, she went shopping for gifts at a bunch of music stores trying to figure out this song. Singing it to the staff until she finds someone that recognizes it. My mom I’m sure very excited buys this CD from the store and wraps it up for me to open Christmas Day. When I unwrapped it, I wasn’t sure who the artist was and didn’t recognize the track list either. So I played the music either way and overall it wasn’t really my thing. Since I was mocking the music in the summer and not enjoying it. Later that year my sisters friend Michelle is flipping through my music collection and she sees the album my mom bought for me. She was so excited to play it. Then I mentioned that I didn’t really like it and she offered to trade some music for it. So in the end, I traded for her brothers scratched CD of Follow the Leader by Korn. I was so psyched to have some music I was into at the time. Even if the CD was in rough shape. I played that album a ton and it likely was one of my first metal/numetal albums of many. My mom was quite disappointed I traded her gift for Korn. Especially with all the work she had put into finding that other CD. But one way or another I think the fact that it lead to me getting this album was way better. I doubt I could have purchased it myself being a minor at the time. Since it likely was rated parental advisory. But I played that album so many times and thoroughly enjoyed this throwback. The album is so gritty and dark and at the early end of their genre. The bass and drums really shine through imo and it brings back many good memories.

Picture this, Korn performing this album as the opener for a T Swift concert. Hip hop meets Heavy Metal meets Grunge? Is that what they call Nu Metal? Sign me up either way.. So, Freak On a Leash, I really love this song. If you haven't seen the music video, PLEASE go and watch it, it's absolutely nuts, worth the watch. In terms of the songs the interludes balance the more hardcore sounding stuff, and the tension they build and then release with a pungent GO, so good... makes me want to punch a mailbox and kick a trash can over. Much respect to Jonathon Davis for the metal scatting too. The other songs don't amount to what this song does, but there are some other head banging moments. The opening bars for Reclaim My Place, and Justin are awesome. Sometimes you just want to scream 'What the FUCK' and 'FUCK all this BULLSHIT", then drop into some thunderous metal chords on the G tar. These songs do that. Its great, it scratches that inner childish delinquent. Anyways, I get why people wouldn't like this, its dark in its themes, grungy, abrasive, angry, and edgy. But if you over look some of those things, indulge a little bit, bang your head a little bit, you're in for a good time. Album art is great too, ties in with the music video for Freak on a Leash which is cool. Love to see they commissioned some 2D animation for it. Album gets a 7.5/10. Freak on a leash gets a 9/10.

Great jams for the angsty days. All In the Family is a vibe.

some great guitars vocal a bit naff in places, 2 tracks were just downright awful. Enjoyed it a lot overall but couldnt shake the feeling Corey Taylor would have done it better

I was never into Korn, even though I was on that whole scene. Dig the heavy guitar and general sound but even at the time it felt a bit rarrr I'm 13 and edgy, ooh creepy psycho vocal. Not a favourite but happy to listen to it. I got a bit bored of it towards the end. Some really good tracks but they need to be listened to in isolation, not at over an hour at a time.

Можливо не настільки гарний реліз як їхній дебютник, але все одно один з найкращих альбомів у дискографії корн. Добре пам'ятаю як купив його на касеті, коли був десь у 8-му класі, мабуть, і мені ця музика здавалась дуже важкою, особливо пісні типу Reclaim My Place. Також відмічу My Gift To You, атмосферна та емоційна пісня.

This was a good album. Freak on a Leash was the only song I really knew from the album, although I'm sure I've heard others. My expectations were higher and it kind of let me down. Also, it's a little too long. Davis's vocals are impressive and show real talent despite not really hitting notes ever. Everything feels intentional, which is something I will always appreciate.

Dope

I could listen to this again. I wouldn't rate it a must listen, but I enjoyed it.

Korn is da bomb - Carly Hamill, pencil on drywall, 2003 Great energy. Not sure how to describe the bass sound, but it sounds like the strings are super loose which I like. Definitely heard some Limp Bizkit adjacency to it, then Fred Durst came on a track lol. Overall really nice metal with great production on top to give it a uniqueness without being cheesy.

I genuinely like this. I liked it when it came out, and I like it now. In a sea of extremely forgettable nu-metal bands, Korn managed to be interesting enough to stand out, and have a unique sound that still hasn't been duplicated (not sure anyone has tried to be fair).

Honestly this exceeded my expectations. I'm NOT a metal guy and this was fucking epic. I did not care for the Fred Durst feature but I understand sonically why they'd make a song together. Vocals are fucking phenomenal. And the songs are catchy as hell. Plus the Ice Cube feature was both the perfect balance of corny and badass. Also the drums and bass are great.

You know Korn, nu metal with themes of childhood, abuse, and trauma. Hadn't appreciated before that this album dropped even before Slipknot self-titled, and yet the sound is so well-developed already. On a close critical listen am I getting influences from funk and even disco? Ice Cube on Children of the Korn is cool! And then you have All In The Family, clearly the apex of nu metal My Gift To You sounds like a Slipknot track in places Best track (other than Freak On A Leash, Dead Bodies Everywhere and All In The Family) - It's On! 4 stars

нихуева

Quintessential nu-metal album. Slap bass, trashy snare and unintelligible grunting. Great album 4/5.

7.5/10

Never listened to Korn before. Low-key made me mad haha but it was like a clarity mad if that make sense, so I caught some things I probably wouldn't have cared for.

I heard about Korn 30 years before I heard their music. I was driving a cab overnight in the sleepy, Meth infected desert town of California. The dispatcher was some girl, name unremembered. We talked about music because, fuck me, there were no rides. Except the nightly lab specimen and the one guy who hired me to take him to the bus station every morning so he could go to work. "Have you heard of Korn?" She asked. And she wouldn't stop talking about them. I talk about my location because I was about the same distance from Lancaster as Lancaster is to Los Angeles. So, they were local. I heard some of their music on MTV but I never listened all the way through. This is the soundtrack to Gen X depression. From the imagery on the covers to the music. It's all schism and chaos. It's primitive rage borne from soul wrenching. Inorganic but also purely meth capital desert bloomed. If you took a lot of Meth and forced Rage Against the Machine to listen to nothing but Red Hot Chili Peppers and Nine Inch Nails all day long, this is what you get.

omg it’s korn that was fun, good nu-metal 4.5

I am shocked at how much I liked this. I never tried out nu-metal but this album isn't half bad. This was genuinely almost a five for me.

A classic nu-metal album which unfortunately the songs with the features are the worst ones. Overall, it’s fun and Korn in their finest form

I grew up with nu metal and although Korn wasn't my favorite at the time, I can appreciate them now. I loved this but not giving 5 stars due to some problematic lyrics - will skip over those song

Heavy ass rock & lol rap

Nice

It's undeniably angsty and childish, and the last track and All In The Family have aged terribly, but the highs are great and I was bobbing my head listening. One of the better albums to come out of Nu-Metal

Godt metal album, jeg kedede mig sgu ikke.

Not as great of an album as I remember. I think I’ve kind of ”outgrown” this type of music. A lot of the songs just sound the same. Still knocks though.

A wild ride

Used to love this album. Used to love this band. I guess I have mellowed out some in my old age as it doesn't really hold up. However, I can see how it is on the list and it should be IMO.

korn at its finest. great rhythm, angst, and the only complaint is its a bit long and samey. 4.5

Randy Newman is Bob Dylan for squares

4/5

I loved Korn in the 90s, and I still think that overall this is a very good album - it's just not the rock solid 5-star I thought it would be when I saw it pop up. I still think the bangers are bangers, but I never thought this was one of Korn's best albums, and I think that there are plenty of songs that sound dated, and the one with Fred Durst deserves a docked star all on its own. Overall, I think it deserves 4 stars. It's a good album that maybe didn't stand the test of time, but was an important and critical piece of art from a time where this style of music was dominant in the zeitgeist.

Not totally into Korn, but this was a pretty solid record.

Great. Haven't listened to this in quite a while. ★★★★

They’re good at what they do but it ain’t for me

Surprisingly fun, lots of interesting little ideas and didn't really get repetitive despite being an hour long.

Haven’t listened to a lot of Nu Metal, but it’s been growing on me. Really enjoyed this album although I haven’t listened to anything else from the band catalog. Found the blend of influences and musical styles really well executed. Hip-Hop, Metal, Grunge, etc. Cool, aggressive sound.

RumbodiROOO

Didn't expect to like it but I did. It's complex, structured noise that pulls you in then spits you out with his vocal range. I liked the hip-hop percussion, the thrash guitar and groove bass, but his manic voice is standout.

- Ich mochte Korn schon immer ganz gerne, deren Sound ist einfach nahezu einzigartig. Habe sie natürlich erst irgendwann in meiner Jugend entdeckt, als ich alt genug dafür war und auch Metal gefeiert habe. - vor allem "Freak On a Leash", "Got The Life" und "Children Of The Korn" stechen für mich heraus, danach geht es eher bergab mit dem Album - letztes Jahr dann in Wacken live gesehen (und auf dem RaR auch die Chance gehabt) und es war echt gut - insgesamt irgendwo zwischen 3-4/5 mit der Tendenz zur 4 4 – Hat mir gut gefallen 👍 Ich hatte Spaß beim Hören, einige Songs bleiben hängen. Könnte ich mir gut nochmal anhören.

If the only thing you see is Freak on a Leash... you will be a better person for it. Notice I said see... the song is awesome but when you can have a visual concept as well it can elevate both.

I always felt that the first 3 Korn albums were full of innovation and creativity. At the time when this came out there was not a lot that sounded like it. This was a bit of a departure from the first 2 though in rawness. I feel like you could tell that some money had been made and the sound on Follow the Leader was a bit more polished. I saw Korn somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd album I think, and they put on a great show. This album and many others like it from around this era are the result of latch key kids, or the kids who felt alienation, loneliness or trauma of some sort, growing up and putting their energy and life experiences into music.

I'm sure there will be a ton of haters on this one. Yeah yeah, NuMetal is bad and lame and whatever. But, I am glad this album is on this list. This changed the game on traditional metal. Freak on a Leash is a really good song. The rest of the album is pretty solid. You would scream like their lead singer if you lived in Bakersfield too. This music matches living there perfectly. 3.55/5 stars = 4 on this scale.

i like the metal rap style they got, follow the leader is a great song as well, very good unserious sounding record, just good vibes with some aggression

I liked a lot of this. But no way can i manage 70 minutes

A few fillers on this one but otherwise great fun and Fieldy's bass doesn't bother me as much on this album.

When Jonathan Davis hits that "GO!", it's musical perfection. The Nu Metal sound dominated my late 90's early 2000's. ~ 4 Stars cause some tracks on this one are pretty bad.

Decent.

not my type of sht but hits hardd

There are parts obviously don't hold up nearly 30 years later, but I'm blinded by nostalgia

Pretty good. Korn has better albums but a lot of bangers on here

I’ve listened to a lot of Koran over the years but this was the first time listening to this album from cover to cover and it was awesome. Not sure what that Cameltosis shit was though

Fuck the haters this album is great.

4.5 - Could listen to this all day and not get bored

Voll die Jugend Erinnerungen hervorgerufen dieses Album. Was hat man das früher rauf und runter gehört. Es gibt aber dennoch bessere Alben von KoRn

Bisschen Nostalgie spielt natürlich mit, aber cooles Album.

3.5 - Good

Classic album! I remember listening to this as a kid! Haha mostly holds up still!

3.75

I like this band, they did a good job making a unique sound. Sounds dimented and crazy, but hard af in a really weird way

way better than it needs to be.. cut out the songs with features and you got yerself a pretty weird “nu metal”-y album that id actually like. got the life is the shit

Way better than I was expecting

Good rap metal

Pretty cool album. Freak on a Leash is a calssic

Might have been because this came fast on the heels of the "meh" that was yesterday's album (Creedence Clearwater Revival), but this, and the subsequent Spotify playlist, was just the burst of energy that I needed. No idea about the lyrics, no real recollection of song structure, but the vibe was just what I needed

Pretty good, liked the vocal style

Iconic album from an iconic band, not as cohesive as I would prefer but overall pretty good.

Every body loves a little Korn.

HELLL YEAAAHHH i love terrible shit like this, nu metal is the shit. all in the family has aged so badly but still love it. fred durst and johnathon davis should kiss i think that would be really cool. this is like most badass shit ever lets be so fr

This reminded me of music from a heavy metal parody film, the sort that's supposed to be over the top, and just a joke, but you actually also enjoy it a little bit. With my brain disengaged from listening to the lyrics, this was kind of fun. Really all over the place, with no sense of any reason or structure. I would listen to it again, so it gets 4 from me.

This album rocks pretty hard and the arrangements are quirky but quite catchy. Language is quite offensive so that knocks it down a point for me.

was avoiding this for long time cant even deny it i felt something listening to this album and i liked it

Shocked to see so many 1s. I listened to this album a lot throughout my mid teens. I still like it now. I prefer Limp Bizkit, but they're a great band that jilted a generation.

Kinda terrible, cheesy and, one might even say... korny.

Je ne pensais pas aimer autant cet album. Le son est très précis et clair, presque chirurgical ; l'interprétation du chanteur est singulière ; les guitares et les rythmes, efficaces et accrocheurs.

4 stars

Follow the Leader is great but personally I prefer Issues

Non il migliore ma spigne

ｉｎｃｒｅｄｉｂｌｅ

i love nu metal but this album can sometimes feel like a drag. last two songs are awesome though and obviously the singles are classic. probably a 6 or 7 out of 10

I think this holds up. Takes me back to a fun time in my life

I really got back into Korn over the summer and even if this isn’t the best music around or is seen as uncool. I can’t help but enjoy it. They pulled off the nu-metal sound better than anyone and Jonathan Davis is a good singer with tons of emotion. 4/5

Classic Numetal album

I never knew there was a Fred durst song collab lol

As one half of UK rock band Houmous & Chutney, I know a thing or two about making commercial headway in a polarising genre. 4.3

Sonically incredible with riffs and lyrics that are in your face. I love the Nu-metal and Rap crossover sprinkled throughout. Korn was really at the top of their game here. I only wish this was a few tracks shorter.

5/5 on the playground lol. I wouldn’t say this is one of Korn’s 5/5 albums though in the entire discography they’ve amassed at this point. A nice wave of nostalgia, I enjoyed it! This was my first live concert just after they dropped the next album after this Issues. Amazing.

7/10 Im starting to come around to metal. Good album Favourite Song=Children of the Korn Least Favourite Song=Earache My Eye

Better than I remember it. I always got a bit turned off by Korn. Not sure exactly why, but it just seemed a bit... silly? But having listened to this whole album, it seems that was primarily fueled by the breakdown in Freak on a Leash. Pretty good after all. Glad this came up.

Ahh the memories

Great for angry/workouts

I can't recall ever listening to an album from these guys before, and honestly, they've become a bit of a punch line, the look and videos haven't aged particularly well. That said, I liked it. It reminded me somewhat of Marilyn Manson. Any band that covers "Earache My Eye" gets a bonus star!

90's!!!

I like Korn. Not familiar with album but it went well with my "I'm working here"-vibe today.

Nunca fui fan de Korn, tampoco mis amigos por lo que los escuché de pasada y no recuerdo nada más que las portadas al verlas en los CD de las tiendas en una época en que había mil cosas que me interesaban más o al menos sabía lo que compraba. Me he guardado "Freak on a leash", "Got the life", "Dead bodies everywhere", "B.B.K.", "All in the family", "Reclaim my place" y "Justin". Una gran sorpresa que me perdí en su momento.

This is #day48 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... da-boom-da-da-mmm-dum-na-ee-ma! Love them or hate them, KoЯn will always hold a special place in the 90s alternative and nu-metal music. I first discovered them circa 2003—I had never heard anything like "Did My Time" until then. As unpopular as it might be, Take A Look In The Mirror is my go-to KoЯn album. Looking back, I realize that this era might have felt like a beat-a-dead-horse moment for the band, but who cares? "Counting On Me" is still one of my all-time favorite KoЯn tracks. Then there was 2005’s See You On The Other Side, with a cover that still creeps me out. I also remember reading a wild teenzine article about Davis that claimed he once had sex for like ten hours straight until... his cock started to bleed. What a time! As for Follow The Leader, while it features classics like "It's On", "Freak On A Leash," and "Get A Life," it can be a tough listen from start to finish. The dark, groovy sound encapsulates KoЯn’s signature style, but I grow weary of Davis's angst after a while. Or, am I just growing older? The collaborations with other artists are also a downside for me. But, since it's the only record of theirs and they're kind of an important band to me, especially given the nu metal era, I'll bump it up to a 4. Looking forward to #day49.

This is a stupid, goofball album and the scat singing is hilarious. I know it was meant to be menacing and scary when it came out, but it's as cute as a button now 🥰

Pretty original. Dig the tunes. Good n' groovy. Some of the vocal and guitar effects were a bit overused, but all in all, a good listen.

Some songs better than I remember, some far worse. Rating boosted by having recently seen Korn live, a 3.5 going to an admittedly generous 4

amazin album

I knew the big hits and thought okay. Well, the album was actually really good. Better than I expected

The vocals are interesting...

Angry, aggressive but more thoughtful than their first 2 albums. Maybe the most listenable of their albums. I still generally prefer their first album but I think it is because I was a little more mature when it his one came out and I was moving away from music this heavy. Still a very heavy, enjoyable listen.

This album defined a new generation. Truly revolutionary and a sound design that really is associated with Korn. I get that this album is not for everyone, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Nu-metal isn't really my thing, but this was actually pretty decent. Some of Korn's style annoys me a little, but there was quite a bit here that I enjoyed. 4/5

I think this album is important for its genre and has some catchy and memorable tunes. However, not really my style of music.

This shit slaps hard

This sound seems to match how I’m feeling these days with so many things just not going right

Great but the dumb rap shit makes it less great.

The more experimental stuff didn’t age well and their self-titled original album was their best in my opinion. Still cannot deny these guys invented a new sound that’s unique

I think you have to like Nu Metal to appreciate this album. I like Korn a lot and love how heavy their music sounds. I think the self-titled debut album and “Life is Peachy” are better than this but “Follow the Leader” still holds up for me.

A good album, not their best and not the one I would have included in the list but still a solid 4

you kiss your mother with that mouth?

cool unique sound, bangers and refreshing tunes

A few classics here too, though this I mostly remember from older teen days when I was trying to listen to something my friends didn't. I wanted to be one of the odd, cool kids. Man, times flies.

- first 4 songs are peak Korn - this album is where they found their sound - not my favorite from them overall, but totally quality - collaborations somewhat bring it down but they work well enough

- who else is making noises like Johnathan Davis? Truly special - Freak on a Leash and Got the Life are Hall of Famers - legends of the alt-metal sound

Well well well - this strikes a deep nostalgia chord - I remember hearing Got the Life as a single and complete being blown away by the sound - I had heard nothing like it before - followed by a mad scramble to purchase the Cd from the low stocked local record store - to countless hours listening it. Oh and the first 13 tracks of the CD intention skipping until ‘It’s On’ suddenly kicks the record off. Now. Does it hold up? Actually in my opinion yes - it’s still a well crafted record - and a good snapshot of the time. Unfortunately casual misogyny and homophobia pepper the record - which was rife at that point in time - and also feels like the proto white incel anthem record. Oh and a terrible and quite aged like white milk rehearsed diss track with Fred Durst somewhere in the middle. But hey that is countered with a good cameo from Ice Cube and Cheech Marin. So .. cringe at many times? Yes. A bit overlong with a few unecessary tracks at the end? Yes - a side effect of the CD era. Fred Durst? ugh yes. Then again nostalgia is powerful. And objectively it does kind of sound unique - and it does have qutie a few banger tracks throughout. It’s complicated but it gets a 4 star from me.

Objectively I know this isn't great, but I love it. Loud brash, nonsensical in your face noise

Awww my gawd! It's Korn! Bumts bcbsbbruskendhdbbehsjbsbehsiakkwieiuebebshsjsj Minha! *Cue the bagpipes*

Listened Before? Y One of the biggest albums of the 90s. It had absolute mass appeal amongst the 18-25 demographic. If you don't believe it, look at the reactions of the crowd when they played these songs at Woodstock 99. Pure energy. The album itself has held up pretty well if you like this sort of thing. Hard rocking, raunchy, and somewhat silly. It's a fun ride. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Got the Life

Not a huge Korn fan but they're arguably the most defining nu metal act ever. They made a masterful blend of hiphop, rock, and industrial. They didn't focus too much on conventional poppy structures. And of course, they turned teenage angst up to 11. Overall, my inner teenage self is happy to hear this.

Korn has such an iconic sound. This album put them ON. Those drums with the clicky sound are one of a kind in metal/rock.

Feller's pretty upset, I reckon

Korn has such a distinctive sound. I love how low Fieldy's bass is tuned, making that rattling noise from the strings slapping against the bass. And Jonathan Davis' weird vocal delivery. They encapsulate that whole nu metal movement that was massive in the late 90's - early 00's. I remember my introduction to Korn. I bought a cd at ROW called Family Values '98. It was a live compilation album of a bunch of nu metal/rap artists who played the Family Values Tour. It had Incubus, Limp Bizkit, Ice Cube, Orgy, Rammstein... and Korn on it. I remember my first listen to the cd I had no idea who Korn were. Jonathan Davis comes out on stage playing bagpipes, then they blast into Shoots and Ladders. It blew my mind. So weird and awesome. Not like anything I'd ever heard before. I went out and bought this album (Follow the Leader) after that. That was my skateboarding/JNCO jeans with chain wallets phase. I also distinctly remember after that seeing the music video for Freak on a Leash where the whole video follows a bullet as it flies through the air, going through vases and milk bottles and shit. It was awesome to a young teenager! I also think listening to Korn kind of fed into my rebellious phase of life. Up to that point, mom had us so prim and proper. No swearing in the house, straight laced as can be. This album scratched that rebellious itch I had. Made me feel bad ass because they swore and played heavy music. As corny as Korn may have been (pun intended), this album, and the nu metal movement in general, is steeped in nostalgia for me. This music brings back so many great memories. It is hard to be objective when rating this album because of that. Favourite songs: Got the Life, Freak on a Leash, B.B.K., Reclaim My Place, Children of the Korn, Dead Bodies Everywhere Least favourite songs: All in the Family, Earache My Eye 4/5

Geile Riffs, harte E-Gitarren, coole Rhythmen. Wegbereiter für Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit und andere.

Didn't understand a lot of words but I don't think that's the point of Korn. Sounded cool and the Ice Cube feature was unexpected and also cool.

Some really good parts to this album. I thought they nailed the tone they were going for and some of the music was super sick. I liked a lot of the weird vocals and thought they brought it all together really well. Some odds and corny bits here and there, could probably have been a leaner album. Some of the content and lyrics show it’s time.

I enjoyed the multiple features on the album and cross between rock and rap.

Their most notorious album released at the height of their popularity, this is peak nu metal and everything is represents. And unfortunately, it has so me of the bad too. Korn is my favorite nu metal band. Their music takes groove metal and industrial and merges it with hip hop production and rap styles and pop hooks. Korn in particular embodies spooky sci-fi and horror sound effects and brings it modern audiences when combined with 90s electronica and industrial. Combined with the deep grungey bass and solos, and the vocalist who sounds like his head's about to explode, we get an intimate and deeply unsettling record. After their s/t, Korn stood as leaders of the nu metal movement, and this record sees them moving forward with the pop appeal, with catchy choruses, shocking chord progressions, and memorable riffs that leave an unforgettable listen. The downside to this as the songs lose a bit experimental edge from their s/t. The weaker songs on this record repeat the same themes and techniques, and rely on cheap collaborations like an unnecessary rap battle with Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, a messy gangsta rap duo with Body Count's Ice Cube (that has cool scats and effects but cluttered), and a just straight boring and forgettable collab with someone called Slimkid3 (who?). We also get a stupid outro that starts with a conversation and becomes a cringey climax. Limo Bizkit and Deftones do this too, and I don't get why. It's always so lame and edgy. My final complaint is the album length, like my complaints with every 90s album. Over an hour? No thanks. Too many tracks to cut. That being said, this could have been a perfect album if they cut the weak tracks and focused on putting their innovative ideas to work, which I feel like was weakened from their s/t. This record does have a killer start. The entire first half except "Children of the Korn" is fantastic. "Pretty" and "Reclaim my Place" go a bit long but have nice choruses and sick endings. "Justin" turns into a cool death metal song in the middle but the beginning and end are both lame. "Seed" started ok but picked up by the 2-minute mark. Very proggy. My favorite on the 2nd side. "My Gift to You" is a fantastic closer if we ignore what came after. No complaints.

Just seeing this album cover brings back a lot of great memories from my youth. To an extent I can thank this record for being the one that made me really start to get more into music in a serious way. Funny enough to think back to this and realize it's a Korn album as I don't really listen to them anymore and find a majority of their music to not be really good besides this early stuff. I grew up listening to music that I still like (thanks mom!), like The Beach Boys, Doo Wop, The Beatles, and from there I went to listening to grunge on the radio in the mid 1990's and loving it, and from there I went to buying my own first albums - Ride the Lightning by Metallica, and Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park. All through this time my interest as a music listener was building and building, but this album was the one where my brother and I bought it and it took us to a new fascination level. I have really vivid memories of watching TRL after school and waiting to see what pop music videos were going to be fighting "Freak on a Leash" or "Got the Life" for the #1 spot. When Korn would win I would sit and think "great! We beat the popular kids today". Even more vivid for me was listening to this album and playing videogames with my brother- Everquest was our big one around this time. Many hours did we find ourselves in some dark dungeon with online friends and blasting some Korn to get ready for a boss fight. On to the music. It's great! It's so unique in so many ways, and the most memorable bands for me of all time are ones that did their own thing. Korn is heavy metal that grabs elements of other genres effortlessly- slap bass, beatbox rhythmic vocals, 7 string guitar riffs, 808's, evocative lyrics, interesting production techniques, super catchy hooks, and interesting compositions that never get boring. It's funny to think of those ingredients all being thrown together. I can't imagine it working. I think there's times where the music can sound... corny... but I think that they do a good job of not caring about that and making music that they wanted to hear. Korn has kind of permeated and lingered throughout my life in funny ways. My microwave hums a note (i think a Bb) that is final note of the chorus melody of "Freak on a Leash", and if I'm heating something up and not looking at my phone, you can be damn sure I'll be next to it and singing a duet "sometimes I cannot take this place, sometimes it's my life I can't taste". Some day I'll find a good lyric to change that to, like "sometimes I don't like microwaving food, in these times it's my food I can't taste". How great is the backwards R? KoЯn KoЯn KoЯn KoЯn KoЯn For me this is a very biased and strong 4/5. This is probably a top 10 album of my youth, and I'm surprised that the production still really holds up. Unfortunately some of the lyrics don't (there's some rough ones in there), but it still does something for me all of these years later.

Nu metal two days in a row! And it's a very enjoyable one. If this had been 10 tracks long it'd be five stars and nu metal would be much more respectfully remembered. As it is, it's a touch overlong and not quite perfect. But very close (let's ignore the 90s edgelord shit. It was the 90s. I'm hoping they regret it)

Great album. Brings back lots of memories.

Never thought I would engage in such ragey music. Thoroughly enjoyed