Reviews (page 8 of 8)
Loud and thuggish metal that has additionally imported several of the features that make me dislike hip hop, like random noises.
nah.
Frightful.
Trashy and now I know why I never listened to this back in the day when it was cool (it never actually was)
Here's my most positive thoughts while listening to this album: It's not Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water. Sometimes, they sound like they can almost pull off a cheap System of a Down cover band. It's encouraging that their homophobia has gone a complete 360, from being totally fine, to being a huge problem, to being just annoying, and now it's just quaint. It's good that this rage is directed at nothing in particular, otherwise I might have to care about it. Oh, hey, he can, in fact, sing competently enough to not be kicked out of middle school choir. It's unfortunate that he doesn't try to do that often. It's comforting that my grandpa's friend, who barely remembers which hole to blow in yet still played at his funeral, is not the worst use of bagpipes in my lifetime. Racist album skits are not just for rappers. Congratulations on bringing non-musical racism to a broader audience. The last two minutes of this album might be the best work they've done. I'd like to see it built out into a full song. By someone else. I'd like to make it clear that I have Linkin Park, Finger Eleven, and Evanescence CDs within reach while I write this. I don't hate nu metal. I hate this, though.
Bandet lyder cool! Fede riffs, meget groovy! Jonathan Davis lyder som en 11-årig der er meget stolt af alle de fede bandeord han kender, det er pinligt at høre på
no❤️
I'm not a Korn addict :/
Honestly, fuck this garbage. For the first three songs, I was thinking "this is... not that bad? The lyrics are cringy and I hate the vocals but if it were instrumental I could maybe even give this four stars?" but it all just dramatically devolved from there. Awful stuff, truly, and I'm extra annoyed about it for starting off not completely awful and pulling a bait and switch. I fear that listening to this album in full caused some germline mutations that will undoubtedly increase the odds of any future children to be glue-eating little assholes that are mean to animals. 0/10
Just say no to nu-metal
Korn and other associated acts have their place in a specific point of time. That point of time is VERY specific and you either love or hate that era of music. I'm specifically talking about nu metal of course, the alt-metal/hip-hop fusion that many know it as. Very much a relic of its time. I've never really had any interest in Korn outside of their singles, and the first two singles you hear on this album are fine enough ("Freak on a Leash", "Got the Life"). It's after that around track 5 (the Ice Cube feature) where things go past the point of no return. I know nu metal is supposed to be visceral, but that track was that unenjoyable. Things just never improve after that point, as the next track with a feature ("All in the Family" with Fred Durst) was just as brutal to listen through. The instrumentalism isn't being questioned here, the drums are guitar playing all throughout are fine. It's just that the distortion sounds/scatting over the disturbing lyrics is too much for almost anyone, let alone myself.
I tried.
I know the poster to this album well. When I was a teen boy all the other teen boys were obsessed with Korn. Listened to this album non-stop, had the band’s pictures plastered on their walls, and talked about them all the time like they were modern day profits. I was mostly scared by the heaviness of the music, and preferred to explore other types of music. I’m glad people still get value out of this. I continue to wrinkle my nose at it like the absolute square that I am. 1/5
Yeah, not really my thing.
I never got into nu metal hen it came around the first time, and in the intervening years I've definitely been more on the Slipknot, System of a Down side of the genre - I'm deeply not a fan of this album, it turns out. From the weird vocalizations, to the bass downtuned so far you can't hear anything over the slappity noises of the strings, to the very 2000s homophobia and a collaboration with Fred Durst who sounds SO like he can't be arsed doing anything here, I personally think this is just a real misfire.
Honestly? I thought I was going to hate this, but in fact, I *really* hated it. 0/5
Brings back bad memories of aggro middle school guys who loved Korn
gonna be a no from me
Pass
👎👎
irredeemable. an hour of pure shit- the track with Fred durst being rock bottom. if I ever hear anyone calling themselves a korn fan I will forever doubt their taste and brain
Not good
Korn is shit
Meh
Not my thing
oh dear god it's over an hour long.. alright here goes. Immediate thoughts are that there are some good simple but thrashy grooves and riffs on this. There are some heavy hooks and breakdowns that are accompanied by weird little turntablist sounds and samples, which is cool. That little warble in track one added an otherworldly element which is cool. This poor guy with the microphone is a bit much, however. You can be angry, but if you don't want me to think you're a weak little bitch about it, you can't be wallowing 100% of the time. It seems to be a recent movement to revisit nu-metal at this stage, now that many of those bands are now considered "legacy acts" on touring circuits. Nu-metal, like pop-punk & emo, is now past their prime and that legacy is being examined. It seems that in the face of angst and disconnection in our current day and age, many listeners recognized an enduring fondness for this genre. Where once an anger at father & mother and a community alienation gave rise to the blunt thrash of this music, now we have alienation across a divisive social & digital landscape. I understand the calling to reach for old comfort music, especially with some sonic innovation. Korn was better than many in the genre at combining hip hop beats, funk pedals, metal shredding, and psychedelic production techniques. While ultimately not as cringe-inducing as the Limp Bizkits & Stainds of the era, being hardly the worst is no passing grade. Korn was hard to take this seriously then, and it's harder to take it seriously now. Next time I'll prefer to reach for some System of A Down, Slipknot, or Tool (does Tool count?) should my inner angst reach that point. Got a ways to go on this album, wish me luck while I let it play out.
I couldn’t make it all the way through. And I’m quite honestly embarrassed that I almost got through half of it.
1 star, not even their best album and even if it were, there are still many better albums that could be on this list.
Wedged in the festering bowels of late-90s rock, this nu-metal abomination refuses to be flushed away, clinging to cultural memory like an undigested kernel of pure sonic waste.
Ah Nu Metal. I quite liked this genre with Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit, but this lot passed me by. For good reason, it's awful, especially the vocals which were, like fully fledged Metal, cringeworthy at best. This is like a desert for me in terms of music.
Never liked Korn based on their radio “hits”. Listening to the whole album did nothing to change that. It’s actually worse than expected
only liked the second song when i want to listen metal i surely would put something else on. hope that speaks for itself xx
Moderne metal, numetal, for langt
I have never felt more let down that I did when I generated this. Actually let out a dramatic, slow-motion “noooooooooo.” Last day of the year, last day of my first year doing the project, just got an all-time favorite yesterday, and now this. I know I’m not a Korn fan (at all, even a little) but I had to listen anyway. And wow. If I saw some of these lyrics I would be one million percent sure someone was just playing an awful joke…how is this real? THIS is what all those kids in high school were obsessed with???? Lately I’ve felt bad about being so judgy as a teen, but not anymore. This is over-the-top, comically bad trash, except that’s rude to trash.
I loathed nu metal at the time - Korn seemed maybe slightly less detestable than many of the other acts, but I was never really a fan. I thought this might scrape 2 stars, but no, pretty wretched. Jonathan Davis' vocal ticks do not entertain me - it's all super cringe. Fave track - ugh..... Well, "Reclaim My Place" comes immediately after a track featuring Fred Durst, and the relief experienced that there was no more Fred Durst is about as close as I'll come to liking any of these dog eggs, so that one I guess. 😠
Lots of hate in the reviews for this. Well that hate is totally deserved, as one reviewer said in my mother tongue: "Tering wat een troep" Only positive thing I can say is that I don't hate Jonathan Davis as much as I hate Johnny Rotten but it is damn close. I did manage to liusten to the whole album something I now regard as waisting my time.
This album is maybe the best example of an album that absolutely no one needs to hear before they die. 1/5
It's just so stupid
Today's lunch: Kumara sourdough sandwich with slices of smoked cheddar, mushroom and red pepper, cooked in the sandwich press until the cheese was melting and oozing out the sides. Could have used some rocket or spinach, but out was delicious nonetheless. 4½ out of 5. This album though? It's the worst one yet. Awful "singing". Facile, whiny, homophobic, misogynistic lyrics. -5/5
We're at album #405, and this is possibly the most lyrically bad album so far. I won't go into the lyrics, because frankly I'm exhausted after 67 minutes of this nonsense. Nu metal is also a pretty bad and unpolished genre, particularly in the pre-2000s era. As a whole, Follow The Leader is (I guess) listenable – but barely. The riffs are vaguely interesting, and in a very specific mood I could see myself enjoying this, but at the moment it's not doing much for me. The artist features on the album are also horrible picks. Fred Durst is widely recognised as one of the worst singers and frontmen in the music world, and the track All In the Family doesn't do him (or Korn) any favours. It's bad. Ice Cube is better, though again rapping is a very questionable choice for the nu metal genre. The song Children of the Korn is a complete outlier in the album, sounding more like a purely Ice Cube-dubbed hit – and it's also pretty bad. Cameltosis, featuring Slimkid3, is experimental-sounding and continues the trend of horrendous, misogynistic, disgusting lyricism. Earache My Eye is a six-and-a-half-minute throwaway track featuring an extended skit/spoken intro followed by several minutes of uninspired ear-blistering guitar noise. The tracks Freak On a Leash and Dead Bodies Everywhere are certainly the only two mildly enjoyable tracks, and any of the others having more than a million Spotify streams is a tragedy. 1/5 Key tracks: Freak On a Leash, Dead Bodies Everywhere
Ik ben tijdens dit album door alle 9 lagen van Dante's hel gegaan. Waar ik - zoals altijd - against all odds met positieve energie het album tegemoet ging, en het begin zelfs een paar aardige momenten in petto bleek te hebben (einde 'Freak On a Leash', de inbreng van Ice Cube 'Children of the Korn'), werd het beetje bij beetje steeds ondragelijker. En zeg nou zelf, een langzame afdaling in Dante's hel is veel meer confronterend en vernederend dan een directe sprong. Voor ik het doorhad zat ik te luisteren naar de fragile masculinity-rap metal van Limp Bizkit. En wat is dat duivelse gescat? Dat 'uhmushahahuhmushahumushushumu' in nummers als 'B.B.K.' en 'Freak on the Leash'? Zulke fratsen - naast de ronduit toxische energie in de songs - laten me geen andere keuze dan weer eens een grandioze onvoldoende te geven. 2,5/10
Tijdens het eerste nummer It's On kreeg ik zo'n erge zweetaanval en jeuk over m'n hele lichaam dat ik Korn heb afgezet en afgezworen zolang ik fatsoenlijk gehoor heb.
Nu-metal on kyllä ihmiskunnan suurimpia syntejä. Lapsellista ja raskasta kuunnella. Nyt menee kyl 1/5.
thank god this is 70 minutes, they just have so much to say!
I expected to hate this. The first couple songs I thought maybe this isn't that bad? But then it kept going, and going. Tracks blended together, I kept opening Spotify to see how many to go. And just when I thought it's finally ending the worst song of all. Horrid, torturous album. Will surely never listen again
1001 Albums #13 the amount of metal this website is generating is FOUL don't like it
That was not fun
I tried but this sucks.
Freak on a Leash Got the Life
1.2 Boom-da-da-mmm-dum-na-ee-ma Da-boom-da-da-mmm-dum-na-ee-ma Da-boom-da-da-mmm-dum-na-ee-ma Da-boom-da-da-mmm-dum-na-ee-ma Da-boom-da-da-mmm-dum-na-ee-ma Da-boom-da-da-mmm-dum-na-ee-ma Da-boom-da-da-mmm-dum-na-ee-ma Da-boom-da-da-mmm-dum-na-ee-ma Da-boom-da-da-mmm-dum-na-ee-ma Da-boom-da-da-mmm-dum-na-ee-ma Da-boom-da-da-mmm-dum-na-ee-ma Da-boom-da-da-mmm-dum-na-ey GO! Korn sucks
Honestly, not as dumb as was expected, but the ridiculously drawn out length tied with the goofy, almost parody level delivery takes this album from being just a boring time waster, to something offensive to the ears. This isn't because of the lyrics, although Fred Durst and co. does spew some garbage, but rather because with each additional track your brain dissolves bit by bit. Seemingly the same forgettable guitar, the same vocal delivery, and you're lucky to make it a track without Jonathan Davis putting on a ridiculous voice that is difficult to take seriously. When we got the bagpipes, I knew no one should take it seriously, no matter how badly Korn wants you to. It's just tiring, a product of its era, and the else said about it perhaps the better. Oddly enough, still see plenty of Korn shirts in 2024... huh.
Earache to my eye? No, just earache! All sounded the same to me.
No. Especially not the obscene bits.
Never listened to korn. Ok I’m gonna skip this one I think. So far I’ve given every album a chance but this is just not enjoyable for me. I’m doing this challenge as a way to educate myself and discover popular music but I can’t get into this at all. I like some heavier stuff like Metallica and In This Moment but this is not the tea for me. Lacks melody and is just so one-tone IN MY OPINION. So I’m gonna respectfully skip this Made it to: track 7, Pretty
I hated this album
This was a phase
Je n'avais jamais pris la peine d'écouter vraiment du Korn et si ça c'est considéré parmi leurs meilleurs, je ne veux certainement pas écouter les autres albums. C'est tellement gênant comme musique, je ne peux pas croire qu'encore aujourd'hui les gens écoutent cela non-ironiquement. Les scats du chanteur m'ont tellement fait roulé des yeux, c'est littéralement embarrassant. Le mixing est horrible, les compositions non originales. La seule raison pourquoi je ne donne pas un zero est qu'il faut leur donner qu'ils ont essayé de quoi que personne d'autre ne faisait. 2/10
This was the worst thing to happen to me in a long time. I honestly can’t believe I sat through it all. The lowlights eventually became the highlights: I’ve never heard a song as bad as All In the Family. There was nothing redeeming happening on this album.
Like a couple of tracks, but couldn't get into the album as a whole
I was going to give this a 2 since it's everything I hate in 90s music. Too long. Shitty guitars. Shitty vocals. But god damn then All in the Family came on and it's just so immature and the fact they thought to release shows me they aren't worthy of a good rating.
Scream mumble and distort the lyrics. Take some old RHCP funk and slam it in behind. Turn your K around. Voila - instant wank noise for skater bois looking for something noisier.
used to love this record. i can still see a tiny bit of that, but mostly its cringe a la cringe.
1.5 for managing to get through the whole album even though it was a definite no thank you
Never really liked this band, but had never really listened to them. Now at least I understand why I don't like them.
ick. nu metal sucks.
Not my cup of tea
Subject to a few exceptions, I tend to not like shouting vocals being shouted/screamed. That, coupled with the samey-ness of the album meant I found it extremely boring (not to mention offensive in some places - you all know to what I am referring although I'm sure some people would just try and pass it off as "banter" between friends).
The big three really egregious inclusions on this list from the late 90s are Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit and this Korn album, and barring any unexpected later inclusions, I am finally through all three of those. This is the least egregious but man it's bad, but not in a wholly offensive way like Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit is. Still it has no business on this list.
I won't mind the single if it showed up in a sound track or something. I didn't need a whole album of this. I was never a big fan of nu-metal and nothing about this record has changed my mind. Also minus 1 star for that fred durst song.
I only made it halfway through this trash.
Screaming and angst not my favorite.
Getting this after Britney's Baby One More Time is hilarious. I loved this album when I was 11. Thankfully I wasn't old enough to participate in things such as Woodstock 99. What a shitshow late-90s American boy culture was. Anyone who is surprised that something like the Trump era would come out of a culture that produced, just a decade and a half earlier, this and Limp Bizkit hasn't been paying attention. To Korn's credit, they are indeed not Limp Bizkit, but that is an incredibly low bar. Fuck the record execs that gave shit like this the greenlight.
Jonathan Davis knows his instrument and his audience - is it the crystal meth enthusiasts? I guess capitalisation has its benefits. That, and a debt of gratitude to Trent Reznor. So it’s obviously a pillar of the nu-metal movement but that’s where the “legacy” of this album seems to end. I liked my late 90s nihilistic angst from a band that offered alternate spellings of words featuring the letter ‘K’ when it was called Linkin Park. This deserves 1.5 stars. I’m feeling harsh, though.
not my kind
The best thing about my son embracing hip-hop was that almost immediately I no longer had to listen to Korn or Limp Biscuit. I see L.B’s Fred Durst features on Track 8 here - All In The Family. Thankfully Fred was no longer affecting my family. One Star.
Mostly trash. The two singles from the album are mostly OK (maybe because I've heard them so much), but the rest is not good. Very derivative. Very angry for what seems like no reason.
Very heavy. One dimensional. Did not appeal to me in the slightest
To be honest, I just find it boring. It just mushes itself up into noise that not even the toe-curling angst can peek its way out of.
altern. Rock, Rap, 1998 -> 1
It was a solid 2 until the song about loving another cunt, at that point I said nah I’m out, this is a 1.
Korn was at the forefront of the rap-metal movement of the late 90s and to be honest, there are other bands with a similar style but sound so much better.
Suddenly I understand why all the other boys in my grade were the way they were.
Really bad.
A more disgusting collection of filth would exist on the Dark Web. Needs zero stars
I really need to cast preconceived notions of this album aside. They were popular when I was in high school and liking the put you in a specific social category. For that reason, I never went there. But, as time has gone on my opinion of the band has changed. They’re actually not very different from the other bands of that era. Now, years later, here I am listening to it earnestly and it kind of rocks. The tortured breathy singing is laughable, but fun. The energy is great. I remember liking Got the Life, and that hasn’t changed much. Fun song. Seems like the album really just got worse from there (song 3 lol). The homophobia is definitely not cool. I was unaware of the hip hop elements of this album.
ugh so shitty
Not for me 1/5
Not my jam.
Krap
Another desperately American album from a band that didn't every trouble the UK. It's formulaic nu metal with terrible lyrics and dreadful songs. Maybe in its genre it does something but there's a reason none of this ever travelled to the UK.
First couple of songs, I was like this is going to be decent, then it went full trash with language and topics. First album that I have had to quit listening.
That was so much worse than anything I could have expected. I was really trying to keep an open mind to start off with but then we got to tracks 4 and 5. That's when I would have stopped if I was just listening to this for kicks. However I am a man of principle so I soldiered on. Then we get to track 8. I mean where do I even start? That made me want to weep and then die it was so pointlessly bad. I mean who thought that would be a great idea to write a diss track between Limp Bizkit and Korn and have it just be a bunch of slurs? Seriously why? Jonathan Davis has a serious problem with women apparently. Almost every other song's main idea was just violence against women. Also what in the world was his attempts at scatting? That was balls. It actually made me laugh a couple times because it was so out of the blue and so wildly awful. I mean Anthony Kiedis does a better job and he's not really known for incredible vocal prowess. The only small glimmer of not terribleness was the instruments, they were played well and sounded at least not god-awful. However almost all the songs sounded the same. This was such a stupid album from a stupid band. I listened through all of it and I still don't know what in the world was the point of all that. Also I would like it to be known that after enduring this I listened to Lenny Kravitz (5 specifically) to help restore my faith in humanity and remind me that there is good music out there that is pleasant to listen to.
Horrible
Another hard NO!! Noise and incoherent lyrics that I'm guessing harped on about life's hardships, how being a nu-metal fan is a raw deal and any other hetero-minority group that the target listener has chosen to join
Fuck no.
I'm not sure how this got onto the list, but I would have been perfectly happy dieing without having heard it. Unfortunately that opportunity is now lost to me.
Uhhg my brother really liked this when it came out and I never got into it. I found it really lame and still do. I have skipped about 6 or 7 songs and I'm 9 in right now. Not a fan. I can image everyone in the studio laughing so hard while Jonathan was doing his little scatting but then being like " no no , it sounds good we swear, keep doing it"
Made it halfway through the first song before turning it off
Entirely as I expected. NEXT!
No!
For metal, it's quite creative and well-done. But I just can't appreciate the genre anymore.
Wow. Music porn? Murder soundtrack? This is really junk with no redeeming value. I kind of regret listening to it. I usually find something to like or respect - guitar work, vocals, writing - there's just nothing here.
First two albums are classics. This one was the fall. Lyrics are trash.
This was the hardest time I've had finishing an album on this list.
I haven't had a shitty one-star album in a while. To be fair, I might have gone with 2 stars had this been 40 or 45 minutes, but clocking in at well over an hour? No excuse for putting over an hour of this sucky music down. Blech. 1 star.
The real challenge of listening through 1001 albums when I get a nu metal album like this that is around 70 minutes long. It's angry, repetitive, musically boring, and lyrically it is nothing that grabs me or what I'd call interesting or even positive. I've never liked nu metal in the early 00s and my opinion hasn't changed in time. It was especially difficult to listen this album from an era where CDs where a thing and artists came out with 60-80 minute longs albums like this one which was over an hour long (these albums would have been double albums back in the 60s, 70s, 80s...). I listened through the whole thing and I still find it just really bad...I rarely give out a 1 but this one just deserves it.
Really? How does elevator music in Hell rate a spot on this list? I know I gave it one star....but I lied....no star for you
Un perico dando voces y cantando la misma canción durante todo el álbum
This was AWFUL-
I don’t think they knew what this album was supposed to be…
I thought I would enjoy the stroll down memory lane, but once I got passed the two singles that the TRL generation heard ALL THE TIME... it was a dreadful experience.
it's Krap
Very boring.
No no no no
Dreadful
Wow, misogynism and homophobia! How original! /s This was hardly even shocking or edgy tbh, just boring and lame. At least Eminem expresses his awful views of people creatively.
I have beef with Korn. Listening to this album justified it.
This was a total slog for me, even though I did like "Freak on a Leash" and "Got the Life" as singles at the time. This just sounds like mud to me.
25 years later and I am still convinced that this is satire. The self-loathing and self-pity, the moaning, the awkward hip-hop breaks - noting about this works for me. Sometimes you get a tolerable instrumental section that all to soon gets interrupted by something stupid like Fred Durst.
Thoughts before listening: I didn't like these guys 25 years ago and I probably won't like them now. That being said, I felt the same about Linkin Park and ended up at least enjoying the hits from a nostalgia angle. Perhaps the same will happen here. I know Korn were respected at the time as good musicians, this brand of angry rap metal just never spoke to me. Review: Freak On a Leash and Got the Life are both good songs for this genre. There is definitely a nostalgia to these songs as they were HUGE during my high school and college years. The rest of the album sounds like more of the same with fewer hooks. Then they trot out Fred Durst to get all homophobic on a song and I'm done. This sucks. This is the music Trump fans listened to in high school. 1 star.
Kamalaa. Ensinnäkään en tykkää shokeeraamisesta shokeeraamisen takia (kiroilu, biisien aiheet). Toiseksi ei ole yhtään vaihtelua, samaa läimettä kaikki. Voivatko noi featit olla ylpeitä täällä olostaan.
Laulajan ääntelyssä on tekniseltä kannalta jotain vaikuttavaa, mutta se on myös ihan helvetin typerän kuuloista. En välittänyt tästä bändistä edes 13-vuotiaana, ja jos mahdollista, välitin vielä vähemmän kuin nyt. Sillä ei ole mitään merkitystä, että Got the Life flirttailee tarttuvuuden kanssa. En suostu kuuntelemaan toista puoliskoa.
that was not fun to sit through
What the lyrics sound like to me: "Gobble, gobble, rabble, rabble, ummagumma, HATE MEEEEEEE!!!! Bunga lunga, wocka flocka, PAAAAIN!!!" This is the kind of music that Faith No More is unfairly blamed for.
I made it to the fourth song so that’s an accomplishment
Didn’t enjoy
They still suck ass. ≧ヮ≦
No.
Closest I have come to skipping an album so far.
I didn't really like it. Metal isn't my genre.
Has aged like day old milk out in the hot Florida summer heat.
Yawn. Excitement for people whose days are defined by hot dogs and parking lot bbqs.
Nah
Oooooooof. Not my cup of anything.
hey i gave it a shot. did not enjoy my time with this one. this really was not for me. just really the antithesis of music that i like to listen to. the growly noises, the vocals, the instrumentals. mr raggedy man, lmao seriously? i feel like half of this album's lyrics were literally just like "fuck you, you [slur]" there really is nothing for me here. sorry!
You kidding me with this Korn!?
If this album is on the list but Astro Lounge by Smash Mouth or Zoot Suit Riot: The Swingin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies by the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies isn’t, than this whole list is bullshit. Badu nam na heee nam na he ma amirite guys?!?
I wish that we as a society could pretend that nu-metal never happened
Nah. This is not for me. Didn't really enjoy them in the 90's and I don't feel like I missed anything after listening to this.
this album was really bad i like it when he makes funny noises "i cannot ever love another cunt" :((( thats not very nice
Gosh, this didn’t age well, and I’m coming back to it from a place of considerable nostalgia. Terribly tedious. I guess I still respect the abandonment of western tonal conventions. But the overall effect is terrible after about 6 minutes. Got the Life stays in rotation though.
Fuckin no
Not my style
1 - Woof... This is a slog to get through. If it was shorter, I would've given it a higher score because it's more boring than it is aggravating, but I got very tired of this over the duration of the album. I don't even care about the hit, so no silver lining here.
Another example of Dimery and co. selecting a lackluster record from a band that was once viewed as innovative in their genre, before breaking out with an album that's not so bold compared to their first LPs. Commercial success is often a misleading factor on the 1001 albums book. And here is one of the most ridiculous examples of this particular mindset when it comes to specific subgenres (here, *nu-metal*). Oddly enough, and apart from "Freak On A Leash" (more on that later), the only *truly* memorable moment on this record is that rap battle / "let's-play-the-dozens"-track "All In The Family", with Fred Durst. It's a track whose concept is fun, as immature as it is, but whose execution is a little disappointing, retrospectively--even if Fieldy's bass slapping is impressive in its own right on this one. Some of the insults going back and forth between Durst and Jonathan Davis are funny. But others fall very flat... This is far from being the only missed opportunity in this record. And you could argue that it speaks volumes when one of the two memorable moments on an album features dumb jock Fred Durst. Didn't remember Ice Cube was also on this LP, by the way... but given how much of a mess "Children Of The Corn" is, it's no surprise I had forgotten about it. So the other truly memorable track from *Follow The Leader* is single "Freak On A Leash", as said earlier, with its perfect instrumental imitation of gangster rap samples, its soaring chorus, and its typical "scat" grunting by Jonathan Davis--that he put for better use on previous records, admittedly, but which is still a spectacular gimmick. And... that's it. Nearly everything else is just terrible, plain and simple! "It's On" is a boring opener ; the involutary disco rhythm pattern of "Got The Life" is cheesy and hackneyed (plus, the song is badly mixed) ; and "Dead Bodies Everywhere" starts with creepy glockenspiel shenanigans that are interesting, but thenthe song quickly returns to the usual Korn formula--a particularly soulless one in this occasion. "B.B.K." fares slightly better than most of what occured before, and its short bridge à la The Cure is interesting. More skat grunts from Davis towards the end of this cut. Too bad that, by this point of the LP, this little trick--already heard before--sounds like an option Davies goes to when he doesn't have any better ideas for his vocals. "Pretty" attempts to use subtle Cure influences again, but the result is far more awkward this time around. "Reclaim My Place", "Justin" and "Seed" go through the motions witout much real passion in them. Interesting funk hip hop dynamics on "Cameltosis"--too bad the lyrics are so dumb, even by nu-metal standards. Closing the proceedings, 6-minutes-or-so "My Gift To You" is an exploration of more "classic" metal aesthetics during its first part, before going back to Korn's usual shenanigans... and neither part of the song is convincing enough. Long gone is the neurotic intensity of the first two albums. And long gone is also producer Ross Robinson' trademark sound, so effective in them. Not even bothering to quote the names of the two new producers for "Follow The Leader"... I should not even mention the hidden track at the end of this record either, so stupid it is. Countless teenagers discovered Korn through this album and made it a success. But you can bet your boots that most of the middle-aged men and women they are right now would be embarassed to admit they ever embraced Korn's music when they were younger. Too bad, some of the stuff in the first two albums is still interesting or even thrilling today. But *Follow The Leader*'s interesting moments are scarce compared to *Korn* and *Life Is Peachy*. 1/5 for the purposes of this list, translating to a 6/10 grade for more general purposes (5+1). Number of albums left to review: 438 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 263 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 134 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 169 (including this one)
No
probably one of the douchiest albums of all time. just think, somebody out there has probably masturbated to this. just saying. let that sink in. anyway. if this was just five tracks long with no vocals i’d give it three stars. actually some of the more popular songs aren’t even bad. but it’s too fucking long and too goddamn douchey. and it’s fucking Korn. influential as it may be, i can’t give it anything more than a one. maybe i could give it a two if it was like six or ten songs shorter but ya. if you give this a five, kill yourself.
Nu metal was all the rage back in the day and this was probably the most popular example. It really does not hold up well though. A lot of growly music, adolescent lyrics, and the embarrassing memory that we once thought this was cool. I do like Jonathan Davis's scatting but it's still a cringey album overall.
Ice Cube what is you doing on this thing!!! Turns out it was just a phase. Made it to All In the Family and couldn't go any further.
A truly terrible, talentless band.
It’s hard to believe this album wasn’t written by 13 year old wannabe edgelords. Music is ok at best and the lyrics and vocal delivery are garbage.
Uhhhhh Jesus fuck no
I decided I hate Korn.
hahahahahahahaha... no
In 25 years my view on this album has not changed.
I thought this was going to be a 2-3 star album for me, similar to Slipknot or Linkin Park, but it turned out to be truly awful.
Man, this is ugly.
Another homophobic and sexist album. Boo.
Metal del más asqueroso. Inescuchable.
20 minutes in and I've heard enough. This isn't good.
Least serious music. Goofy shit. Prefs : la minute de silence qui précède l'album Moins pref : Tout le reste
Not for me
Not a fan at all.
Sorry, boys. Gramma is old and tired and you're just too darn loud. I liked some of the funky bass bits. I might've given this two stars if it were fifteen minutes shorter Three, were it thirty.
Loud and shouty again. Getting bored of loud and shouty.
Here's one's \"E\" warning: just fucking awful. A handful of whimsical sound effects can't save this from being a massive tedium of ugliness and stupidity. This doesn't belong on a list of 10,001 albums or even 100,001 albums, much less 1,001.
Not my jam
nope
Junk
Utter crap - should have followed my rule of no Parental Advisory stickers!
It's nu metal, of which I am not a fan from the getgo. In fact this is the exact thing I think of when I think of nu metal as well. Lyrics make it even worse, using some slurs in a very slurry way. There is one song that I thought was okay but otherwise a big miss from me
Korn really aren't for me, took me four tries to get through the 1 hour+ runtime. Freak on a leash is okay but a whole album of the weird whimpering vocals and angry teenager lyrics wore thin quickly. Some of the riffs are okay too I guess but not when presented in this way. Not a 'nu metal' fan!
Not a good week. Got through the first few tracks, and couldn't listen to any more as I'd torn my ears off my head.
Nu metal hey, was never a fan, but had some mates that were. Made freak on a leash and got the life quite nostalgic. I also remember my mate liking my gift to you with the bagpipes at the start. The video for freak on a leash is also burned into my retinas as it was played constantly on kerrang. The guitar sound and that drums I don't mind, but vocally it sounds horrible. Not sure Ice cube has any place here and the Fred Durst track was absolute dog shit. If this ended after the 4th track I might've given a higher score, but alas, it did not. It's better than kid rock, but really not by much 1.5
Ok, I'm finally listening to this album to get it the fuck off my homepage so that I can move on with this challenge whilst also trying to catch up. Metal is not my thing at all, I have never knowingly listened to a Korn album before. I read some of the critical reception first to try to understand a bit about it. I seems like this might have been one of the first tries at combining scatting, heavy guitar music, AND hip hop and rap music but I could be wrong with that. My first impressions were, this is not the worst metal I've ever heard and actually I quite like the tempering of this metal with hip hop which I generally love. Then it becomes very clear that this music was written by men in their 30s, it's VERY silly isn't it lol, not in a great way either with shitty scatting and stupid lyrics. And as I head into the 4th track I'm starting feel despair bubbling up when I think about listening to this for over an hour. Let's be honest, I'm not going to listen to every second of every track on this one. I enjoyed the intros on quite a few of the tracks where they had nice riffs and hip hop beats, then mostly as the song built and got heavier throughout I begun to hate it. I'm leaving this experience feeling quite sad that I added to the listener numbers of this album on Spotify.
Hard to describe how much I fucking hated this. The lame lyrics, the boring repetitive riffs, how OTT it all is. Made me furious. Can't believe I made myself listen to every minute. Too committed to this challenge
Blimey that was awful. I really tried to like it, and I did like Korn a bit when I was younger but it's just complete trash.
I tried giving this album a chance. I wasn’t impressed by it. Then I got to “All in the Family”. This song turned an otherwise 3 star album into a 0 star album if I could give that.
Some people are really into shit like MMA, NASCAR and Korn. That's on them.
This was my shit as a teen - my edgy bread and butter washed down with razorblade cereal. So listening with fresh ears was... actually, surprisingly easy. This album aged like breast milk left in the sun. It's all the same song dude. I can't believe Jon and Fred D sat back after recording "All in the Family" and went "yep, that's the absolute best we could do! Nailed it dood". Guess this is how reformed Mormons feel.
This is my first 1/5 during this challenge. I hate everything about this album and can't find any redeeming qualities. The worst part is hearing things practically stolen from great alt metal bands like Faith No More and then made substantially worse. Why would you listen to that then? Why did it got so popular and put on that list? This is garbage
Not my cup of tea. However, there is a guest spot from Ice-T, which makes for an interesting collaboration.
Fucking awful. I wasn't into these guys as a teen in the 90's, but went into this with an open mind and open ears. But noooooo. Atrocious. File under "gimmick music" along with Marilyn Manson, and Nine Inch Nails.
miellekästä musiikkia jos kuuntelee yhren biisin silloin tällöin...koko albumi toistuva ja tuon ääni niin vitun raastava...amerikka lyriikat... harmi kun on kiinnostaviakin elementtejä mutta vitutus liian suuri its on
Really terrible. Starts out as generic boring whine/grunt schoolboy nonsense, then Fred fucking Durst shows up and it goes rapidly down a puerile hill to sub-1* quality. Makes sense they are from Bakersfield, this dross is the perfect sonic analogue of that shithole.
There were some good sections of metal in there but a lot of weird stuff I did not enjoy along with random rap segments
Why do these heavy metal bands all sound the same, you know the usual trope - quiet passage with soft singing, then heavy guitars and drums with loud singing. Rinse and repeat for all songs, and their fans all seem to lap it up. SMH.
This should probably be a 2. But I used to do support work with a guy who would get filled with rage. And he'd listen to this album to 'calm down'. It didn't work. So I attach some slightly traumatic memories to it. Plus it's a bit shit.
Blood racket mostly.
I feel like my ears have been scrolling through awkwardfamilyphotos.com for the past 67 mins. After the entertainment subsides and the WTF settles in, you begin wondering why you're even listening to this. Once that happens, the embarrassment takes hold. Especially after finding out that Ice Cube decided to be a part of this album. I would note the Fred Durst appearance, but that's like kicking this album when it's already down. Terrible, but there's worse stuff on this list... Linkin Park, I'm lookin' at you.
There are so many dumb background noises in some Korn songs that I began to wonder if Korn invented ASMR. Curious to know where ASMR actually originated, I researched to learn that the weird sounds in YouTube videos are not ASMR. They are using sounds intended to induce ASMR, which is a tingling sensation that moves down the spine. People say it is euphoric and relaxing. ASMR videos do not actually give me an autonomous sensory meridian response. And neither does Korn. Korn does sometimes give me a skin-crawling type sensation, but not a pleasant spine tingling thing. We can mock "Follow the Leader" today, but this album was huge when it came out. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard chart. It won the Grammy for best music video. In fact, it is pretty quintessentially 1998. The late 90s were bizarre, and Woodstock '99 documentaries aside I think we still don't fully understand what was going on with that cultural zeitgeist. And like much of the late 90s, Korn (sorry, "KoЯn") really doesn't age well. "Got the Life" is the only song on the album I don't hate. It's not all bad though. While much of his growling and nu-metal beatboxing are really irritating, occasionally Jonathan Davis does interesting things with his voice. There are flashes of potential in the guitar and the dynamic drumming. But instead it's track after track of potential-squandering ear-bleed inducing trash.
Whatever you want to call this, nu metal, rap-rock, aggro-metal, alternative metal...it sucks. Look, I like to scream along as much as the next kid, but stop growling your lyrics at me. Wikipedia tells me people liked this album with Entertainment Weekly reviewer Jim Farber calling it "a big load of dumb fun" and said that "going to almost laughable lengths to mess with metal cliché". They got the laughable and clichéd part right.
Garbage. Was back when, still is now
This album was awful. I mean, I guess I can see how it was influential and I do catch myself having Freak on a Leash stuck in my head every once in a while/it is a good pump up song...but overall...these songs are terrible.
Disgusting lyrics and overall very unpleasant to listen to. I never thought I'd see Fred Durst's name anywhere near this list
Tedious and awful. Ice Cube mixes things up a bit but this is nu metal at its most noxious.
Ne soyez pas avares d'affection avec vos enfants, ou ils pourraient rejoindre un groupe de nu metal.
qui a écouté ces morceaux autant de fois c'est pas possible
I could only make it through like 3 song of this cacaphonic maelstrom.
Nie wiem czemu, ale korn kojarzyl mi sie zawsze z polackim darciem mordy, a tu calkowite zaskoczenie, bo darcie mordy bylo z hameryki, magnum opus krindzowatej kultury lat 90 przelanej w forme nu metalowego rzygu, rozlanego na 13 trakow i meczacych uszy godzine z dziewiecioma minutami, jesli ktos mnie zapyta po dzisiejszym odsluchu dlaczego synteza rapu z metalowym brzmieniem byla pomylonym pomyslem bede mogl podrzucic ten wlasnie krazek, co bedzie najlepsza odpowiedzia na to pytanie, co najbardziej utkwi mi z dzisiejszego odlsuchu, beda to pewnie piekielne pajpy
Just a godawful sound. Too heavy, too angry
The Woodstock 99 documentary has scarred me
This is one of the albums of all time for sure
Hated it. Positively.
Holy hell this is awful
Not a fan
Wat een herrie
I disliked this so much. The lyrics are so infantile and cringey I barely made it through
2/10 this was lame as hell
Headbangingly dreadful.
Couldn't make it past the 4th track. Never liked Nu Metal, and these guys are at the apotheosis of that particular trashheap
Not much there there Bu the end of the album it kinda felt like it was all the same song.
CRINGE
Angry teen school project. The beat boxing is terrible.
At around the 3rd or 4th track I thought to myself, "this has to be some kind of joke." Fast forward to the 11th or 12th track and I audibly said to myself, "this isn't funny anymore." 1.5/5
not for me
Dreadful.
Krap
krap
Just about listenable weird metal with the odd scooby doo sound init. Nit my bag soz.
Nope
It's just noise. I get why it's on the list but absolutely not something I would willingly go near again. Over an hour with each song seemingly indistinguishable.
This is really bad. The decent instrumental performances are bogged down by head-scratching hip-hop influences and obnoxious vocals. I can't really see why/how this could take precedent over...any better metal album?
Really bad music. Riffs that have potential but are mixed terribly and have strange effects on them that take away from what it could be combined with Jonathan Davis's awful vocals and lyrics make for an excruciating listen. The fact that this was included on this list and classics like Madvillainy, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, and Soundtracks For The Blind aren't is genuinely baffling.
Not for me
There are a couple songs I liked in middle school, but the fred durst song is so bad I can't give more than 1
Meh
Never liked them.
Really didn't like this one, all the songs sound exactly the same and the vocals range from whining to screaming. I also don't like being edgy for no reason, which is a lot of this album. Also what a weird collab, when I think of who would work with a band like Korn, I don't think about Ice Cube. His verses were low-key the best parts of the album though.
homophobic - ugh
No. 1/5
I refuse. There as absolutely ZERO reasons to listen to this album before you die. Listen to something good instead. Listen to Tool. Literally ANY album by Tool. It's a travesty that they're not on this list but this trash and KID EFFING ROCK are.
Lots of nostalgia tied up with this one for me. I still wouldn't say it's an essential listen at all though. Especially coming right off of Muddy Waters. Putting those two in the same list is borderline offensive.
Nope. Voor de helft geluisterd, kan me voorstellen waarom sommige mensen dit leuk vinden, maar t is niet voor mij.
Nope
sorry, had to shut it down. What a unhappy, angry, sad bunch of people. Would never listen to or buy anything they ever or would do. Life is to short to be so angry.!!!
Hmm, the most tiring experience so far.
Unlistenable to begin with and has aged even worse. Almost single-handedly responsible for the creative and intellectual drought that plagued heavy music at the start of the '00s.
What an abrasive voice. I kind of wish he was screaming harder so I wouldn't be subjected to these lyrics. Why does he need to beatbox. Also why the hell is Ice Cube on here. there are moments here and there where I like what the guitars and percussion have going on, but its pretty standard metal stuff and nothing interesting enough to make up for everything else. is the second to last song about fucking somebody while killing them? jeez. highlights: "generation triple X, we're all about the weed smoke and the kinky sex" "fagpipes" "you pumpkin pie, I'll jack off in your eye" "all you eat is Zingers" a song being called Cameltosis
Oh gosh. That was a lot. There were moments when it was fine but as a whole album it was creepy and didn't feel good. I made it through but I think it was just because I was doing homework the whole time. 1 star.
Just really not a big fan of this album. It’s a shame since I live in the state of Corn
Ashamed I used to listen to this
Full of cringe and those baggy mall-goth pants.
Not my type of tunes.
Bit aggressive and dark for my tastes. Didn't finish.
Awful
Ugh. I just cannot. Made it halfway through one song.