Follow The Leader

I'd probably be pretty angsty too if every song I wrote was absolutely awful.

Out of all the terrible nu-metal albums on the list. This is certainly one of them. Some of the songs are tolerable, but I have to report that, at just over 700 albums in, Keep it in the Family is probably the worst song I have heard. Featuring a combination of shit music, shit lyrics, shitty Fred Durst and a shit ton of casual homophobia. A gigantic turd of an album.

Got the Life itself is a 6-star song, even 30 years after I got out on CD as a kid with a bowl cut, but that song with Fred Durst is -4 stars. One of the worst fucking things I've ever heard.

I’m over 75 albums. Only one was a gem I hadn’t heard before and the only ones I like I own.

Review - I'd not listened to this in so long. It's so much better than it gets credit for these days. It's so intentionally weird. A big thing this list has taught me is that music that catches on with the mainstream is often so much weirder than I give it credit for. This is undeniably an out there album. The scat singing "rum bum be bum" on Got The Life is fucking hilarious. There's multiple instances of bits heavy panned either left or right, that's awesome. I hate people say that's shit production, it's cool actually. I spent so much of my youth trying to claim that Fieldy is one of my favourite bassists. He isn't. He isn't even a bassist really. That clacky clack playing he does sounds like dog shit, in isolation, but in the band it works. There's a song that starts off with a little bass solo, but it has to be finished by the drummer because it's ultimately a percussion solo. Addressing the elephant in the room - All In The Family is of course one of the worst songs ever made. Fred Durst sounds (rightfully) embarrassed the whole way through. Why does it have that long bit of riffing about who's the bigger redneck? Why do they do the Two Ronnie's "Goodnight from me/goodnight from him" bit? Nothing about this works or is good or interesting. Never the less, this album needs to be heard. Nu metal was better than it gets credit for. And more of a moment than a genre. Very little is similar between this, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, and System of a Down, other than they caught on at the same time. There are some great riffs here (Freak On A Leash, Justin, Dead Bodies Everywhere). The drumming is consistently good (lots of disco flair that goes under the radar). Jonathan Davis is a super interesting vocalist. He's like the Nic Cage of singing. Who wants to hear someone consistently hitting normal notes? I want expression and attitude and aura, that's what he brings. Is this a great album? No. But it (and the band) shouldn't be clowned on so much. They contributed something to the culture, that deserves credit surely. Score - 7/10 Need to listen? YES

There's a storm in here but I never get wet. A 2/5 for the nü-metal monolith.. not hatred, just indifference with extra steps. Spins: 1 Playlist Additions - Freak on a Leash - Got the Life

The first four songs on this record are absolutely great and some of my favorite songs of the nu-metal era. The rest of the album gets a bit dark for me and I usually switched to another CD after my faves. Those first songs are 5/5 but the rest brings it down to a 4 for me.

it wasnt bad tbh

Grew up with this one

Bad day to be a freak on a leash, and an excellent day to be a suburban white boy with anger problems. In today's political climate, I think every day is a great day to be a suburban white boy with anger problems. What a wonderful reality we have chosen for ourselves. In an attempt to numb the constant burning agony of present-day reality, we shall return to an idyllic time where Stone Cold Steve Austin ruled the world, and disenfranchised dorks donned trench coats, and fused hip-hop and metal so poorly, that many of us cannot look wallet chains in their glittering maw without a tinge of embarrassed recollection. Korn, the business geniuses behind international management conglomerate "Korn Ferry" have provided each listener a LOW hangin' wallet chain to don our standard issue JNCO jeans. Get an ill-advised piercing and "jump da fuck up" as we push play on what will assuredly be a normal record that isn't deeply embarrassing in any way. Remember when I was assured by my own inconsistent narrative voice, that this WOULDN'T be embarrassing in any way? That was a lie most heinous. From the homophobic, incest-laden rap "battle" between nu-metal impresarios Fred Durst and Jonathan Davis to the other songs rife with domestic violence, ham-fisted melancholia and even more white rapping and homophobia, this thing fucking sucks. Do we really miss the 90's, or does nostalgia reframe each and every era, to the point where we forget that everything has always been horrible? I saw a guy reviewing this album on RYM who adhered to the stylized typing of "KoRn" and I think that's beautiful. I'm sure this band spoke to many people who are now either terrible adults or people who look back upon this time with head in hand, and perhaps an embarrassed smile, as this is unintentionally pretty fucking hilarious throughout. I think the second, lesser-known vocal scatting sequence sent me into a tailspin. Oh and "we're Generation triple X, we like weed smoke and kinky sex." That was the same song where Ice Cube was like "nah mom get outta here, i'm the coolest kid in school" or whatever. A humiliating listen, but I suppose that's kind of the point. 1 HIGHLIGHTS: MOM I DON'T FREAKIN WANT LUNCHABLES AGAIN

A classic

Not something I was really into. It has some catchy riffs time from time, but was overly long, repetitive and heavier than I normally like. Rating: 3/10 Favorite Song: Freak on a Leash

I've never been much a fan of the 90s nu-metal scene. Just doesn't do much for me. It was a weird blend of metal and hip-hop. I think it works best on tracks like Children of Korn which is essentially a hip-hop track which is enhanced by the aggressive metal instrumentation. That plus Freak on a Leash is a classic raises this to 2 stars.

... sonically grating, to put it mildly.

Good musicians. Bad vocalist. No real musical innovation. The bands that have done this better (many years earlier): Fishbone Living Colour The Minutemen Nine Inch Nails fIREHOSE Faith No More Anthrax Rage Against the Machine etc. The songs themselves didn't resonate with me.

I get the appeal if you’re an edgy 12 year old boy

As a metal fan I had high hopes in the opening bars, but it seems a little too angry and dated. Not something I will return to.

Listened before? Yes? Thoughts: - I definitely had a nu-metal phase when I was maybe 11 or 12; probably because I wanted the boys in my class to think I was cool, lol. The Korn album I had at the time was "Issues" though. I couldn't tell you if it holds up better, because I haven't listened to it since then. - I was actually having a good time for the first few tracks (Freak On A Leash basically sounds like a parody of itself, but that's fun at least). However, I think 3-4 Korn songs at a time is all I can handle. - Worst of all is when Fred Durst shows up so they can call each other gay for 5 minutes because it's 1998 🙄 - It doesn't really get much better after that point.

Music for rebellious preteens

ALBUM

Bad music, bad lyrics, bad singer/rapper.

Pretty monotonous sound, but still one of the best albums in its genre

622/1089 - All the people complaining about nu-metal. The singer beatboxed a bullet away from it's path! This guy's a hero for crying out loud!!

I am too old/female for this. I can see the appeal to a 19 year-old boy though.

The music has aged well, the mysogynistic/homophobic lyrics not so well.

No private session used for Spotify. One of the giants of Nu Metal. Sad to say, this album might be the best representation of the that genre. It's got a couple of great, interesting songs on it, but then it dives into trashy homophobic rants. Nu Metal has gotten more hate as time goes on, if this is it's best representation I can understand why, I would file it under guilty pleasures, but there are some songs on this album that should be buried and never heard again.

Follow the Leader by Korn is today’s listen and, unfortunately, this is exactly the type of metal that makes me think I don’t like metal. It’s long, loud and incredibly boring. There’s plenty of aggression and noise, but very little underneath it that I could connect with. I kept waiting for a melody, a great riff or just something interesting to happen, but most of the album seemed to blur into the same unpleasant sound. At over an hour long, this became a real endurance test. I know Korn and this album in particular were hugely influential on the nu metal sound, but it’s clearly not a sound for me. By the end, I was just relieved it was over. An hour plus of my life I’m never getting back. Favourite track: Couldn’t pick one. Least favourite track: Take your pick. I struggled with every track. Album artwork: Easily the best part of the album. Cool cover, shame about the music.

I don't want to listen to this, I'll give it one track...allright, I expected to hate this but I didn't. It's not my genre of heavy metal but I recognize the appeal and the production is pretty good. I might listed to a little more out of curiosity.

Rap parts are awful. Lyrics sound like they are written by (and for) an edgy 12 year old. Even the down-tuned metal-core riffs are unimaginative. I don't hate all nü metal but this sucks.

Haven't really listened to KoRn since Middle School and for good reason, this is the most Middle School music out there. It's not all bad, but the overall edginess of it turns me off of it. I'm not a fan of overly aggressive music and this is about as aggressive as it's gets mix in some outdated lyrics and it's the perfect recipe for an album I won't like. Sadly, this is not the only Nu-Metal album on here, but luckily it is the only KoRn album on here. ⭐️⭐️

Just not a huge nu metal fan

Just a bit off, especially that song where they call eachother slurs for 5 minutes straight. Embarrassing.

Korn is really good at distortion. That’s about all I’ve got on this one. Not a fun listen.

I am a teacher and while this wasn't my favorite listen I am grateful I now have more insight into the music my edgiest students are into. I enjoyed Children of the Korn. The album art is really charming. Is it embarrassing that grown adults made this album? Sure. Of course it is. But I'm rating this a bit higher because I had a good time.

I love heavy music but never gave a shit about nu metal. This album included. I'll give it a 2.5/5 rounded to 3 only because it's a half decent representation of this style of music.

These guys sound like the kid rock of metal. Strange rap fusion and I bet they were all rich growing up. But I did kind of enjoy the odd whimsical noises the background singer made once in a while

There's energy here and that's about it

Better than what I would like to admit.

This is a classic - the true peak of nu/alt metal, in my opinion. This was Korn at their absolute best.

I personally didn't need to listen to this, but I understand why it's here.

If youre in the mood for this, its really really good. If youre not, its a long listen. Freak on a leash and got the life are pretty epic

Music interesting. Lyrics not so much.

A pervasive style of music in the early 2000s, this was a seminal album of nu-metal. It's not for everyone but I enjoy it.

Hardrock, nicht das meine

Musically fine I guess but a bit boring. Lyrics are rather cringe worthy

Found this difficult to rate. There were some songs that bring up the nostalgia, but was the album good overall, I am not sure. Maybe a generous 3 for nostalgia factor.

I enjoyed this much more than my wife

I was way off with my estimation of what the community would give this. Currently rating a 2.65. I guessed about a 3.3. I would not have said that I was a Korn fan and would still not be. I was not expecting to like this but all music has a time/place where it works best. Listening in a quiet evening is not this albums best chance to shine. I would like to give it the 3.3 I predicted still, but don't think I can come at a 4.

Occasionally gets interesting but overall not a great listen

Wayyyy better than I expected, would listen to again

I like some songs from Korn and they are one of those big nu metal era bands from my teen years. I liked some of the album but overall it wasn't hugely enjoyable and I felt slightly underwhelmed.

Homophobic slurs abound

Nearly a quarter-century ago, a well-meaning relative bought me a copy of The Queen Of The Damned soundtrack (I was a fan of the books, so it was assumed I would love the music they apparently inspired). In fairness, it’s not a bad collection, definitely a few good tracks on there, but a lot of it is fairly average nu-metal sound. So why do I mention this here…? Because as far as I could tell every track on Follow The Leader seems to sound like the average filler on the QOTD OST. I actually had to go and check the track list to see whether Korn contributed a track to it - evidently not, but I therefore have to give them some credit for heavily inspiring the contributing artists to produce mediocre soundalikes. The sound of grown men lamenting how they were misunderstood as teenagers, while still spitting out homophobic diss tracks and making weird nu-metal scat vocals. I will allow a bonus point for the diss of claiming that someone’s favourite band is Winger though. That one would definitely burn if someone flung that at me!

🌽🌽

I bought this way back in probably 2001 or 2 and was so disappointed with it. I really liked Freak On A Leash back then but hated the rest of the album. All these years later my opinion hasn’t changed really apart from I like FOAL a lot less now than I did then. Still like it enough for this to get two stars but I can near guarantee I will never listen to this album in full again.

some bangers not for me would not listen again reminds me too much of lyla

At that time a huge album, still deseves a revival although Fred Durst is one one track and the lyrics are partly hard to listen to, so not really aged well...

Tip-toe to the front row of the Korn show with a sub-machine gun

Not content to simply be terrible, nu metal albums also love to be excruciatingly long. That said, I have to hand it to Korn for having some melodies which elevates it above the other nu metal fare this list has foisted upon me. (Still one star, but a better one star than Slipknot.)

Muy buenas canciones Freak On a Leash, Got the Life y All In the Family, pero como álbum lo sentí algo plano. ¿Se me caerían los calzones por escuchar el inicio de cualquiera de esas tres canciones? Claro. ¿fue satisfactorio escuchar el resto? No mucho. La batería me gusta mucho pero parece que no me fue suficiente. Tal vez escuche otros álbumes de Korn pronto para investigarlos un poco más; este es decente por tener sus hits pero fuera de eso la verdad no me nace darle 4-5 de calificación. Ah la portada está chida, tenía que decirlo.

When I heard bits of Korn, back in the day the music was (mildly) attention-grabbing, but the vocals really put me off - spoilt/cranky whine/sneer, and terrible lyrics. And the music wasn't really that interesting. I am quite open to nu-metal, but not Korn - starting from unattractive aspects of their lives/speech outside their music, the repugnant lyrics of All In The Family, Cameltosis and other songs on this album make clear their attitudes are abysmal. And this is no case of tension between great music and crap lyrics - the music on this album has some potential (taking isolated riffs first time they're heard), but it is plodding, very repetitive (particularly rhythmically), with limited differentiation between songs - and overshadowed by the whiny vocals. As a whole, this album's inclusion in the list strains the concept of "albums you must hear" - it doesn't belong on a list of great albums. It could find a place on a list of 'noteworthy' albums, eg very popular but questionable albums, for critical analysis, eg where, when and why was this so popular... I appreciate other reviews where people account for why they liked it when they were 13, I can only hope that kids will find better catharsis in the future. Meanwhile, this album is Bad, 1/10.

I have heard of the band Korn but I haven’t heard any of their music. I don’t know what to expect. I read that their music is nu metal. I don’t even know what that is. Well, let’s see. I didn’t like this album at all. At least, the cover is interesting. The vocals are not very good, Sometimes, the vocals have a rap style. The lyrics are hard to understand. The music has drum machines, synthesizers and guitars. The guitars aren’t too bad. Some of the songs are just horrible: Dead bodies everywhere and Children of the Korn. Earache my eye: is this a Cheech and Chong reference? I guess I don’t like nu metal. A terrible album. One star.

thank fuck that's over

In middle school, someone brought me a Korn audio cassette with their second album. I absolutely hated it back then, thought it was just some kind of noise, and quickly gave the cassette back. Then in high school I gave it a second chance, and that time it clicked—I started listening heavily, until my computer broke and only Korn was left on my MP3 player. That was in 2010; by then I was sick to death of them, so I deleted all the albums and never thought about them again. And now, as part of this challenge, 16 years later, I turned them on again, and it's very hard and torturous. How right I was in middle school... I won't give it a 1—after all, "Freak on a Leash" can still be somewhat appreciated without pain, out of nostalgia—but everything else goes to the trash.

meh, unnecesarily hard

1 partEdgy guitar intro, interesting chords/ 1 part whispery Trent Reznor voice/Shouting, often something homophobic and/or misogynistic / 1 part AWOOLA HUGGA MAROOGA OOGA/ 1 part Whispery Trent reznor. Repeat for one hour Apart from the terrible rap duel with Fred Durst

Not my style but I can see why many angsty teens loved it.

I listened to this a long time ago and hated it. I was interested to see what I would think of Korn after so many years away, but this is honestly terrible. The riffs are incredibly basic, the mix is cheesy, the lyrics are cheesy, and the album is catastrophically long. There's almost nothing of the technicality and inventiveness that makes the best metal shine. In other words, its Nu metal. 0.5/5.0

decent music but i cant stand the growl scatting thing he tries to do. the first time it happens its interesting if a little weird and out of place. then it happens again and its just obnoxious. speaking of obnoxious id be remiss if i didnt mention the length. cut this in half and its decent 70 minutes is way too much

i was already familiar with this album, but i hadnt heard all of it and im sooo glad i did. all the more hip-hoppy songs on this album make the metal ones so much better to listen to if that makes sense. and the bass work is amazinggg. 4.5/5 not fault proof but definitely a classic. :)

This is what happens when you don't hug your children enough. Some of the songs are pretty good, at least musically if not lyrically, some of them are just worse versions of the other songs and the Fred Durst thing is just trash. Can see why it has it's place here as it was influential and is a very good example of a moment in time, thankfully a moment we've moved on from

First listen Saved 0/14

Love a bit of Korn

I member this one

Even Cube couldn't save this whole album for me. He narrowly saved that song. Korn is a band (like the Doors) that you can like as a kid, but when you turn 15, you realize how much they suck) But at least I understand why this album is on a list called ....Must Listen to Before You Die. It's the best possible example of Nu Metal. It makes sense they're here. More sense than the 400 electronic albums and 300 prog rock albums on this journey. In the end, Korn is much better than Limp Bizkit or any of the others that were popular at the time. But better than garbage is a low bar. This album still sucks

Great.

Bien

Overall good, but the lyrics are awful sometimes

duros de escuchar

quarter of the album was actually good, but most songs are way too goofy...

Ok. Here’s the thing with this album. Unfortunately, I grew up with this, and it’s going to get the childhood buff accordingly, which in this instance is going to add an additional 2 stars. Objectively, indisputably, this is a 1 star album. It’s just terrible in every way, from the singing to the guitar playing. Korn played on our local radio station 24/7, and I subjected my poor parents to this every day on the car rides to school. My poor parents. I bet they remember this too. The worst part of all of this is that it’s not even the best Korn album. If we’re being real here, my favorite Korn album, See You On the Other Side, probably isn’t much better than this, and it’s been a good couple of decades since I’ve listened to it at all, so take that with a monstrous grain of salt. It could be just as terrible top to bottom. I’ve said this a lot this week, but of course this album is also over an hour long. I’m wearing that sentence out, as well as this follow up sentence. The worst albums always insist on being over an hour long. Now, the hits on this album, notably “Freak On a Leash” and “Got the Life”… I don’t even really actually hate them. I think they’re ok songs at best. Not great, but not outright terrible. Giving the edge to “Freak On a Leash” for my favorite song on the album, as it’s the one from Follow The Leader that I heard the most growing up. Let’s talk about these 2 cameo songs for a second though. Oh my God, Fred Durst on “All In the Family” is one of the most unintentionally funny combos you could have put on this album. What a song that could only possibly exist in the late 90’s. To think there was a time when anyone took these guys seriously is unthinkable. It’s an entire song about both singers trash talking each other bragging about how they have a better band. Complete with all the 90’s edge you’d expect, such as threatening to kill each other, discussing shlong sizes, and insinuating that the other is gay. What a novel concept. And then, you’ve got “Children of the Korn (feat. Ice Cube)” which is equally as hilarious. I don’t know how Korn pulled Ice Cube for one of these songs, put he’s not terrible on them, it’s just very funny hearing him in any capacity on this album. Trying to rap with eldritch screeching going on is, well, it’s something unique for certain. So yeah, this album is downright dreadful. It’s a 1 star, but I loved this awful shit growing up, and I just can’t hate it now unfortunately. I acknowledge how bad it is, and still give it a 3 out of personal enjoyment, because it got a hell of a laugh out of me today, and that’s all I was expecting from it.

JL : 2, B.B.K.

After listening to this, I've become a domestic abuser of 5 women and owe them all child support by default.

So of course it's awful - let's get that out of the way. 1998 was a crazy time. I guess it made sense that grunge and hip hop were the coolest new things so they were destined to be combined. Why didn't it work? I guess because of bands like Korn. Whenever he's doing horny cartoon character homina homina voices I absolutely love it. The features are very fun too - love when Fred Durst shows up and they do a weird staged rap battle that starts with "too bad, I got your beans in my bag" and then turns into them using homophobic slurs, I was not necessarily supportive but I was definitely entertained. Very confusing bit though both of them start to turn homoerotic so I was like oh they're actually commenting on it, then they end on a "just kidding wouldn't that be weird if we were gay" note so I think they're cowards. It did contain an early Austin Powers reference though so I liked that. Also bringing in Ice Cube to rap about how parents shouldn't tell us where we can skate - really sums up Korn's ethos.

some truly terrible gutter trash noise that occasionally veers into laugh out loud territory in its absurdity. this album materially worsened my mood with its uniform energy but I'm glad to see that some edgy 90s kids enjoyed their time here. 1.5/5

Yeah, it's fucking bad.

Uninteresting, juvenile lyrics. Are there actual songs here? Or just excuses to make sounds (only some of which are interesting, tbh). 1.5?

7/10

Great start, and "Freak on a Leash" has held up well over time. But this album is probably 15 minutes too long, with far too many songs in the middle and end that slow down in tempo and lose me. And I'm giving a half-star deduction for the "black orgasm" lyric.

The first half of the album is great and could be a 5-star EP, but the second half falls off precipitously to the point of costing 2 full stars.

Einfach iconic. Schon einfach weird aber geil. Slapped nach fast 30 Jahren ( :O ) immernoch genauso 4.5-5/5

beach music

I'm assuming they used the same drum technician as Metallica for this one? Really getting that metal bin sound nailed

This is somewhere between bad and terrible. Mostly it is derivative and uninteresting. Power cords/distortion/pounding drums/guttural vocals. A lot of it is intentionally grunge adjacent. Some of it embraces the metal/rap crossover that was in vogue at the time but largely unsuccessfully. There are a few tracks where the guitar playing approaches “kind of good I guess.” This wasn’t good then and time and distance do it no favors, although I suppose actual distance would help.

I don't think so.

are you kidding me I don't have time for this BS

When I was younger I remember Korn being around, but I was never really into them. Turns out I wasn’t really missing anything - this one sucked.

Holy shit—I think I’m discovering a new love. Thrash, metal. Wowza

It’s crazy to me that nu metal became a thing. At first listen it’s like that’s kind of cool, but then they do the same thing over and over. Nothing of meaning or value comes from this.

Fuck I liked it more than I thought I would.