Raging against a korny single
Cameron Adams
November 30, 2003
US rock band Korn have quite a lot to answer for.
The main issue: nu metal. They are almost single-handedly responsible for inventing the genre with their mixture of dark, grinding funk rock ("metallic sludge" they called it) with lyrics full of pain, hate and self-loathing and bagpipes thrown in for good measure.
It is almost 10 years since Korn's self-titled debut wrote the blueprint for the genre, which exploded with a string of Korn-a-likes, most notably Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park plus b-listers such as Orgy and Crazy Town. With nu metal now a dirty word, it is a strange time for Korn to release their new album, Take a Look in the Mirror.
Their previous effort, Untouchables, saw their fan base decrease from the highs of 1998's Follow the Leader, 1999's Issues and hits such as Got the Life and Freak on a Leash.
Korn's front man Jonathan Davis and guitarist Munky think now is the perfect time to reintroduce Korn to the world's musical diet, especially after the pale imitations of recent years.
"It's flattering so many people ripped us off but I think we do something that no one else can do," Davis says. "I do think we ushered in that whole (nu metal) thing. They had to come up with a name for what we did and then what those other bands did but I think we're the only band who'll ride through this nu metal phase, much the way Metallica made it through the thrash metal thing.
"The originators seem to survive. We're just keeping on doing what we do. And there's not really anyone out there who does what we do . . . well." Take a Look in the Mirror is old-school Korn: by design.
"We went back to our roots," Munky says. "What we wanted to do when we first started Korn was make a band that was really heavy, with all the riffs and all the songs that would be a lot of fun to play live."
The band say Mirror's sound is a direct reaction to Untouchables. While Davis says he loves the album ("It's awesome, it's one of my favourites") it didn't work live.
"When we toured, the Untouchables songs were connecting well with the fans but they weren't translating well with us," Davis says.
"We didn't feel right playing them. It was the album we wanted to do but it was . . . I don't want to call it mellow . . . it was just different."
This time, however, there was more opinions about how Korn should sound than usual. Management and the record company came circling for a hit single to return the Korn's sales graph into the black.
The band's response can be found in the none-too-subtle album track Y'all Want a Single. Rest assured its shouted string of profanities won't have it coming to a radio near you any time soon.
"We'd try to write that song and it's like, 'F... this', says Davis. "You write a song and it's great and it goes on the radio and that's fine but you can't just sit down and write a single. So we got together and came up with that hook out of frustration."
Some have suggested after millions of album sales Davis must surely have fewer reasons to be angry. Not so.
"Oh f... yeah, there's a lot of anger in my life. No matter how good life gets there's still problems. It's always there, it doesn't go away. It's my way of venting all the s... that's going on around me. It builds up and I let it out when I'm in the studio.
"I just turn it on. I can get crazy pissed at any time at all."
Cameron Adams
November 30, 2003
US rock band Korn have quite a lot to answer for.
The main issue: nu metal. They are almost single-handedly responsible for inventing the genre with their mixture of dark, grinding funk rock ("metallic sludge" they called it) with lyrics full of pain, hate and self-loathing and bagpipes thrown in for good measure.
It is almost 10 years since Korn's self-titled debut wrote the blueprint for the genre, which exploded with a string of Korn-a-likes, most notably Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park plus b-listers such as Orgy and Crazy Town. With nu metal now a dirty word, it is a strange time for Korn to release their new album, Take a Look in the Mirror.
Their previous effort, Untouchables, saw their fan base decrease from the highs of 1998's Follow the Leader, 1999's Issues and hits such as Got the Life and Freak on a Leash.
Korn's front man Jonathan Davis and guitarist Munky think now is the perfect time to reintroduce Korn to the world's musical diet, especially after the pale imitations of recent years.
"It's flattering so many people ripped us off but I think we do something that no one else can do," Davis says. "I do think we ushered in that whole (nu metal) thing. They had to come up with a name for what we did and then what those other bands did but I think we're the only band who'll ride through this nu metal phase, much the way Metallica made it through the thrash metal thing.
"The originators seem to survive. We're just keeping on doing what we do. And there's not really anyone out there who does what we do . . . well." Take a Look in the Mirror is old-school Korn: by design.
"We went back to our roots," Munky says. "What we wanted to do when we first started Korn was make a band that was really heavy, with all the riffs and all the songs that would be a lot of fun to play live."
The band say Mirror's sound is a direct reaction to Untouchables. While Davis says he loves the album ("It's awesome, it's one of my favourites") it didn't work live.
"When we toured, the Untouchables songs were connecting well with the fans but they weren't translating well with us," Davis says.
"We didn't feel right playing them. It was the album we wanted to do but it was . . . I don't want to call it mellow . . . it was just different."
This time, however, there was more opinions about how Korn should sound than usual. Management and the record company came circling for a hit single to return the Korn's sales graph into the black.
The band's response can be found in the none-too-subtle album track Y'all Want a Single. Rest assured its shouted string of profanities won't have it coming to a radio near you any time soon.
"We'd try to write that song and it's like, 'F... this', says Davis. "You write a song and it's great and it goes on the radio and that's fine but you can't just sit down and write a single. So we got together and came up with that hook out of frustration."
Some have suggested after millions of album sales Davis must surely have fewer reasons to be angry. Not so.
"Oh f... yeah, there's a lot of anger in my life. No matter how good life gets there's still problems. It's always there, it doesn't go away. It's my way of venting all the s... that's going on around me. It builds up and I let it out when I'm in the studio.
"I just turn it on. I can get crazy pissed at any time at all."
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