Prior to receiving an advance copy of Korn’s latest release
\nFollow The Leader<\/i>, I had never heard the band before. (Yes,
\n’tis a sheltered life I lead.) All I knew about the band were the
\nrather nasty posts I’ve read about them in some of the metal
\nnewsgroups, calling them “poseurs” and other rather unflattering
\nnames.<\/p>\n
Four words:
\n
\nshut the fuck up.<\/i>
\n<\/b>
\nFollow The Leader<\/i> proves that music can be fun to listen to,
\nand you can hear the joy in the irreverent performances and
\nattitudes that make up this disc.<\/p>\n
After the twelve tracks of nothing but silence (each one lasting
\nfive seconds), Korn – vocalist Jonathan Davis, guitarists James
\n“Munky” Shaffer and Brian “Head” Welch, bassist Fieldy and drummer
\nDavid – kick out the jams in an unbelievable fashion with “It’s
\nOn!” For almost the remainder of the album, Korn refuses to let up,
\nand keeps the listener interested in each new chapter that
\nunfolds.<\/p>\n
Davis might not be the greatest singer in the world, but his
\nunique style of vocals seems to blend right in with the style of
\nmusic that Korn plays. If you had to describe it,
\npunk-meets-metal-meets-hip-hop would be the best definition – and
\neven that would still be woefully inadequate.<\/p>\n
But no matter how you describe it or slice it,
\nFollow The Leader<\/i> is an obscenity-laced trip that is almost
\ntotally enjoyable. From songs featuring just the band (“Freak On A
\nLeash,” “Got The Life”) to guest spots (Ice Cube on “Children Of
\nThe Korn,” Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst on “All In The Family”), the
\nsheer intensity and power that Korn exude hits hard and repeatedly
\non the listener, making them wish it would never stop. The funky
\ninterlacing of the dual guitar lines and David’s frantic drumming
\nmake what sounds like a volatile mixture all the more special.<\/p>\n
However, near the end of the album, Korn’s power stagnates a
\nlittle bit. “Justin” and “Seed” don’t live up to the promise the
\nother songs on
\nFollow The Leader<\/i> deliver, while “Our Gift To You,” a strong
\nenough song as it is in the span of six minutes, loses a lot of its
\npower following a silent pause with random conversations and a
\nheavily-distorted rendition of “Earache My Eye,” featuring none
\nother than Cheech Marin on vocals.<\/p>\n
Still, a few weaker links refuse to break the chain for Korn,
\nand
\nFollow The Leader<\/i> is a better album because of the stronger,
\nintense tracks. Of course, this won’t mean much to the detractors
\nof the group whose rantings I read in newsgroups every day. My
\nadvice: sit down, crack open an Old Style or two, put this one on
\nat full volume, and give it a few listens. (Hell, it took me one
\nlisten to know this was a great album.) If you’re not liking it
\nafter three listens, you’re either in a nursing home or you’re
\ndead.<\/p>\n
\nFollow The Leader<\/i> is advice from Korn that is well worth
\nheeding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6187],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-39279","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-korn","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39279"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}