Follow The Leader - Korn

Korn
Follow The Leader

KORN
Follow The Leader
Compact Disc (2003) Album

The cover displays an intriguing piece of artwork. The back of a small blonde girl wearing a red dress teeters at the edge of a path jutting off a cliffs edge. The path has markings in white of a hop-scotch game to which she is about to step off the number 9 and off the cliff edge into certain death. She leads a long trail of ...
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Korn and Follow The Leader are labelled in their reversal of letters style with the R of KORN and LEADER.

I bought this for £14.99 when it came out in 2003. It retails in HMV and VIRGIN music stores for around £12 if they have any. It seems rare in most music shops these days.

Korn are the most successfull Rap Metal band to date. Only Limp Bizkit have a bigger profile because they were chosen to do the Mission ... more

Korn
Follow The Leader

KORN
Follow The Leader
Compact Disc (2003) Album

The cover displays an intriguing piece of artwork. The back of a small blonde girl wearing a red dress teeters at the edge of a path jutting off a cliffs edge. The path has markings in white of a hop-scotch game to which she is about to step off the number 9 and off the cliff edge into certain death. She leads a long trail of children to the same fate. This convoy stretches back towards the back of the cd and the same depiction is on the inside of the cd inlay. A reference to the "Pied Piper of Hamlin", probably who led the children away from the parents when they refused to pay him for his enchanting music. (a fairy tale).

The drab and bleak colours of the scene are contrasted with the bright red dress of the little girl. Almost suggestive of a hypnotic charming or seduction of the children. Leading them into oblivion.

A sticker is on the front cover which tells us "featuring GOT THE LIFE, BBK, CHILDREN OF THE KORN, featuring ICE CUBE"

The disc itself is black coloured, featuring a faded rendering of the scene on the cover. The tracks are listed around the circumference of the cd disc.

Korn and Follow The Leader are labelled in their reversal of letters style with the R of KORN and LEADER.

I bought this for £14.99 when it came out in 2003. It retails in HMV and VIRGIN music stores for around £12 if they have any. It seems rare in most music shops these days.

Korn are the most successfull Rap Metal band to date. Only Limp Bizkit have a bigger profile because they were chosen to do the Mission Impossible 2 Theme for the Tom Cruise movie sequel. This led to greater exposure to the mainstream audience. Jonathan Davies did write and produce the music for the movie Queen of the Damned though. But Korn are easily the more talented and prolific band.

Korn's abstract blend of hip hop and metal was the pioneering force behind what later became the watered down commercial pap that is nu metal. Their original yet bizarre style of rap metal, borrowed from the influences of bands like RUN DMC and FAITH NO MORE, led the way for a new expression of what could be called "PAIN METAL"- as the lead singer Jonathan Davies vocalises as if undergoing some deep emotional torment.

His unique kind of "SUFFERING METAL", spawned a copycat avalanche of mimics who tried and failed to express pain and anger in the way Jonathan could. But the sheer artistic brilliance and musicality of his talents lie within his ability to take his pain (he was a victim of child abuse), and inject the anguish and malignancy of it into his music.

This album is no different. But the style of expression in this outing is more Rap than Metal. It includes a thumping track with the legendary band N.W.A's, (Negroes With Attitude / No White boys Allowed) Ice Cube.

This fusion of arguably Hip Hop's best rapper with Korn's lead vocalist, create an explosion of bass driven dynamic attitude in " CHILDREN OF THE KORN". An eclectic mix of styles that create a new hybrid style of metal that no other band has been able to emulate. (And many do try!)

"IT'S ON" is basically a musical intro to the album's first track with a hip-hop composition of bizarre sounds and guitar feedback effects that continue through the album.

"FREAK ON THE LEASH", in my opinion, is the best track on the album. Their music video won an award. The song is descriptive of what Korn are all about:
off the wall, off beat, off centre, bizarre, angst and anguish, anger and pain with stomping drum and bass powered turbulence. Dynamic, distorted and lowered guitar play make this catchy riff bound track a pleasure to listen and mosh out to. It's more mainstream sounding melody isn't frowned upon, but adds a nice "icing to the weird fruitcake" that is Korn.

"GOT THE LIFE" has the most mainstream appeal. It's like a metal dance tune. The rhythm is not indicative of hip hop or metal but features a catchy dance drumbeat that, although you think it shouldn't, works amazing well with the metal sounds. A very unique track. Very experimental and enjoyable to listen to. I like this a lot, but metal purists (like myself) may not.

"B.B.K" and "PRETTY" are hard-hitting and typical of Korn's amazing gift to fuse sound and beats, lowered guitar and rhythm. Very inventive musically.

The other tracks are great also. "ALL IN THE FAMILY", and "JUSTIN", are humorous witty and are more of a dialogue of expletive conversation of rival lead vocalists (Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit) than a song. Almost like a limerick.

"RECLAIM MY PLACE", also offers an unusual commentary. In fact the rest of the tracks are more like an emotional voiceover to the music. Sometimes the swearing in some of the lyrics seems distracting from the music. Other times it seems appropriate.

There are only a few bands who of late, have managed to create new, fresh and distinctive sounds of their own and keep their music sounding that way. Wading through the army of imitators who try to capture Korn's sound is an exercise in futility. But that's what happens when something everyone seems to like comes along. It spawns a breed of replicant bands. Evanescence, Nightwish, Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil, Linkin Park, Disturbed, Muse and KORN are the only mainstream bands that have been true pioneers in mixing and inventing music styles of late.

This album is an unusual blend of sound, pain, anger, attitude and heavy guitar.
An excellent addition to any heavy metaller's cd collection. Also a footnote in music history, as Korn led the way for others into the New Wave of Metal/ Rock Revival.

Korn are like the Jackie Chan of metal-where everyone tried to copy Bruce Lee, Jackie went in a different direction with Comedy Kung Fu. Thankfully, the misguided unholy duplication that is Nu-metal (the equivalent of bad Bruce Lee look-alike impersonator movies) has all but died. The vacancy now being filled by "RECYCLED METAL":

This being, bands who try to sound like 80's metal bands in their sophisticated technical guitar wizardry, but suffer from the immature boyish vocals of an adolescent, who wants so badly to sound butch-you almost feel sorry for him. Nu metal meets 80's metal (Trivium and Bullet for my Valentine being the better out of the crop).

Luckily, this revived interest in 80's rock/metal has resurrected the giant bands of the 70's and 80's into making a comeback. Iron Maiden, Whitesnake, Gun's and Roses have all come out of retirement /the woodwork to re-stake their claim in the land of the head banging guitar warrior. Korn can hold it's own amongst them due to their originality.

Because Korn are always reinventing themselves, they will undoubtedly surprise us with more experimental and exciting amalgamations in the future. I recommend Korn's Follow The Leader album, mainly because of it's birthing of fresh sounding inventive metal in this world of badly formulated, manufactured, plastic cloned sheep- shaped rock (boy) bands.

see joseph144exodus to buy an unblemished copy on ebay  

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