REVIEW: Korn, Follow the Leader (Immortal/Epic)
- Sean Eric McGill
Of all the interesting changes that we've seen in music in the nineties, Korn has been the one that has probably interested me the most. Sony marketed the band with the intriguing tag line of "Time to Vent", but nothing would have prepared me for what I heard on the album. I've often said that if Anthony Hopkins was the personification of evil in Silence of the Lambs, then Korn's sound on their debut was the personification of pure anger, leaning heavily towards hatred. Needless to say, I liked it a lot.
Then came 1996's Life Is Peachy , which clocked in at number three on my own top five that year. And while I did like it as much as I did the debut, I also noted that Korn should be careful to try the same structure a third time, lest they come to look like a one-trick pony of sorts.
So, I eagerly awaited Follow the Leader for a couple of reasons. One, I just wanted to hear some new Korn, and two, I wanted to see if my prophecy had come to pass. Well, it hasn't.
Of course, the album still sounds like Korn, but it's a different Korn sound - more experimental than in the past. With assists from Ice Cube, Tre Hardson from Pharcyde and Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit, Korn brings more of a - and I really hesitate to say this, but I can't think of how else to put it - hip-hop sound to the album. Nowhere is this more evident than on "Cameltosis", which features Hardson solo through most of the verses over a rolling bassline, just begging from someone to take an 808 to it and turn it into a remix.
Ice Cube's contribution, "Children of the Korn" is a passable attempt to meld the two genres, but it doesn't seem to progress much farther than the catchy title. But with Cube going on the road with Korn for their "Family Values" tour this fall, it should be interesting to see what other collaborations the two can come up with.
But perhaps the most interesting is when Durst and Korn vocalist Jonathan Davis square off against one another on "All in the Family". Imagine the rap showdowns of the early eighties between the likes of Kool Moe Dee and others, but with guitars and a little more brutal, with shots being taken at each other's appearance and their respective talents. It's much more fun than similar tracks from Life is Peachy , where shock value was the key element to adding a lighter touch to the album.
More highlights on the album include "Pretty", which counts as the overt child abuse song on the album, or, as a friend of mine puts it the "someone touched my area" song. If you heard the first two albums, you know that child abuse played a major role in the lyrical content, and perhaps Jonathan Davis can be believed when he said in a recent interview that he has "exorcised a lot of demons" on the first two albums. This album is certainly more engaging musically than the previous two, partly due to the wealth of experimentation the band uses in getting their music across.
Other tracks of note include the first single "Got the Life", the epic closer "My Gift to You" and my own personal favorite "Reclaim My Place". And don't stop the CD after "My Gift to You", otherwise you'll miss Korn's version of "Earache My Eye" - complete with guest vocals from Cheech Marin.
Follow the Leader is Korn's best effort to date, and the perfect way to bring what has been an absolutely brutal summer to a close.
