For those who are (somehow) unfamiliar with KoRn, they defined an entire generation of people with their gritty, raw, and emotional music that touched on topics considered too disturbing to talk about. Not only did KoRn open up the doors for some difficult conversations, they gave troubled kids and adults alike music to help them cope with their pasts; to know they weren't alone. But, of course, this is only part of what KoRn is known for.
KoRn is best known for sparking one of the great debates of music with a very simple dilemma: is "Nu-Metal" metal? The answer is (obviously) YES! However "true metal" enthusiasts didn't want to accept this more modern sound as a form of metal; trying to paint nu-metal as some sort of horrific hybrid not fit for consumption. What is clear is that the vast majority of people didn't agree and KoRn became one of the most popular bands in history.
With a catalog of music that runs eleven albums deep, plus a ton of guest appearances and various artist additions, it can seem a little intimidating when you're trying to figure out where to get started. Allow me to assist you with a list, from best to worst, of what I believe to be KoRn's best albums...
01. KoRn - Issues (1999)
The follow-up to Follow The Leader had an impossible task: try to top an untoppable album. KoRn were already living legends, riding the wave of one of the biggest "breaks" in metal history (regardless of what stupid sub-category you want to put it in). KoRn had not only arrived, they took over. But they were no longer alone. Slipknot released their self-titled LP the same year and launched themselves through the crack that KoRn had created in the mainstream music industry. Issues needed to be good not only to keep KoRn's ride on top of the industry going but to battle against the numerous hungry young contenders to their self-made throne.
On a personal note, this is one of the albums that got me into music to begin with. "Falling Away From Me", the second most recognizable video from the band, absolutely floored me. As a kid who had been bullied and tormented for his entire life, it was as if I had found the soundtrack to my very existence. While KoRn did choose this album to release some of the worst music videos I have ever seen in my life, the quality of the music still managed to overcome that blunder. Deep, dark, catchy, and hypnotic, Issues is a mental disorder in musical form and one of the most fulfilling musical experiences of my life. This album solidified it, in 1999 KoRn was still on top, but how long could they possibly stay there?
02. Korn - KoRn (1994)
The first album of any band is always considered a classic but whether that is in the "can't miss" or "best left in the past" kind of way is generally up for debate. For KoRn's self titled album there is no debate, KoRn hit home with the troubled youths of society and anyone with heavy internal struggles regardless of age. It is hard to think of an album that has such a niche topic but such a universal appeal. Sure, the soccer moms and grandparents of the world thought it was noise (and probably still do) but they thought that about anything the "youngins" listened to.
For a band that has made a career of talking about issues that most swept under the rug, they became well known for invoking emotions within people. In terms of performances, however, their self titled album is by far their most emotional in terms of delivery. Frontman Jonathon Davis actually breaks down crying at the end of the final song on the album and to this day it is surreal to hear. The aggression, the point blank delivery, the complex but relatable topics, it all makes for an unforgettable experience. Add that funky, bass heavy sound into the mix and consider that Davis is one of the most dynamic vocalists you'll ever hear and it is easy to understand why this is still considered one of the best albums ever released. No, not just in KoRn's discography, in the entire history of music.
03. KoRn - Follow The Leader (1998)
KoRn already had a following and it was getting pretty big but the poor reception of Life Is Peachy had a lot of people hesitating about the future of the band. In one of the biggest 180s in music history, KoRn delivered what many consider to be their crowning achievement. Follow The Leader has a groovy sound that delighted mainstream fans mixed with the same dark subject matter that hit home with people to begin with. Follow The Leader didn't sound like a band selling out, it sounded like a band perfecting their craft that also happened to become insanely popular.
Nearly every track on Follow The Leader is a homerun but it was one of the most unlikely tracks that became absolutely iconic. Freak On A Leash, while a very solid track, was probably among the bottom half of the offerings on the album...until the slow-motion bullet time music video launched it to untold heights. Even people who don't like KoRn (if you can imagine that) can easily identify Freak On A Leash, which is a testament to how huge KoRn became following the release of Follow The Leader. Despite my opinions of which KoRn album is the "best", there is no denying that Follow The Leader is the one that MADE KoRn in the mainstream.
04. KoRn - See You On The Other Side (2005)
KoRn was in decline, in fact a lot of people would have wagered that their creativity was gone and their careers were over. Then, out of left field, came an absolutely twisted but completely refreshing sound. It was clear that on their last release, Take A Look In The Mirror, they had caved to the criticism from their fanbase and eliminated nearly all of the digital elements to their music. It was a disaster. This time they decided to flip the finger to those critics and went back in the direction they had started with Untouchables...except to an entirely new extreme.
See You On The Other Side is a genuine musical journey, you're whipped this way and that like a mental rollercoaster but you'll love every moment of the ride's insanity. The innovators of nu-metal were back to innovating and they transcended criticism by releasing an album so good that no one cared what the critics thought. KoRn rebounded their career, proving they still had a lot of creative energy, but people were still reeling from past failures and KoRn was still struggling to keep among the top of the pack.
05. KoRn - KoRn III: Remember Who You Are (2010)
After 15 years as the token metal representative in mainstream culture, KoRn was beginning to feel nostalgic. Either that or the endless voices of people pleading them to return to the sound of their earliest albums had finally worn them down. Maybe it was a mix of both. No matter the reason why, KoRn got a lot of press to talk about a return to the basics, removing all of the additional effects they had come to rely on and letting the instruments themselves tell the musical story.
While not a critical success (in fact, this is one of their lowest selling albums ever), fans who missed the crunching bass and funky beats were given that old school sound that they had been craving for nearly ten years. As a bigger fan of KoRn's earlier material I admit that the nostalgia probably has a lot to do with how much I enjoy the album but that is only because they delivered all of the things I used to love about their older material without trying to directly rip it off. KoRn III easily sounds like it could have come after Life Is Peachy and not feel out of place. It may not be full of hit singles but it is a solid listen from beginning to end, probably the most consistent of the entire KoRn discography.
06. KoRn - KoRn II [Untitled] (2007)
Once again the musical landscape was changing and KoRn had another uphill battle to contend with, not only was their own popularity beginning to plateau but nu-metal itself was in quick decline. Slipknot had bolstered the genre during the time that KoRn was struggling to find a new identity but even Slipknot was falling out of the public eye. KoRn had to remind people that, even though they weren't the same band they were when they began, they were still releasing material worth checking out. The marketing campaign was put heavily behind the track "Evolution" and it worked.
KoRn II sold on a similar scale to See You On The Other Side, meaning that even if they weren't growing the fanbase at the very least they weren't falling into the obscurity that so many others were. KoRn II sounds like a natural continuation of See You On The Other Side, sounding a lot cleaner but also a lot less ballsy. KoRn didn't have anything to prove on this album, they were already an established group and had made the biggest statement about their new direction that they were going to make with See You On The Other Side. While KoRn II is a solid effort with some catchy tracks, the energy that had made KoRn a force to begin with was noticeably absent and many early fans of the band began to abandon ship.
07. KoRn - Untouchables (2002)
A lot can change in three years, especially in a music genre quickly flooding with talent (or, perhaps more appropriately, "talent"). Slipknot were the new kings; Limp Bizkit was riding high; and Mudvayne, Static-X, KiTTie, among other new bands were flooding the nu-metal scene. Even established acts like Marilyn Manson were having their music labeled within this growing genre. KoRn were no longer the young guys making an impact, after four albums they were the established guard that had to swim or perish.
It is said that KoRn completed an album only to completely scrap it and go in a different direction. Untouchables was that new direction. Everything was riding on the success of one song, "Here To Stay", and it was met with a mixed but mostly positive reception. A lot of KoRn's diehard fans were happy to hear them continuing to innovate and were willing to accept that their new sound meant a new direction...but others weren't so kind. While Untouchables was still considered a success, the split within KoRn's fanbase was sudden and obvious. Many angry voices complained about the over-production of the album, that KoRn wasn't even a band anymore because their new sound was defined so heavily by digitized elements. Funny that it has since become a favorite among many KoRn listeners (even if it isn't among my own).
08. KoRn - Life Is Peachy (1996)
Much like their original release, the impact of the second KoRn album also wasn't up for debate...it was a massive disappointment. Life Is Peachy isn't a terrible album and it does grow on you with time but it didn't live up to the lofty expectations the first album created. For one, it was a lot more abstract and creates an uglier overall experience than their first release. It also didn't help that the band, admittedly, rushed nearly every element of the album. Recent remasters have fixed a lot of these problems, almost entirely for the better, but the shoddy quality was a massive issue for people who grabbed copies of the original album.
Despite having one of KoRn's best known tracks (A.D.I.D.A.S.), Life Is Peachy didn't have many 'single' quality tracks and this left people feeling a bit empty about it all. Had KoRn not taken the world by storm as they did and had they not had the weight of mainstream expectations upon them then Life Is Peachy likely wouldn't have received nearly as much hate from the listening audience. In fact, history has somewhat rewritten these days as Life Is Peachy is just considered another flavor of the KoRn experience rather than the catastrophic trainwreck it was once viewed as. Overall, if you're into the darker elements of KoRn more than the catchy singles then there is still a lot to enjoy here.
09. KoRn - The Paradigm Shift (2013)
If KoRn III was a throwback to the early days of KoRn then The Paradigm Shift is a throwback to KoRn's entire discography. If nothing else, the chorus lines on The Paradigm Shift are some of the best KoRn has ever produced but the mixture of time periods has an unintended consequence: you really need to be a fan of KoRn's entire discography to enjoy this entire album. Even so, old fans and new fans alike will find a lot to love.
Songs like "Punishment Time" and "Paranoid & Aroused" are all testaments to how good KoRn can be at writing music without needing a ton of gimmicks. To be fair, "Never Never" is also pretty good and a natural mainstream hit. I don't think this album was attempting to bring in new fans, I think it was more a celebration of everything KoRn for those who already bought into the hype long ago. Definitely not the place to start if you're just checking out KoRn for the first time but a good consolidation of a dynamic career all in one place.
10. KoRn - The Path Of Totality (2011)
No one can ever say that KoRn isn't willing to take risks and attaching themselves to the flavor of the moment was certainly an unexpected risk. Dubstep and metal weren't genres that people tended to associate with one another, but KoRn saw the potential in the hybrid and went the whole way with it. They brought on well known dubstep artists to provide the sounds and put a KoRn spin on them.
The results are...ok. Yeah, that's about it. Once you get by the initial shock and awe of what you're listening to, it isn't something that draws you back for additional listens. It doesn't help that "Chaos Lives In Everything" sounds like a reworked "No One's There" (off of Untouchables) while trying to pass itself off as something new and that most of these songs wouldn't have received any play time if it weren't for the association with KoRn. That said, Narcissistic Cannibal is the perfect example of the potential that a metal/dubstep combo can have but mostly it seems to be the one exception to an otherwise failed experiment. Still, it was clear that KoRn wasn't ready to fade off into the sunset yet and still had some fight left.
11. KoRn - Take A Look In The Mirror (2003)
I considered just putting "It's terrible" as the entire review but I suppose that wouldn't be very fair. After Untouchables began a downward slope for the band, KoRn was looking for a way to regain relevance. In a risky maneuver, instead of trying to continue innovating in completely new directions they instead tried to move more in the direction of popular bands of the time. This is the only KoRn album to heavily feature "growling" and thankfully so.
Davis' voice sounds fine, his growly vocals aren't terrible by any means, but the problem is that there was no good reason for this album to exist. KoRn were doing a fine job of being pioneers and their attempt to appeal to the more aggressive music of the time sounded very uncomfortable for them. The music doesn't flow well, relies heavily on repetition, and the overall product is just a disaster. Take A Look In The Mirror is for diehard KoRn fans only and even then I'd recommend against it.
KoRn is best known for sparking one of the great debates of music with a very simple dilemma: is "Nu-Metal" metal? The answer is (obviously) YES! However "true metal" enthusiasts didn't want to accept this more modern sound as a form of metal; trying to paint nu-metal as some sort of horrific hybrid not fit for consumption. What is clear is that the vast majority of people didn't agree and KoRn became one of the most popular bands in history.
With a catalog of music that runs eleven albums deep, plus a ton of guest appearances and various artist additions, it can seem a little intimidating when you're trying to figure out where to get started. Allow me to assist you with a list, from best to worst, of what I believe to be KoRn's best albums...
01. KoRn - Issues (1999)
The follow-up to Follow The Leader had an impossible task: try to top an untoppable album. KoRn were already living legends, riding the wave of one of the biggest "breaks" in metal history (regardless of what stupid sub-category you want to put it in). KoRn had not only arrived, they took over. But they were no longer alone. Slipknot released their self-titled LP the same year and launched themselves through the crack that KoRn had created in the mainstream music industry. Issues needed to be good not only to keep KoRn's ride on top of the industry going but to battle against the numerous hungry young contenders to their self-made throne.
On a personal note, this is one of the albums that got me into music to begin with. "Falling Away From Me", the second most recognizable video from the band, absolutely floored me. As a kid who had been bullied and tormented for his entire life, it was as if I had found the soundtrack to my very existence. While KoRn did choose this album to release some of the worst music videos I have ever seen in my life, the quality of the music still managed to overcome that blunder. Deep, dark, catchy, and hypnotic, Issues is a mental disorder in musical form and one of the most fulfilling musical experiences of my life. This album solidified it, in 1999 KoRn was still on top, but how long could they possibly stay there?
02. Korn - KoRn (1994)
The first album of any band is always considered a classic but whether that is in the "can't miss" or "best left in the past" kind of way is generally up for debate. For KoRn's self titled album there is no debate, KoRn hit home with the troubled youths of society and anyone with heavy internal struggles regardless of age. It is hard to think of an album that has such a niche topic but such a universal appeal. Sure, the soccer moms and grandparents of the world thought it was noise (and probably still do) but they thought that about anything the "youngins" listened to.
For a band that has made a career of talking about issues that most swept under the rug, they became well known for invoking emotions within people. In terms of performances, however, their self titled album is by far their most emotional in terms of delivery. Frontman Jonathon Davis actually breaks down crying at the end of the final song on the album and to this day it is surreal to hear. The aggression, the point blank delivery, the complex but relatable topics, it all makes for an unforgettable experience. Add that funky, bass heavy sound into the mix and consider that Davis is one of the most dynamic vocalists you'll ever hear and it is easy to understand why this is still considered one of the best albums ever released. No, not just in KoRn's discography, in the entire history of music.
03. KoRn - Follow The Leader (1998)
KoRn already had a following and it was getting pretty big but the poor reception of Life Is Peachy had a lot of people hesitating about the future of the band. In one of the biggest 180s in music history, KoRn delivered what many consider to be their crowning achievement. Follow The Leader has a groovy sound that delighted mainstream fans mixed with the same dark subject matter that hit home with people to begin with. Follow The Leader didn't sound like a band selling out, it sounded like a band perfecting their craft that also happened to become insanely popular.
Nearly every track on Follow The Leader is a homerun but it was one of the most unlikely tracks that became absolutely iconic. Freak On A Leash, while a very solid track, was probably among the bottom half of the offerings on the album...until the slow-motion bullet time music video launched it to untold heights. Even people who don't like KoRn (if you can imagine that) can easily identify Freak On A Leash, which is a testament to how huge KoRn became following the release of Follow The Leader. Despite my opinions of which KoRn album is the "best", there is no denying that Follow The Leader is the one that MADE KoRn in the mainstream.
04. KoRn - See You On The Other Side (2005)
KoRn was in decline, in fact a lot of people would have wagered that their creativity was gone and their careers were over. Then, out of left field, came an absolutely twisted but completely refreshing sound. It was clear that on their last release, Take A Look In The Mirror, they had caved to the criticism from their fanbase and eliminated nearly all of the digital elements to their music. It was a disaster. This time they decided to flip the finger to those critics and went back in the direction they had started with Untouchables...except to an entirely new extreme.
See You On The Other Side is a genuine musical journey, you're whipped this way and that like a mental rollercoaster but you'll love every moment of the ride's insanity. The innovators of nu-metal were back to innovating and they transcended criticism by releasing an album so good that no one cared what the critics thought. KoRn rebounded their career, proving they still had a lot of creative energy, but people were still reeling from past failures and KoRn was still struggling to keep among the top of the pack.
05. KoRn - KoRn III: Remember Who You Are (2010)
After 15 years as the token metal representative in mainstream culture, KoRn was beginning to feel nostalgic. Either that or the endless voices of people pleading them to return to the sound of their earliest albums had finally worn them down. Maybe it was a mix of both. No matter the reason why, KoRn got a lot of press to talk about a return to the basics, removing all of the additional effects they had come to rely on and letting the instruments themselves tell the musical story.
While not a critical success (in fact, this is one of their lowest selling albums ever), fans who missed the crunching bass and funky beats were given that old school sound that they had been craving for nearly ten years. As a bigger fan of KoRn's earlier material I admit that the nostalgia probably has a lot to do with how much I enjoy the album but that is only because they delivered all of the things I used to love about their older material without trying to directly rip it off. KoRn III easily sounds like it could have come after Life Is Peachy and not feel out of place. It may not be full of hit singles but it is a solid listen from beginning to end, probably the most consistent of the entire KoRn discography.
06. KoRn - KoRn II [Untitled] (2007)
Once again the musical landscape was changing and KoRn had another uphill battle to contend with, not only was their own popularity beginning to plateau but nu-metal itself was in quick decline. Slipknot had bolstered the genre during the time that KoRn was struggling to find a new identity but even Slipknot was falling out of the public eye. KoRn had to remind people that, even though they weren't the same band they were when they began, they were still releasing material worth checking out. The marketing campaign was put heavily behind the track "Evolution" and it worked.
KoRn II sold on a similar scale to See You On The Other Side, meaning that even if they weren't growing the fanbase at the very least they weren't falling into the obscurity that so many others were. KoRn II sounds like a natural continuation of See You On The Other Side, sounding a lot cleaner but also a lot less ballsy. KoRn didn't have anything to prove on this album, they were already an established group and had made the biggest statement about their new direction that they were going to make with See You On The Other Side. While KoRn II is a solid effort with some catchy tracks, the energy that had made KoRn a force to begin with was noticeably absent and many early fans of the band began to abandon ship.
07. KoRn - Untouchables (2002)
A lot can change in three years, especially in a music genre quickly flooding with talent (or, perhaps more appropriately, "talent"). Slipknot were the new kings; Limp Bizkit was riding high; and Mudvayne, Static-X, KiTTie, among other new bands were flooding the nu-metal scene. Even established acts like Marilyn Manson were having their music labeled within this growing genre. KoRn were no longer the young guys making an impact, after four albums they were the established guard that had to swim or perish.
It is said that KoRn completed an album only to completely scrap it and go in a different direction. Untouchables was that new direction. Everything was riding on the success of one song, "Here To Stay", and it was met with a mixed but mostly positive reception. A lot of KoRn's diehard fans were happy to hear them continuing to innovate and were willing to accept that their new sound meant a new direction...but others weren't so kind. While Untouchables was still considered a success, the split within KoRn's fanbase was sudden and obvious. Many angry voices complained about the over-production of the album, that KoRn wasn't even a band anymore because their new sound was defined so heavily by digitized elements. Funny that it has since become a favorite among many KoRn listeners (even if it isn't among my own).
08. KoRn - Life Is Peachy (1996)
Much like their original release, the impact of the second KoRn album also wasn't up for debate...it was a massive disappointment. Life Is Peachy isn't a terrible album and it does grow on you with time but it didn't live up to the lofty expectations the first album created. For one, it was a lot more abstract and creates an uglier overall experience than their first release. It also didn't help that the band, admittedly, rushed nearly every element of the album. Recent remasters have fixed a lot of these problems, almost entirely for the better, but the shoddy quality was a massive issue for people who grabbed copies of the original album.
Despite having one of KoRn's best known tracks (A.D.I.D.A.S.), Life Is Peachy didn't have many 'single' quality tracks and this left people feeling a bit empty about it all. Had KoRn not taken the world by storm as they did and had they not had the weight of mainstream expectations upon them then Life Is Peachy likely wouldn't have received nearly as much hate from the listening audience. In fact, history has somewhat rewritten these days as Life Is Peachy is just considered another flavor of the KoRn experience rather than the catastrophic trainwreck it was once viewed as. Overall, if you're into the darker elements of KoRn more than the catchy singles then there is still a lot to enjoy here.
09. KoRn - The Paradigm Shift (2013)
If KoRn III was a throwback to the early days of KoRn then The Paradigm Shift is a throwback to KoRn's entire discography. If nothing else, the chorus lines on The Paradigm Shift are some of the best KoRn has ever produced but the mixture of time periods has an unintended consequence: you really need to be a fan of KoRn's entire discography to enjoy this entire album. Even so, old fans and new fans alike will find a lot to love.
Songs like "Punishment Time" and "Paranoid & Aroused" are all testaments to how good KoRn can be at writing music without needing a ton of gimmicks. To be fair, "Never Never" is also pretty good and a natural mainstream hit. I don't think this album was attempting to bring in new fans, I think it was more a celebration of everything KoRn for those who already bought into the hype long ago. Definitely not the place to start if you're just checking out KoRn for the first time but a good consolidation of a dynamic career all in one place.
10. KoRn - The Path Of Totality (2011)
No one can ever say that KoRn isn't willing to take risks and attaching themselves to the flavor of the moment was certainly an unexpected risk. Dubstep and metal weren't genres that people tended to associate with one another, but KoRn saw the potential in the hybrid and went the whole way with it. They brought on well known dubstep artists to provide the sounds and put a KoRn spin on them.
The results are...ok. Yeah, that's about it. Once you get by the initial shock and awe of what you're listening to, it isn't something that draws you back for additional listens. It doesn't help that "Chaos Lives In Everything" sounds like a reworked "No One's There" (off of Untouchables) while trying to pass itself off as something new and that most of these songs wouldn't have received any play time if it weren't for the association with KoRn. That said, Narcissistic Cannibal is the perfect example of the potential that a metal/dubstep combo can have but mostly it seems to be the one exception to an otherwise failed experiment. Still, it was clear that KoRn wasn't ready to fade off into the sunset yet and still had some fight left.
11. KoRn - Take A Look In The Mirror (2003)
I considered just putting "It's terrible" as the entire review but I suppose that wouldn't be very fair. After Untouchables began a downward slope for the band, KoRn was looking for a way to regain relevance. In a risky maneuver, instead of trying to continue innovating in completely new directions they instead tried to move more in the direction of popular bands of the time. This is the only KoRn album to heavily feature "growling" and thankfully so.
Davis' voice sounds fine, his growly vocals aren't terrible by any means, but the problem is that there was no good reason for this album to exist. KoRn were doing a fine job of being pioneers and their attempt to appeal to the more aggressive music of the time sounded very uncomfortable for them. The music doesn't flow well, relies heavily on repetition, and the overall product is just a disaster. Take A Look In The Mirror is for diehard KoRn fans only and even then I'd recommend against it.
