by antiGUY
If this album had been released 12 to 18
months earlier it would have been a runaway hit but now the nu-metal trend
is growing a little long in the tooth and most of those who pick up this
CD will do so because they love the music not because they are the current
“cool” band. Korn has been around for quite a few years and in the beginning
they were more of an underground band, but when they broke big, they helped
pave the way for the nu-metal movement of the late 90’s. The Korn of old
were rebellious against the mainstream, they wanted to do things their
own way and ironically that attitude helped them create a popular music
movement and became the mainstream themselves. That must keep Jonathon
Davis up nights scratching his head wondering what went wrong.
With “Untouchables” Korn do not make any
major departures from their core sound, it is just more evolved. At times
this CD rocks harder than anything they have done before and at others
it is more melodic than their previous work. Some people will never give
the band an honest chance since they are considered one of the key originators
of the much hated “nu metal” movement of the past few years. But it has
to be pointed out that there have been a lot of imitators who tried to
cash in on Korn’s success but none can pull off the music like the original.
I have a sneaking suspicion that if Korn hadn’t enjoyed such phenomenal
success a few years back, people would be praising this CD and the band.
Take away all the baggage and preconceived
notions and you are left with a pretty solid album. Yes the subject matter
is dark and we get to vicariously deal with Jonathon Davis’ demons but
at the heart of the matter Korn is still the best at what they do and even
go much farther than most of their copycats. Their mix of melodic vocal
lines, grumbling downtuned guitars mixed with semi-industrial flavors is
part of what put them where they are today. People were looking for something
heavy to counter all the insipid pop music that was ruling the airwaves
and they turned to Korn because the band did have a lot to offer kindred
souls who couldn’t buy into the sugarcoated sentiments of pop music, related
to the heavy emotions evoked from the dark and somber music Korn produced.
But unlike Limp Bizkit who burst into the mainstream about the same time,
it wasn’t an act or a calculated stab at selling CD’s. Korn just did what
they wanted because they wanted to do it. They may have walked a little
off the path with their last album, having the pressure of living up to
the hype and their new found success but with “Untouchables” they seem
to want to return to a sound closer to their roots, having tasted the forbidden
fruit of the mainstream and finding it lacking.
Now would be a good time to give Korn a
second chance, while “Untouchables” isn’t their best album to date, it
is far better than the music produced by the bands that followed in Korn’s
footsteps. I know some will never take the plunge and will stick to their
“Korn sucks!” stance but for those with a more open mind, you should give
them another chance, you might just like what you find. To the diehard
fans this album may get a mixed reaction but it does pretty much stay true
to the Korn formula and we get to see where the band is now, having lived
through the hype and the spotlight. Now that they aren’t the automatic
chart toppers they had been in the past, it will be interesting to see
what they do next but until then we have “Untouchables” to gauge where
Korn is at today, and it’s not too bad of a place.
CD Info
Korn
– Untouchables
Label: Epic
Rating:  
Tracks:
Here To Stay
Make Believe
Blame
Hollow Life
Bottled Up Inside
Thoughtless
Hating
One More Time
Alone I Break
Embrace
Beat It Upright
Wake Up Hate
I'm Hiding
No One's There
Here To Stay - (remix, hidden track) |
Listen
to samples and Purchase this CD online
|
Want More On Korn
tell
a friend about this article
|
