KoRn main

Out of the small town of Bakersfield, 
California, in the early nineties, came 
a sound. A faint whisper at first, it 
grew in force and intensity with time, 
unhindered by the yapping mouths of 
politicians and parents alike. It rang in 
their ears. It plagued their minds. It 
genuinely terrified them. The voice, 
talking in low-tuned rhythmic tones, spoke 
for a generation that would have no more 
of modern America and its leaders. A 
generation fed-up with lies, violence and 
greed from their own society. It grew and 
grew as more and more people realized the 
veracity of its claims, and adhered to 
its cause. The politicians grew fearful, 
and attempted to end its spread by 
censoring and denouncing. Little did 
they know that, six years later, that 
small whisper would grow into a deafening 
scream, a disturbingly present reminder 
of its own existence, and of its legions 
of followers� 

Born in Bakersfield, California, from 
the melding of two bands (LAPD and 
Sexart), KoRn has become one of the most 
popular new bands of the nineties. They 
have revolutionized heavy-metal music as 
we know it (or used to know it), by 
injecting several different musical 
influences into traditional rock, from 
hip-hop and rap, to 70's funk music. 
This strange blend gives KoRn a sound 
of its own. The different styles involved 
do, theoretically, contradict themselves, 
but bound together by KoRn's musical 
savoir-faire, give the songs such 
atmosphere that the show-goers cannot 
simply sit in their seats and say "Hmmm. 
Nice." They feel the urge to jump in the 
mosh pit and enjoy the music at its core, 
letting all of their energy flow with the 
tonal explosion that KoRn puts out for 
them. This is how KoRn wins fans. Not by 
cheap advertising with music videos, but 
by steady, unrelenting touring, giving the 
fans the full experience and thus winning 
them for life. This strategy has given 
KoRn a much longer life span than the 
passing fad. And it shows no sign of 
stopping. 

Debuting strongly with their first, 
self-titled album, KoRn introduced 
itself bluntly to the world, featuring 
lightning-fast drum arrangements by 
David Silveria, frightening, 
Halloween-like guitar riffs by 
guitarists James "Munky" Shaffer and 
Brian "Head" Welch, impressive 
hammer-style bass lines by Reggie 
"Fieldy" Arvizu, and authentically 
emotional vocals by Jonathan Davis. 
The largely autobiographical songs 
written by Jon Davis depicted a 
childhood lost, and were sung with such 
fierce emotion and energy, that he won 
instant compassion by fans everywhere. 
When asked about how it feels to bear 
his soul to thousands of people every 
night, Jon had this to say: 

"I wouldn't say fun, but very rewarding 
and very relieving. Every time I do it, 
it makes me feel better -- the comeback 
from the crowd and seeing all that 
madness out there. I'm touching 
something, I think, that people want to 
talk about, that people can relate to. 
It's hard night after night, but I need 
to do it, I have to." 

How KoRn achieve their peculiar sound is 
very different from other bands. The 
first major difference is the use of 
seven-string guitars by Head and Munky, 
very rare instruments. The extra string 
gives the guitar a much lower tonality, 
allowing KoRn's guitarists a wider range 
of chords to execute. Not to be 
dominated by conformity, Head and Munky 
also tune their guitars in a way very 
different than most rock guitarists. 
Whereas most guitarists would use the 
classic tuning for a seven-string guitar 
(B E A D G B E), KoRn's guitarists tune 
them to a very weird A D G C F A D. This 
gives KoRn's guitar riffs a distinct feel, 
an almost eerie blend of hard-biting low 
tones and shrilling high tones. The 
frequent use of the Minor second, Tritone 
and Major seventh chords, the three chords 
that most disturb the human ear, complete 
KoRn's guitar individuality. Fieldy's bass 
setup also differs from most bands. Using 
a five string bass tuned down to a rumbley 
low A D G C F, and employing a unique and 
amazing hammer-style/damping technique, 
Fieldy gives the KoRn bass lines a very 
rhythmic, almost percussion-like 
personality. It is by differing from the 
sludge of average bands that KoRn has 
gained success. 

KoRn's first album sold platinum, very 
impressive for a debut album from a 
heavy-metal band. From the hard, 
heart-pumping sounds of "Ball Tongue", 
to the slow, devastatingly emotional 
"Daddy", fans were mesmerised by the 
plethora of music and sentiments presented 
before them. Also featured in this album 
was KoRn's show-opening song "Blind", the 
irreverent "Shoots and Ladders", the mind 
numbingly fast "Divine" and the 
universally appealing "Need to". The whole 
album, in fact, was a metaphor for 
childhood, from the picture of a young 
girl on the cover, to the child's writing 
on the inside of the booklet, and the 
mocking misspelling of "corn" with a K 
and a reversed R. It became readily 
apparent to fans that what Jonathan Davis 
had to say was not the usual "Oh, my 
girlfriend left me�" insincere vocals 
projected by most bands. What were here 
instead were the disconcertingly true 
tales of a man whose life was ruined by 
past events. The emotional ties thus 
formed between KoRn and their fans were 
total. KoRn did not, however, let this 
early success get to their heads, realising 
that fans are the livelihood of a band. 
They continued touring massively, steadily 
earning a name in the underground rock 
scene. 

In 1996, KoRn ventured out with their 
second outing, "Life is Peachy". 
Though admittedly a bit rushed, by 
pressures from their record company, 
"Life is Peachy" showed no signs of 
faltering quality. From the insanely 
bizarre "Twist" to the groovy "Good 
God", all tracks were very enjoyable. 
KoRn had not failed in their mission 
to bring their fans great music to 
enjoy, surpassing their anterior 
level of quality. A testament to 
KoRn's growing popularity was the 
fact that the band profited from a 
better sound quality on "Peachy", 
due in part to their maturing 
musical skills, but also to the 
better equipment purchased. 

1998 was a very busy year for KoRn. While 
spending time perfecting their third album 
"Follow The Leader", KoRn also worked on 
several other projects, including their 
own rock festival called "Family Values", 
their own record label entitled "Elementree 
Records" and a weekly internet program 
called "KoRn T.V.". 

In making "Follow The Leader", KoRn took 
their time to assure that this album 
would benefit from the success of both 
previous albums, by incorporating higher 
quality recording equipment, giving 
"Follow The Leader" a crisp, higher 
quality new sound. This album also 
incorporated various guest artists from 
Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit fame, and Ice 
Cube, to Trevant Hardson of Pharcyde 
and Cheech Marin. Needless to say, 
"Follow The Leader" was a smash hit. 
The single "Got The Life" continuously 
played on the radio, while the "Freak 
on a Leash" music video went on to win 
two awards at the 1999 MTV Music Video 
Awards. The men from KoRn had 
accomplished the journey from anonymity 
to megastardom, and while some bands 
might have felt the urge to give in and 
"sell out", KoRn maintained their 
integrity, both moral and musical, 
and now, in 1999, are ready to unleash 
their biggest album yet to an ocean of 
thirsty fans. 

Tentatively entitled "Issues", not much 
is known of KoRn's forthcoming album. 
Though the release date is fairly near, 
November 16th, the members have maintained 
a tight lid on their new project. However, 
for those lucky enough to attend this 
year's Woodstock, KoRn indulged their 
fans by performing two songs from their new 
album. The first one, apparently entitled 
"Beg For Me", is a mixture of old-style 
KoRn with newer, faster beats, and is very 
enjoyable in all respects, but it is the 
second song performed, called "Falling 
Away From Me", that is sure to be a 
wholesale hit. What is there to say about 
this song? Everything is done right. 
is a personification of KoRn's evolution, 
and to the trained KoRn fan's ear, one 
can hear in this song all of KoRn's 
different musical stages. If all of the 
songs on "Issues" are half as good as 
"Falling Away From Me", this album will 
be a raving success. Accessible to those 
new to KoRn, but also, hopefully, deep 
enough to satisfy those of us who have 
been there from the start, "Issues" 
should be one of those truly memorable 
albums, which fans will be listening to 
for years to come. 

And so the voice rolls on, now a deep, 
low laugh. For those who understand 
its complex jargon, it seems to say, 
with fearless ranting and steadfast 
determination: 

"WHO THEN NOW, BITCHES?" 

           BY:Jeffrey Yates