Album Details

• Artist: Korn
• Album: Korn [07]
• Label: Virgin
• Year of Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2007-11-27

Sometimes we don't like to own up to liking certain bands. Korn have been one such band of mine for years. Admittedly, I first got into them during my younger teenage years, when their angsty tunes appealed to me most. Over time, they've transformed from underground darlings into perhaps the biggest rock band of the last decade or more. Every album that succeeded Follow The Leader seemed to lower in quality, from the more aggressive but ultimately overrated Issues all the way up to last year's psuedo-progressive See You On The Other Side. With a new self-titled release, it would appear up front that Korn are attempting to return to form. But one listen to the record and the sadness returns; a once-great band has become little more than a parody of themselves.

An interesting little intro segues into "Starting Over", and the title makes some sense. Their sound has shifted, once again, incorporating more and more of those incessant hip-hop grooves and distracting electric elements. The guitars are distorted, down-tuned and lack punch without the extra axe. For a band of this much experience, you're left expecting and wanting more time and time again. "Bitch We Got A Problem" is the most immature track here, furthering Jonathan Davis' silly agressions towards women. The first single, "Evolution", is pretty bland. The album doesn't really hit any high marks until the mid-point, where "Kiss" shines above the rest of the tracks with it's emotive lyrics and twisted chorus. "Do What They Say" is also a good song, one of the heaviest Korn has done in some time. "Ever Be" is an anthem to their former guitarist-turned-saint, and marks the end of the album's peak. The rest is more of the same sub-standard balogna, but the almost death-metal section on "Killing" is pretty impressive.

It's almost not worth going into why I think Korn should have hung it up after Issues, considering they've given us 3 consecutive examples of why this is so. It's a little heartbreaking, today, to hear one of my favorite bands of the past stumbling over their own feet in vain effort towards creative spark and old-time atmospheres. It's just not there anymore. To be just a little positive, this album is slightly more enjoyable than their awful (AWFUL) recent unplugged performance. But is that really saying alot? 

User Reviews and Comments

on 2007-12-11 kev_stev Said:

The world would\'ve be a better place without LP and LB, I believe.. even though they did turn me on to a different side of music in 6th grade.
Not Rated

on 2007-12-06 SolitaryMan Said:

Well kev, if it wasn't for Korn, you probably wouldn't have your Linkin Parks and Limp Bizkits and the like. There was a time when they coined a certain sound, and that sound has been manipulated, molested and misinterpreted ever since. I just think, and this applies to Dennis, that they've lost that and now are little more than a commercialized semi-musical entity.
Not Rated

on 2007-12-06 kev_stev Said:

Yeah, I would suggest that, haha. Korn kills me, but to each his/her own! I suppose.
Not Rated

on 2007-12-06 dscanland Said:

"They're on the Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit level to me."
Ouch! So even though I've found each release to offer me something different I should stay away from this one completely?
Not Rated

on 2007-12-06 kev_stev Said:

I used to love them too, until I realized they were awful. They're on the Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit level to me.
Not Rated