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Korn Biography
Review The Artist (52)
Musical revolutions can foment in the oddest places: Athens, Georgia. Aberdeen, Washington. Bakersfield, California.
That's right, Bakersfield; a bleak, arid little town just west of Death Valley that could double as a David Lynch movie set-if there were anything going on, that is. As a kid Fieldy Arvizu spent much of his adolescence "standing around in dirt fields, drinking beer, watching other kids fight." At some point, Fieldy and some friends decided their time would be better spent taking out their frustrations on musical instruments instead.
And rock music would never be the same.
So Fieldy, James "Munky" Shaffer, David Silveria, Brian "Head" Welch, and eventually, an assistant coroner with a troubled past named Jonathan Davis left Bakersfield for Los Angeles and collectively became known as KORN. It helped that they all had common influences--the angry, urban stylings of hip-hop, the heavy, riff-driven angst of death metal. But the sounds emanating from this band's Huntington Beach rehearsal space would soon set an entirely fresh musical precedent--and set off a wave of imitators that eventually threatened to engulf the band itself.
After touring for nearly two years, KORN was signed by Immortal and released their now-classic eponymous 1994 debut. KORN opened with the prophetic, gravel-throated challenge "Are you ready?!" before kicking into the heaviest guitar sound yet heard in rock thanks to the team of Shaffer and Welch, who tuned their already-low 7-string guitars even lower and played with no regard for traditional harmonic consonance. The sound was metallic sludge, but tempered oddly by bassist Fieldy and drummer Silveria, who added a mix of porn-soundtrack funk and hip-hop rhythms that was puzzlingly aggressive and chill. Next, nursery-rhyme-like melodies were woven into the dark mix, helping make KORN the creepiest, heaviest debut since Black Sabbath. But Davis had no desire to sing about devils and witches; he was busy exorcising real-life demons. Songs such as "Faget" and "Shoots and Ladders" were discomfortingly personal confessionals of shattered childhood, and by album's end Davis was literally in tears in the harrowing "Daddy."
"Are you ready?!" Well, commercial radio sure wasn't. And neither was MTV. Not yet, anyway.
So KORN took their grisly show on the road someplace they knew it'd get noticed: back to the tour circuit, and a stint on Ozzfest. The band's unique sound may have been unfamiliar, but the kids knew it rocked mightily-and many of them could directly relate to Davis' grim lyrical obsessions. At that point in time, there was quite simply no band on earth like KORN.
And so they began to amass a following that would send their next album, 1996's brutal yet cheekily titled Life is Peachy, into platinum sales. And this time at least the press was ready. "...Perverts, psychopaths and paranoiacs" gushed the Chicago Tribune. "An ingeniously twisted piece of personal hell" raved Cleveland's Plain Dealer.
And while Peachy served more to reinforce the band's core sound rather than innovate in the manner of the debut, it did introduce to the world to a side of the band no one ever suspected existed: humor. The bagpipe-driven cover version of War's "Lowrider" was just one example. An A-Z dictionary of vulgarity called "K@#%!" was another-though some critics and self-appointed moral guardians were put off by the language. One Zeeland, Michigan high school administrator told the press that KORN was "indecent, vulgar, and obscene" shortly after suspending a student for wearing a T-shirt that merely said "KORN." After the band filed a cease-and-desist order against the school on behalf of the student, he was reinstated. But the episode marks yet another milestone for the band: it was the first of many times the band would go to bat for its fans.
Years of touring followed again as the band fortified its fan-base to the degree that their next album, 1998's Follow the Leader, would debut at No. 1 on Billboard's Top 200. The band charted two bona fide singles with "Got the Life" and "Freak on a Leash," while the album's actual "rap-metal" tracks ("Children of the KORN" with guest rapper Ice Cube, and "All in the Family" with guest abuser Fred Durst) were some of the band's hardest-hitting to date, and reaffirmed their status as the band by which others would be judged in this genre.
Others seemed to agree. Rolling Stone christened Follow the Leader one of the best alternative albums of the '90s, praising KORN's ability to channel "their disgust with the state of the nation--and the generation doomed to inherit it--into booming, articulate violence."
Booming, articulate violence aside, Follow the Leader exposed yet another side of KORN.
When a 14-year-old boy suffering from terminal intestinal cancer requested to meet the band for a few minutes through the Make-A-Wish foundation, the band was stunned. And nervous. But they hit it off, and the few minutes turned into a day, and that turned into a few more days, and then a song-"Justin."
Reaffirming KORN's populist roots were their weekly live Internet video broadcasts from the studio during the album's making. These "after school specials" kept fans up on the progress of the record, offered them live, call-in Q&A sessions with the band themselves, and introduced them to guests running the gamut from members of 311, the Deftones, and Limp Bizkit to porn stars like Ron Jeremy and Randi Rage.
In yet another populist move, the band launched "KORN Kampaign '98," a political campaign-style American tour to promote their album that featured "fan conferences" in major cities throughout the country. KORN also put together a heavy-rock-and-rap arena circus, mockingly called the Family Values Tour, which featured everyone from Ice Cube to Limp Bizkit to Rammstein, and proved to be one of 1998's most successful tours. A live compilation CD, The Family Values Tour '98, was certified gold the following summer, when KORN performed an explosive set at Woodstock '99.
Meanwhile, KORN's record label Elementree was up and running just fine as its first signed act, Orgy, scored a platinum record for them with Candyass.
By now, almost every heavy band on the planet was playing down-tuned 7-string guitars (which were virtually extinct before KORN). The proliferation of sound-alike bands ironically placed the band in a tenuous position: Not only was KORN in danger of seeming "played out" in the very genre they spearheaded, the beginnings of a backlash to "rap-metal" chart domination were cropping up in the media. KORN knew that another Peachy or Leader, however great, however welcome by fans, and however commercially successful, would not do. It was time to reinvent themselves and break from the pack-a risky move given the band's traditionally loyal following. KORN took some time off to work on what would be one of the most important records of their career.
"We knew when we wrote this album that we were going to have to do something really great," Shaffer said at the time. "...We had to move forward, push the boundaries, and create something very personal."
In yet another nod to their audience, KORN allowed the fans to design the cover. Fans submitted their work, and one fan painting was chosen for the record's striking cover art. Several runners-up got limited-edition album covers of their own work.
Musically, Issues turned out to be the best album since the group's debut release, and eclipsed even that record in strength of songwriting. When Issues was finally released, all the band's efforts paid off wildly. For the second time in their career, they debuted at No. 1. They had yet another high-charting single with the eerie, crushing "Falling Away From Me." And the record went quadruple platinum. This was followed by yet another massively successful tour, which kicked off on Halloween 1999 at Harlem's historic Apollo Theater.
If Issues represented an artistic, critical, and commercial triumph at a crucial moment for the band, how would KORN respond to the inevitable pressure of its follow-up?
By making a better one: Untouchables. Using a 24-BIT sampling rate--twice the highest rate normally used for recording--KORN and producer Michael Beinhorn have created a rich sonic panorama. Unfathomably heavy, uncompromisingly introspective, and startlingly unique, Untouchables catapults KORN to yet another level.
But what should we expect? After all, this is a band marked by an insatiable desire to push the rock envelope. It's what makes them KORN.
Thanks to Meelis Magi for submitting the biography. |
Would you please submit the latest Korn biography to me? Thank You.
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Review about Korn
Korn fullfiling | Reviewer: Lance | 9/18/09
Korn- as founders of new age heavy-metal ganre they have oppened a new door to the age of heavy-metal,they've put an other perspective on how heavy-metal music should be played and performed.
Being so brave and being just theirselves they've created a new form of art.
By spreading their music trough the world they've established their position and reserving their place in the Holly Valhalla of heavy-metal music 4 being the best heavy-metal group in history.Their music will echoe deeply in to the future heavy-metal bands aswell the bands of today.4 their music will be 4ever b incarved in to the tree of history and be high upon on the pantheon of heaven.Hahahaha now seriously
their just being what their songs based on the emotions felted on the particular moments in their lives,just being really honest in the song,yeah you may say that they've changed trough the course of their lives but who doesn't a part on their the've remained the same and keept goin' on the same road that the've started in the first place unlike to some other artist who sold their souls 4 sake of having money
mind blowing | Reviewer: make me bad | 5/28/09
KoRn they're just as indescribable as S.O.A.D two very different groups but we are talking about KoRn here I just started listening to KoRn im 15 and they've changed my life im able to fall in love instantly with any song they make even the ones written off by reviewers(assholes) KoRn is the band to get your shit started mixed with so much emotion a bipolar dude would seem normal this band pushed the limits they're rock gods ok I "did my time" here cya
seen em | Reviewer: that one guy | 5/8/09
I know I am not the first and will not be the last to see Korn in concert. I hope to see them again many times over. They will rock the fucking house when they're dead and gone. No doubts. Very real, sometimes metaphorical, and always good and always keeping ur brain rolling with their mind boggling rifs and lyrics. There are very few bands I can sit and listen to every song they have without skipping to the next. The only reason I change Korn tracks is because they're all good and there isn't enough time in a day to enjoy them all at once. You always gotta have ur fovorites. Nonetheless, if there is a band on earth as real, as diehard, as fresh, as natural, and as pioneering as Korn still is today, well, let me meet that band and shake their hand for being the only band to be even half as good as Korn. No one writes as soul piercing lyics as Davis. I can listen to a song 100 times in a row and still get chills by that dude's emotional and sincere voice. When I'm eighty eight and on my death bed I will be listening to Throw me Away and Got the Life. Peace out.
KoRn | Reviewer: Avenged | 3/24/09
KoRn... their lyrics are deeeep...
i guarantee you will never find another band that more than half the time you have to think for hours to interpret their music... You may get an answer when you first listen but you're only scratching the surface of what the song really means.
Take: KoRn - Make Me Bad
for instance. the interpreted meaning of the song by most is about Jonathan Davis had groupies he was with that he felt guilty about, but it goes so much deeper into the different thoughts about life and pleasure. Their music has a whole deeper meaning to it, like a philosophical view on how we live.
korn is the shit | Reviewer: jmda | 3/8/09
korn has changed the world. And people. their music is bunches of emotions mixed together like anger and hate and sadness. thats what i like about them its amazing of what they can make out of different genres.wow its fucking cool.
KoRn still goin strong | Reviewer: Anonymous | 1/22/09
what can i say that hasnt already been said a thousand times over ah well ill give it a shot anyway. Korn have been making music since 1993 its now 2009 thats 16 years and 6 albums and numerous special songs later that all fukin rock u cant beat em. i first heard their amazing music in 94 and have loved them since. so much of it works on so many levls u cant even begin to understand unless uve been there which alot of ppl have and can relate to wot they sing. i wish em all the best and hope they can keep churning out masterpieces of musical engineering until im too old to headbang anymore
Peace out dudes !!KoRn RuLeS!!
korn is the best | Reviewer: austin | 12/8/08
i am only 15 but ive been listning to korn since i was 3 and they will always be the best band alive and when they all die there music will still be played for a long time so what ever you say it dont matter just listen to korn and rilly listen and you will understand the meaning to there lyrics. like i i just said im only 15 so just listen to korn
korn if fucking asome | Reviewer: austin | 12/8/08
i am 15 and ive ben listening to korn my hole life and the are the fucking best and if you say shit i will fucking find you and hunt you
down and kick your ass so fucking bad that you will go in a fucking go in to a coma the rest of your fucking life so shut the fuck up and listen to korn and love them so fuck you. ps kiss yu white ass
reinvented | Reviewer: vincent | 11/20/08
korn is an amazing band which has changed the face of music forever they created a whole new genre and broke away from the conventional 80s hair metal crap yes hair metal is crap its a bunch of retards in bright colors and leotards dressed like retards.....with little reguard for anyones opinion of who they are they were themselvs and demonstrated what art can truely be they created a monster that they could not stop and was almost swallowed by themselves they reinvented themselves twice and remained the same when you listen to korn theyre not just making music for the money they do it because thats how they express themselves and you can feel it sure they tuned up their guitar different they changed the way they dressed but they are not sell outs they just grew up like some people need to do and thats what happens when you get older you change.....yes i know i said they changed but remained the same i know it sounds like an oxy moron but to somebody who truely appreciates their music will understand what i mean
head music | Reviewer: paintersz | 10/14/08
korn has been a significant figure in the music industry,giving life to the old rock genre..their music is "sophisticated"...it redefines rock to a new deeper meaning...i cant compare them to other bands..because none of them can do better than korn...
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Review the Artist Korn
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