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JONATHON DAVIS - VOCALS, BAGPIPES
JAMES “MUNKY” SHAFFER - GUITARS
REGINALD “FIELDY” ARVIZU - BASS
BRIAN “HEAD” WELCH - GUITAR
DAVID SILVERIA - DRUMS
ROSS ROBINSON - PRODUCER, ENGINEER, MIXER
RICHARD KAPLAN - ENGINEER
CHUCK JOHNSON- ENGINEER, MIXER
EDDY SCHREYER - MASTERING
STEPHEN STICKLER - PHOTOGRAPHY
JAY PAPKE/DANTE ARIOLA - ART DIRECTION AND DESIGN
RECORDED AT INDIGO RANCH STUDIOS, MALIBU, CALIFORNIA
MAY - JUNE 1994, RELEASED OCTOBER 11, 1994
Ross Robinson began his musical career as a guitarist in thrash metal bands Detente and Murdecar which also included future Machine Head and Sacred Reich drummer Dave McClain. He began picking up production knowledge from the studios his band had been recording in as well as working at Blackie Lawless’s Fort Apache Studio in Burbank, CA. His first production credit was for the 1991 Fear Factory album Concrete. He is considered by some as “The Godfather of Nu Metal”. Some of the artists he as worked with include Fear Factory, Wasp, Deftones, Sepultura, Limp Bizkit, Soulfly, Vanilla Ice, Machine Head, Slipknot, At The Drive-in, Snot, The Cure, Red Fang, Frank Iero and the Patience (had to put this one in for my daughter), and many others.
Richard Kaplan was the owner of Indigo Ranch Studios. He began his career running the first on stage laser show in the world. He went on to tour with The Moody Blues as their special effects guy. Then he and his best friend built up the studio. He’s worked with Neil Young, Korn, The Moody Blues, Wasp, Soulfly, Limp Bizkit, Sepultura, War, Morris Day, Van Morrison and many others.
Chuck Johnson has worked as an engineer and mixer for many artists. These include Korn, Slipknot, Between The Buried and Me, At The Drive-In, AFI, Wasp, Vanilla Ice, Soulfly, Machine Head, Savoy Brown, Blind Melon, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Agent Steele, Lester Flatt and many others.
Eddy Schreyer has mastered so many by so many artists its stupid. These include The Offspring, Cannibal Corpse, Korn, Bob Dylan, NOFX, Stanley Clarke, Queensryche, John Mellencamp, Boyz ll Men, Blues Traveler, Sevendust, Hannah Montana, Steve Miller, Kyuss, Machine Head, Alice In Chains, Pestilence, Merle Haggard, Fu Manchu, Rick Springfield, Dropbox, Dokken, Engine (for Matt), Air Supply, Nevermore, Goatwhore, Kanye West and on, and on.
Stephen Stickler has taken pictures of pretty much every musician and actor out there. Look him up, he’s taken some great pics over the years.
Jay Papke and Dante Ariola have done album artwork for a varied list of clients. These include Cypress Hill, 311, Korn, Soundgarden, Sugar Ray, Soulfly and others.
TRACK LISTING:
1 Blind 4:19
2 Ball Tongue 4:29
3 Need To 4:01
4 Clown 4:37
5 Divine 2:51
6 Faget 5:49
7 Shoots and Ladders 5:22
8 Predictable 4:32
9 Fake 4:50
10 Lies 3:22
11 Helmet in the Bush 4:02
12 Daddy w/ hidden track Michael & Geri 17:31
TOTAL LENGTH: 65:45
CERTIFICATIONS:
U.S. / GOLD/ 1-29-1996
U.S. / PLATINUM / 1-8-1997
U.S. / 2X PLATINUM / 11-10-1999
AUSTRALIA / PLATINUM
#27 ON JULY 2014 GUITAR WORLD LIST OF 50 ICONIC ALBUMS THAT DEFINED 1994.
#30 IN ROLLING STONES 2017 LIST OF 100 GREATEST METAL ALBUMS OF ALL TIME.
SAID TO BE THE ALBUM THAT ESTABLISHED THE NU METAL GENRE.
This album was a definite game changer. Nothing had ever really sounded like it before. Guitarists had already been using 7 string guitars but Korn brought the bottom end aspect of them to the forefront. Heavy, fuzzy, but still melodic. I’m still not exactly sure to this day what the hell is going on with that bass sound, and that’s a compliment. The drums were very upfront in the mix with a nice bright snare in your face. The rhythm section is so locked in it’s ridiculous. The vocals covered all kinds of territory. From quiet sing songy nursery rhymes, to bludgeon you in the face with a hammer angry yelling to nervous breakdown complete with crying. I think a big part of the appeal at the time was the fact that you could actually understand the vocals and the rap/hip hop vibes sprinkled in from time to time.
1. Blind: What a weird intro, the wonky guitar sounds. Then a freakin’ bass hit? I was like WTH is this? Then everything hits and you wanna run around a break everything in sight. It took me a bit to get with the quiet verse, loud chorus thing at first. I was used to everything just being loud and fast all time i guess. I really like the chorus breakdown and then everything just hits again. It’s heavy, groovy and melodic, then the weird rap/hip hop ending happens and you're still like WTF is going on here.
2. Ball Tongue: Once again, a heavy groovy intro complete with bass bombs. How’s he get that damn bass sound? The bass and drums are totally locked in, I get a weird sense of a very vulnerable kind of anger from this one. The snare at the ending of this song had to have been Lars Ulrich’s guiding light for his snare sound on St. Anger.
3. Need To: More low and gritty guitars with a riff that lets them breath a bit more. More deliciously tight rhythms.
4. Clown: “Fuckin’ do it damnit!” Such a heavy fucking groove, so locked in, such a heavy damn guitar sound. Love the breakdown on this one.
5. Divine: My favorite track on the album. Such a hard driving intro (wink wink nudge nudge Mathieu). This one has a nice uptempo verse. Then the break - You know what? fuck you, I’m fed up with you, I’m not as good as you? Fuck you I’m better than you! BREAK SHIT!!!!!
6. Faget: Very weird vocal patter if you read the lyrics while listening. Another Korn classic, You can suck my dick and fucking like it! Alrighty then. Nice heavy melodic riff after that madness.
7. Shoots and Ladders: Don’t think I’d heard bagpipes in a song since It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock n Roll)! And here comes the freakin’ nursery rhymes. WTF kind of metal album am I listening to? The give a dog a bone part makes me wanna get up and move around every time.
8. Predictable: This song is a bit predictable, nothing bad though.
9. Fake: This one is a bit slower paced, complete with brutal, downtuned, punishing guitars.
10. Lies: This one gets my interest peaked again. More weird ass guitar sounds, off kilter drums and bass. Love the prolonged ominous growl behind the chorus.
11. Helmet in the Bush: My throw away track on the album. It’s just there.
12. Daddy: I really like the a capella intro, then the classic weird ass in a good way bass intro with the correspondingly locked in drums and odd dissonant guitar shit. Some pretty fucked up chorus lyrics for the time. Love the chorus riff, it’s full, melodic, angry and hopeless sounding. The breakdown groove is so fucking awesome, classic Korn shit. The ending? Umm… yeah. Not used to hearing a guy break down and cry at the end of a record. Know what I mean Vern?
13. Michael & Geri: A hidden track on the album. Evidently producer Ross Robinson found a tape in an abandoned garage with these people arguing about a broken part on a Dodge Dart.
Podcast Notes:
00.00: Intro/A little stranger and darker and more dissonant…er/A different sounding “metal”/Steve Vai influenced…KORN!?
05.51: Band lineup/Nobody sounds like KORN!!/Milley’s International House of Pasta (influenced by...KORN!?)
08.43: Ross Robinson, “Evil KITT” and an impressive resume of metal production credits (and his “motivational” methods)/Agent Steel/Air Supply & Goatwhore (WHAT!?)/Shout out to Kyuss!
17.15: Brief tangentionally angsty off-topic moment
18.15: The tracklisting (including the hidden “track”)/kudos and commendments to KORN/a NEW genre of metal/too much tangentionalness
22.07: Blind (and the production magic that simply just “CAN’T BE LOUD ENOUGH!”)/What’s that at the end? / Jonathan Davis vocal style and content (a new kind of angst in metal)
27.35: “Ball Tongue”… that BASS!!/It’s all in the production…
30.16: “Need To”/a variety of influences makes the perfect KORN
33.50: Clown (in studio banter)/The brilliance of “Twist”/Matt’s defective CD player, Messhugah’s Industrial dance metal album and the art of “Interpretive” comedy/The flow of KORN’s songs (predictable)
38.56: Divine, The Soft Intro (reprise) and that killer middle part!!
41.37: Faget/You’ll do WHAT…with WHAT…and…I’ll WHAT!?!?/Lyrics and arrangements
45.24: Shoots and Ladders/The hilarity of Brutally Metal Nursery Rhymes
47.36: The unpredictability of Predictable
49.08: Fake/The importance of a lyric sheet and “misheard lyrics”
51.52: Lies , the “windy death growl” and the KORN groove
54.20: Helmet in the bush (great title!)
57.22: Daddy/the creepy intro and the general “uncomfortability” of the song/the “hidden track” phenomenon of the 90s/Waxing nostalgic, Metal Nerdery style