KORN
“YURRNOTUHRRRROTATONTATROTATATANBUMBUMBLAKAEAUHHTAHHHEAUBLAHUUURRRRAHHHH!”
Listen on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your Podcasts.
Leave us a Voicemail to be played on a future episode: 980-666-8182
Follow us on the Socials:
Facebook - Instagram - Twitter
Can’t be LOUD Enough Playlist on Spotify
Metal Nerdery Munchies on YouTube
Some links may be affiliate links. This means that we may receive a small commission (at no cost to you) if you purchase something through the links provided. Metal Nerdery is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com
After blowing everyone’s mind with their revolutionary, self-titled debut, KORN returned with their follow up album, LIFE IS PEACHY, which took the Bakersfield, California Nu Metal pioneers to new levels of unmatched sonic aggression including deeply disturbing lyrics fueled by pure existential fury and primal rage.
No band, before or since, has EVER sounded anything like KORN, and no band EVER will.
CHECK OUT KORN ON THE INTERWEBS
Check out our Dive on the Debut Album here
LIFE IS PEACHY
Released October 15, 1996
Recorded April–July 1996
Studio Indigo Ranch Studios
Producer Ross Robinson
Track listing
1: Twist
2: Chi
3: Lost
4: Swallow
5: Porno Creep
6: Good God
7: Mr. Rogers
8: K@#¿%!
9: No Place to Hide
10: Wicked
11: A.D.I.D.A.S.
12: Lowrider (War cover)
13: Ass Itch
14: Kill You
Twist A Capella (hidden track)
Jonathan Davis – lead vocals, bagpipes, additional guitars on "Kill You" and "Mr. Rogers"
Head – guitars, vocals on "Lowrider"
Munky – guitars
Fieldy – bass guitar
David Silveria – drums
It's time to fire up the CD player in your Yugo and “break down the fourth wall” because we’re diving into the darkness where heaviness and fuzziness converge.
Find out why staying in shape is important for aging metalheads, prepare to get soaked with some “seriously wet humor” and JOIN US as we ring in the New Year and “Twist” our way through KORN’s devastatingly heavy 2nd album: LIFE IS PEACHY.
TWIST:
There’s not really a way to put into words what this sounds like, other than primal and furiously psychotic. The first time I ever heard it I had to go back and listen to it a few more times because A: it was totally unexpected and B: initially, it was completely hilarious. Almost makes one wonder what the actual lyrics are…
“UrrrNotUrrrrrrRotOtNotOtNotUrrrr…”
CHI:
One thing Korn has mastered (most ingeniously, I might add) is the utilization of guitars in a non-traditional sense to create an atmospheric, sonic palette that perfectly contrasts with their brutally heavy riffs.
The middle part of this is so crushing.
“Re-entering my head
Feeling like I’m God
With the world around me
Can’t you feel this pain?”
LOST:
Fieldy’s trademark bass sound is clearly like no one else in metal. Nothing about KoRn’s style belonged to any one specific, previously established sound, or genre. At the time, they were the next evolution of metal to cross over into another dimension of heaviness and brutality.
“Pain and rage and fear I feel…”
SWALLOW:
“Fuck yes!”
Somehow their sound seems bigger than it does; having 2 guitarists and a bassist all playing completely different things really adds a lot of texture and creates tons of atmosphere. At that time, in 1996, KoRn easily had the most distinct sound of anyone in metal. The end is great…nice groove and nice fade out.
“This thing I follow
The place, I’m too scared to fuckin’ go…”
PORNO CREEP:
Just take a moment to listen to the detail…particularly in the drum department…a lot of accents and ghost notes there. The vibe of this track is very laid back…almost like a “relaxer break” of sorts. Like getting stoned…sorry, like getting “relaxered” in the 70’s.
“Closer to me, it feels…”
GOOD GOD:
Harmonics have never sounded so heavy and aggressive! Oh yeah…that breakdown!
”NOWWW!”
That insane build, the tension, the rage, the anger, the frustration, until finally…FLASHPOINT!
“Won’t you get the fuck out of my face…NOW!?”
MR. ROGERS:
Cue up the uncomfortableness…and the ultra-creepy intro.
Back in the day, there were no lyrics with the release of the CD, so you just had to listen really closely, over and over, to try and figure them out. Occasionally you’d get a snippet of one lyric that gave context to another lyric and suddenly you’d think: “WOW! That’s super fucking dark!”
Read those lyrics. The intensity of this song is similar in energy to “Daddy” from their debut…especially at the end.
“You came to him (child)
He really didn’t know your lies (fucker)…”
KUNTS!
The fact that KoRn took lyrical offensiveness to new levels on this one was absolutely magnificent…like “Let’s just throw in the kitchen sink…don’t leave out ANYTHING offensive!”. (I mean, the song IS called “KUNTS” after all…). The next time you’re at karaoke, have the DJ put this on and give it your all.
“Fuck shit cock dick cunt tit barf piss balls ass pecker queef…”
NO PLACE TO HIDE:
The chorus riff is super heavy compared to the verse, but that pretty much was standard issue with nu metal in the mid-late 90’s, particularly with KoRn.
“Some will look at the time I looked back into my life.
You wanna touch me to see what’s in my eyes…”
WICKED:
Obviously, this is crossover, going into that crazy place where rap and nu metal found common ground. (They did something similar on “Follow the Leader” with Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit, which is way funnier!) Listen to the end for the good stuff. Also, this is a cover of an Ice Cube song, btw.
A.D.I.D.A.S.
It’s practically impossible to hear KoRn and not think about those ADIDAS track suits that are a key indicator of supreme pimpdom.
“I don’t know your fuckin’ name
So what? Let’s fuck!”
LOW RIDER
Originally recorded by WAR in the 70’s, this version (a very abbreviated version) adds in that perfect KoRn stank, complete with bagpipes, a killer bass line and what seems to be a truckload of relaxers.
ASS ITCH:
We’ve all had these…where you feel like you need to go wipe with sandpaper…just to get rid of that itch.
Anything to get rid of that itch. Especially the ass itch that comes from deep within your soul.
“I hate writing shit, ain’t looking forward to it
What’s fucked-up today?”
KILL YOU:
There’s a LOT Of crushing waves of heaviness on this one; especially that “wall of guitar” right after the first verse. And these lyrics are a certain kind of concentrated, extremely potent darkness. Somewhat reminiscent of the disturbingly dark energy on “Daddy” from the first album, this song could have easily been called “I Hate My Step-Cunt” and it would have been just as provocative and equally off putting.
“You made my life not so good…”
Show Notes:
(00:01): ***WARNING: #listenerdiscretionisadvised *** / HAPPY NEW YEAR AND HAPPY 2023 TO YOU ALL!!! / #happynewyears vs #happynewyear / #flatmaxi / “DON’T!” #thefourthwall / #posthumousASMR ***WELCOME BACK TO THE METAL NERDERY PODCAST!!!*** #thisepisodesclinkyoftheepisode #SinEaterCinnamonWhiskey / “When fully erect…” #accuracy / #amazinganalogies / ***We had some new décor via a fresh coat of paint in the #UndergroundBunkerPoonStudios *** #smokedlavender/ We’re going REAL dark… / #depressionmetal / “It’s called a #hairlight” / “Here’s a question…” / #notametalpodcast with #RussellsReflectionsSlightReturn #butthumped with #banjoplayers
(07:10): #beeroftheepisodeASMR #thisepisodesbeeroftheepisode / Clean up on aisle 6… / #StillfireBrewery #GloryHaze #encorebeeroftheepisode / “We’ve already read it…” / #herewego / “The vocal burn’s gotta quit.” #vocalburn #seriously #agreatimpression / “It tastes like weed…”
(10:07): New Years Resolutions? / “…that’s literally the whole point.” / #RussellsReflectionsComedyEdition / “I feel like I need to take a shower now…” / #TheDocket #onmicburp #thirdshowenergy / Shoutout to Daryl! And fond memories of the #RobDukesExodus episode / #multiplevoiceASMR #whispersymphonyASMR #whisperwarriorASMR #cricketsoundsASMR / #nojingle
(13:30): #TheDocketSlightReturn KoRn: Life is Peachy (1996) / #ubersoon / A self-critique of Mark I Metal Nerdery vs Mark II (or technically Mark III if you’re familiar with your #MetalNerderyHostTrivia / “We’re wet as fuck…day 9” / #dryhumor / Comparing “Life is Peachy” to their #selftitleddebut and the evolution of KoRn (or just KORN / Korn), particularly the darker aspects of their overall sound, musically and lyrically. / “Hear me out…” / “Heavier and darker…” TWIST #barking #killeropener #allthecokelines / “A similar opening?”
(22:22): “Sorry, that was me” / CHI (Sounds like #StonerKoRn) #creepy (Did you hear that back there?) / Watching #Korn #liveinconcert and a #KISSanalogy / #OMGSeriously “That’s why I do it…” / LOST #creepynoises / Interesting production observation… / The good part… / #Uncomfortable is the word / SWALLOW #fuckyes #awwman #onmicburpASMR / “Nine Inch Nails, S.O.D., and Primus” / That’s the new term going forward / #confidenceboostinganalogies / “Eat his ass…” #markthetime / PORNO CREEP #instrumental #creepyscaryASMR
(33:28): GOOD GOD (Cool harmonics) / MR ROGERS #cuethecreepy #StonerKoRn #massivefuzz #snapsnap #readthoselyrics #listentothoselyrics / “You’ve got nuts on the brain…” / KUNTS! (I want to do this at #karaoake sometime soon…) / “It’s possible…literally.” / NO PLACE TO HIDE (with a side of #extrafuzziness) / #newbutton #markthetime / The influence of hip-hop on the Korn sound / Korn’s 6th member defined #uncomfortable / No circle pits, only pogo. / A theory regarding the growth and evolution of metal throughout the 80’s and into the 90’s #excessmetal #newgenre / The angst of the nineties #angstierexcess / “I hate to interrupt you…” / WICKED (and some #tangentional vocals courtesy of #Deftones frontman Chino Moreno / “Beat off, beat off…”
(49:43): #allthecokelines / and the #backstory regarding the meaning of #adidas A.D.I.D.A.S / #OMGSeriouslyASMR #goingin / “Y’all are dodging that question, I can tell…” / #hehahuh / LOW RIDER #bagpipes #awwwmannnASMR #awwshit / ASS ITCH “It had some girth…” / “It’s fun to talk about…” KILL YOU #killercloser #doomballs #readthoselyrics “That’s fucking dark!” / What the #fructus? / #HereWeGo /The uncomfortable ugliness of KoRn / TWIST (Acapella) #imgonnausetheforce #hiddentrack / A brief comparison to the sound and structure of Korn’s debut to “Life is Peachy”/ “Let’s turn it down to dark…” / #thelastword THANK YOU FOR JOINING US FOR THIS EPISODE OF METAL NERDERY PODCAST!!! #untilthenext #HappyNewYear2023 / #dontdenythepowerof #thefourthwall / ***COME BY AND VISIT US AT THE BUNKERPOON STUDIO #GIFTSHOPPE by clicking on metalnerdery.com/merch to #purchandise some #MetalNerderyMerchandise / #outroreel
CBLE-2