As I've mentioned a few times before, the early 2000's was a dangerous time to be a teenage boy; nu-metal was just too appealing. I take comfort in the fact that Deftones proved to be a band grown from that scene that you could love well into your 30's (and beyond, I hope). I'm not saying this (just) because it's the acceptable thing to say, but they always were my favourite from those days - the finest example of what that genre had to offer, and that it wasn't all shit.
Not everything was so good, and Korn, certainly in hindsight, feel like the exact opposite of Deftones, despite the fact the two of them were credited with the dubious honour of starting the nu-metal genre. While Deftones have stayed relevant and excellent, Korn went the other way and it's almost impossible to take any enjoyment from them in your 30's; it was touch-and-go in your late teens to be perfectly honest.
I bought into the whole Korn thing, but even 16-year-old-me had my doubts. Blind is and was a huge song, but the rest of the self-titled debut is utterly terrible. At the time I was incredibly put off by the idea of a grown man crying about his daddy issues on their major label debut. I later discovered they were all off their heads on crystal meth, which makes a lot of things make sense, but you like to think at some point, someone, somewhere was sober enough to say "is this really how we want to finish the album?". It’s reassuring to know that, even though my musical taste had some very dodgy parts at that time, I was able to draw a line; Jonathan Davis crying on record was far on the other side of that line back then, and that's something. However, I didn't hear the whole album until much later, having been introduced to Blind by the live version on the Woodstock 1999 cd my friend Johnny had. I was already bought in by the time I heard the man cry.
Over the course of five months, I got copies of Follow the Leader (the album which, in hindsight, was clearly the strongest in terms of hits), Issues, the self-titled album then Life is Peachy. After being disappointed by the self-titled album I was pleasantly surprised by Life is Peachy; in my teens, I considered it my favourite Korn album. Now, in my 30's, it’s slightly disconcerting to think that I once had a favourite Korn album, but I was once that guy and I guess I wouldn't be here if I hadn't been. So maybe I should be pleased I once had a favourite Korn album? No, that's too far; it's a thing that happened, that is all.
A year after I got Life is Peachy on cd, they released Untouchables, which I knew at the time was shit. It was 2002 and Rival Schools had just entered my life, setting it onto a far more respectable (and enjoyable) trajectory. However, in 2004 I found this copy of Life is Peachy on vinyl in Selectadisc in Nottingham for a mere £6. I was long out of my nu-metal phase, but decided it was a good purchase - it had been my favourite Korn album after all, and that felt like something.
Needless to say, I've not listened to Korn in any way in a very long time. In fact, given this was my last Korn purchase in 2004, I'm going to say it's been at least a solid 10 years since any of these songs have graced (that feels like the wrong word) my ears. How has Korn aged? Terribly, of course. Life is Peachy lacks the huge singles the albums either side had, and listening to it now, the songs I thought were highlights at the time really don't stand out as much as I remember. Perhaps I just rated it so highly to be different. Good God was always my favourite, and it stands out a bit here. Mr Rogers and Wicked were also ones I thought highly of back in the day. It's hard to write now that "they're still good songs" because they're not, so I won't (sorry Chino). The opening duo of Twist and Chi sound pretty bad, and the one with all the swearing is mindless. People always talked about the bass sound Korn had, but quite frankly Jonathan Davis is so ridiculously high in the mix that it's hard to hear anything else.
Luckily, this is the only time I'll have to write about Korn on here. It also probably signifies the last time I'll intentionally listen to them; I really can't see any scenarios in my near-future where I'll find myself listening to them. In a way, it's a bit sad - they were a small part of my formative years - but I can easily still have those memories whilst listening to something that's actually good.
Format: 12"
Tracks: 14
Cost: £6 new
Bought: Selectadisc
When: 15/03/04
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
