It's sometimes hard to believe that Korn were once too cutting edge for radio, too scary for Wal-Mart, and more likely to share fans with Rage Against the Machine than Godsmack. Many years, MTV contests, Calvin Klein ads, and mediocre albums later, Korn seem satisfied to blend in with the nü metal bozos that they previously distinguished themselves from. Most egregiously, they've enlisted Avril Lavigne/Britney Spears producers the Matrix to work on their newest albums, and this year's Family Values tour sees them sharing a stage with Evanescence, Trivium, Hellyeah, and countless other posers who tread on the ground that Korn broke on their debut and Follow the Leader. Like just about every great band, Korn were bound for the inevitable artistic decline, but the problem lies in how they went about it. Hence the Rod Stewart comparison.
Korn's recent free show at South Street Seaport did nothing to counter their aesthetic downward spiral, but at best it served as a reminder of how pivotal this band once was. Korn were promoting their most recent album, and their 30-minute set focused on newer songs which sounded like watered-down (and at worst, self-parodying) versions of their best music. The new material still sounds different from their nü metal peers, mainly from Fieldy's slap and pop bass technique and Jonathan Davis' vocals, but there's no denying that it's Korn by numbers, slickly produced mallcore meant to sound dangerous to kids who haven't yet discovered thrash metal. Needless to say, Korn's untitled new album seems no more exciting now than it did before the show started.
Despite the supbar material, there's no denying that Korn are a great live band. Davis is still one of the most compelling frontmen in the world, and his surprisingly melodic vocals effortlessly lept from whisper to scat to scream as he jumped around, flailed his arms, and headbanged like the crazy man he really is. Current drummer Joey Jordison (on loan from Slipknot) made Korn sound more metal than David Silveria did, and the band's impassioned performance almost made up for how boring the new songs were.
About twenty minutes into their set, Korn ripped into 'Got the Life,' the infectiously aggressive single that struck a chord with millions of Clinton-era middle schoolers who didn't want to hear Live or Matchbox 20. It was if a completely different band had taken the stage--hip-hop-influenced nü metal has been run into the ground over and over, but Korn showed that their brand was scarier, funnier, and heavier than anything that followed. Driving the point home, Korn finished with two songs from their debut, including 'Faget,' which enthralled the old-school fans and shocked the newcomers in the audience more than any show I've been to since seeing Liz Phair play 'Fuck and Run' four years ago. Come to think of it, The Matrix worked on her bad new album as well--can't someone just take away their music-production license?
"I know you all know this one," said the mostly taciturn Davis as the opening chords of their final song, 'Blind,' rang out from behind him. It was comparable to hearing Aerosmith play 'Back in the Saddle' amidst a set of Diane Warren-penned atrocities. Korn may never again make a good album (and at the rate that they're selling, they won't have to), but anyone who can't tell them apart from their irrelevant peers on the Family Values tour is strongly encouraged to steal their older brother's copy of Korn.
Arrrrrrrrrreee youuuu readddddy??
No comments:
Post a Comment