August 18, 1998 - Follow The Leader

Seven weeks after my last release and almost two years since "Life Is Peachy", Korn released their third album "Follow The Leader" on August 18, 1998. This is Korn's most commercially succesful album of their career and it's also credited as bringing nu-metal into the mainstream. There are three guest vocalists on the album, all from either the nu-metal or hip-hop scene. Let's see what Korn's breakthrough sounds like!

The album begins with "It's On!" and it starts quiet with some trippy guitar before they snap into a nice and heavy main riff with some nice contributions from everyone. Fieldy plays some cool bass as usual and one of Head and Munky continues the trippy guitar while the other plays a nice heavy riff. David Silveria's drums are solid as well and Jonathan Davis sounds pretty good in the verse. The chorus is a little less exciting and is a little flat for these guys I'd say. I think this was meant to be a high energy opener, but it's just not quite as raw and heavy as you'd hope Korn would be. Up next is "Freak On A Leash" and it is one of Korn's most popular songs. It's led by some more trippy sounding guitar and even though things are quiet, there's a haunting and creepy air about things. Davis singing matches this mood perfectly and the guitar gets a little louder as they bridge nicely from the verse to the chorus. Silveria's drums sound great in the chorus and so does Davis' vocals as he nicely carries things. After another verse and chorus Davis starts doing his scat-style singing (a la last album's "Twist") and he sounds pretty insane and pretty cool I think. The guitars nicely build behind him and after a nice "GO" they snap into a heavy new riff and Davis continues to scat sing/yell overtop. It's still very unique and very interesting and I think it sounds pretty good, then they play a final chorus to wrap things up. Track 3 was another succesful single titled "Got The Life" and it has a catchy, toe-tapping beat to it and Fieldy plays some pretty sweet bass as well. Davis yells nicely in the verse and he sounds alright in the chorus as well, but the chorus guitar riff is pretty bland and uneventful. It sounds like they're gearing up for a nice middle section, but they anticlimactically just return to the main riff and jam out several choruses at the end. This certainly wasn't bad, but I think it's lesser Korn for sure. The next track is "Dead Bodies Everywhere" and we hear a super haunting and chilling little riff to open things before they snap into a heavy and pretty bangin'new riff. Fieldy plays some cool bass in the verse and the guitar makes some really strange voices while Davis sings in a nice, quiet voice. He yells way louder in the chorus and things sound pretty sweet here as well, this is more like it! They take a new direction in the middle with a strange and creepy new riff that has lots of weird noises and sounds pretty trippy. Out of this Davis holds a really nice long yell and some heavy guitars come in as Davis yells a nice verse. After a final chorus Davis belts out the name of the song some more and they end it as it began with the haunting and chilling part. Pretty cool song! Track 5 is "Children Of The Korn" and it features rapper Ice Cube who we hear right from the get-go. Davis and Ice Cube take turns singing verses and each time there's a chorus inbetween. The verse has almost no guitars and I'm not a big fan of Ice Cube's parts, and he also does backing vocals on the chorus. Perhaps to some this was a cool feature but it wasn't my favourite. Up next is "B.B.K." and it's got a more typical Korn riff with one heavy guitarist, one trippy guitarist, some solid drums, some cool tapping bass and Davis nicely singing overtop. There's a cool part where Davis' scat singing is mixed with turntables and it sounds pretty good I think! This was definitely an above average Korn song, but there's been a mix so far. Track 7 is "Pretty" and it has a very distorted and pretty cool opening. The verse is another weird one with some strange noises and Davis sings softly to match the strange mood. The chorus is heavier, but the music is pretty simple. Thankfully Davis leads the way and sounds pretty good. After a couple goes through they return to the distorted opening riff and Davis does some nice low growls overtop that sound pretty sweet. They finish with another chorus and this was largely a good song. The next track is "All In The Family" and it's featuring the singer from fellow nu-metal band Limp Bizkit (who I can't stand) Fred Durst. They take an interesting route on this one as Davis and Durst get into a rap battle! They take turns insulting each other in their verses and Durst does some uninspiring backing vocals in the chorus while Davis nicely leads the way. I don't like Durst's singing, but the two do hurl some pretty good insults back and forth and I like the dynamic. Davis's parts are obviously my favourite but I liked this song a lot more than I thought I would going in. Track 9 is "Reclaim My Place" and it has some pretty cool guitar and bass in a fast-paced chorus riff. The verse has a stop-and-start riff that is pretty catchy and together this makes for a pretty solid main riff. They quiet things down briefly, which sets the stage for a headbanging and heavy riff to come crashing in and things sound pretty sweet. Davis says "what the fuck?" and gets louder and louder, yelling nicely overtop a heavy finish to one of the album's better songs for sure. Up next is "Justin", which is named after a young fan of Korn's who died of cancer and his Make-a-Wish Foundation wish was to meet Korn. It's led by an interesting sounding guitar riff that sounds pretty cool before they snap into a repetitive but heavy new chorus riff. Davis sounds good overtop this crazy-sounding main riff and his voice is distorted as well in a chorus that is hard to describe, but it's weird alright. This whole song has lots of interesting and hard to describe noises, and when his voice is his normal, Davis still sounds great. Track 11 is "Seed" and it has a long and strange opening before they finally move into a typical heavy Korn riff. The verse has some more weird noises that sound pretty cool honestly, Head and Munky are channeling their inner Tom Morello and it sounds really interesting. The chorus is more standard Korn but that's not bad at all. Davis sings a verse overtop the strange opening riff, then they snap into a great new part with Davis scat yelling through some turntables and it sounds pretty crazy! I like the scratching along with Davis weird noises and yelps and this is what makes Korn who they are, and it's pretty cool! The next track is "Cameltosis" featuring another rapper named Tre Hardson. The main riff is a slow and strange one that isn't that exciting honestly and Tre's vocals are also nothing special. Davis' chorus is not his best either and this all combines for what's my least favourite song on the album. Most of the vocals are done by Tre and I'm just not a fan at all. The final song on the album is "My Gift To You" and just like their other albums it's by far the longest song (at over fifteen minutes) but there's a bonus song at the end. This track is still a little over seven minutes and Davis plays some creepy bagpipes in the opening before they settle into a slow but nice and heavy main riff. Davis sings nicely overtop and the chorus continues the heavy but chill mood. There's a quiet part with Davis almost whispering and it sets the stage nicely for the following heavy part with Davis pouring out his emotions into some nice yells. After a final chorus the song ends followed by two minutes of silence before the bonus track "Earache My Eye" picks up, and it features Cheech Marin (of Cheech and Chong)! The guys and Cheech just talk for over a minute before the music finally starts and the guitar riff is pretty good in this joke song! Cheech hilariously sings overtop and this is a really weird idea that I never would've thought of, but somehow Cheech joke singing overtop a heavy Korn riff sounds decent! They even slow things way, way down with a pretty sweet breakdown at the end! It was pretty great for a bonus track and a fine way to finish things off.

That is the end of "Follow The Leader" and I thought it was a good album, but not a great one. These was still lots of good songs, but there were also some lesser ones and I wasn't a huge fan of any of the people that featured on it (aside from Cheech). Their other two albums are both rock fucking solid and I don't think this one is anywhere close honestly. Where will Korn go from here? Hopefully up!