Review Summary: Amazing
Korn were an incredibly creative band back when they were actually relevant and had any musical integrity to them instead of the boring and repetitive band they have since become with the release of their dubstep nonsense on their last album and the watered down clones of their early works with Korn III:Remember Who You Are. Maybe it is time to remember who Korn were instead of the pile of *** they have since become. Back when they released their debut they were actually a really solid band who knew how to put a song or two together that actually felt both enjoyable and also very angry.
The vocals were probably the best thing here, delivering some highly depressing and insightful lyrics in a powerful manner. Jon Davis pours his soul into songs such as Blind, Ball Tongue and Clown and even takes on a mockery of old nursery rhymes with Shoots & Ladders. Following the small build up on the introductory track, Blind, he lets loose the scream of all screams with the immortal declaration of "Are you ready?" and you have to question yourself whether you truly are ready. Are you ready to hear the cesspool of filth that Davis crams into his lyrics, the depravity of society and his own personal life? If you are then bravo because this is a magnificent album. The instruments are very simplistic but this matters not because the low end guitar work makes for the perfect soundtrack for Davis to sing and scream over the top of and the bass work is constantly audible and adds a whole lot to the songs, although maybe not to the degree it would do on later albums (the bass was all that made Take A Look In The Mirror listenable at all).
Blind and Ball Tongue are the first two tracks on here and will no doubt be the first two korn songs many people heard back when the band was just starting to get a following. They are fuelled by hate, rage and pure ***ing aggression and Jon sounds completely demented. Clown in particular stands out due to the level Davis takes the anger to on that particular song. Shoots & Ladders sounds completely odd and the transition from singing to screaming with the "give a dog a bone" section really being amazing. Divine and Faget are the other two strongest songs here, showcasing a little rap influence and also some great instrumental work. The real drawback this album has is that after a while it gets stale. There is only so many three note riffs a band can throw into an album before it wears off and this happens by the mid point of the album.
Korn's debut is a must listen for most people however purely due to the aggression that floods the first few songs.
