Korn

KORN

Formed: 1992, Bakersfield, California

Members: Reginald "Fieldy Snuts" Arzivu, bass (born Bakersfield, California, 2 November 1969); Jonathan Davis, lead vocals, bagpipes (born Bakersfield, California, 18 January 1971); James "Munky" Shaffer, guitar (born Rosedale, California, 6 June 1970); David Silveria, drums (born Bakersfield, California, 21 September 1972); Brian "Head" Welch, guitar (born Torrance, California, 19 June 1970).

Genre: Heavy Metal, Rock

Best-selling album since 1990: Follow the Leader (1998)

Hit songs since 1990: "Freak on a Leash," "Got the Life," "Falling Away from Me"

One of the most distinctive and controversial heavy metal bands of the decade, Korn ascended from mid-1990s cult favorite to late-1990s popular phenomenon. Blending rhythmic elements of funk and hip-hop into an effects-laden stew of eerie, sludgy terror, the group dug deep into a host of adolescent scars with the brutal passion and rage of personal experience. At the forefront of the decade's rap-metal and nu-metal movements, they took a page from their predecessors, Faith No More, but also set trends that others followed.

The band formed in 1992, at a time when the serious Seattle grunge of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden pushed the more shallow 1980s pop metal bands—the likes of Mötley Crüe, Poison, Warrant, and Skid Row—out of the mainstream. From this shift heavier and more substantive bands emerged. Guitarists James "Munky" Shaffer and Brian "Head" Welch, bassist Reginald "Fieldy Snuts" Arzivu, and drummer David Silveria played in a Bakersfield, California, band named LAPD when they met Jonathan Davis. Davis was a mortuary science student who also sang lead vocals in another local band, Sexart. LAPD soon asked Davis to join their band, and Korn was born.

Davis added a substantial measure of childhood trauma to Korn's lyrics and vocals. As a youth he often donned dresses and makeup, behavior that brought him much verbal ridicule and physical harm. Throughout the band's 1994 self-titled debut, he vents his frustrations with menacing ferocity. On "Faget," he moans about sexual confusion: "I'm just a pretty boy / Whatever you call it / You wouldn't know a real man if you saw it." On "Clown" he growls with pent-up anger: "Throw your hate at me with all your might / Hit me 'cause I'm strange, hit me!" And on "Daddy," he cathartically relives memories of molestation: "You've raped! / I feel dirty / It hurt! / As a child / Tied down! / That's a good boy." These candid, angstridden themes of abuse and neglect at school and at home became staples of late 1990s and turn-of-the millennium rock. This was the "new" facet of nu-metal incorporated by Staind, Linkin Park, Papa Roach, and other bands that followed Korn's lead.

Despite little publicity, radio play, or MTV exposure, the band's music slowly reached an audience. Handfuls of adolescent males could relate and found Korn to be a crutch and a release. The band began to develop a sizable underground following that caused their 1996 sophomore album Life Is Peachy to rise to number three on the Billboard 200 album chart within weeks of its release.

In 1998, while recording their third album, Follow the Leader, Korn received national headlines when a student in Zeeland, Michigan, was suspended for wearing a T-shirt with the group's logo. The school's principal claimed their music was "indecent, vulgar, and obscene." The band responded by giving away free T-shirts outside the school and obtaining a cease-and-desist order against the school district. This publicity massively expanded their fan base.

The band built on its higher profile by launching the Korn Kampaign to coincide with the release of Follow the Leader. On this promotional tour of record stores nationwide, band members autographed Korn paraphernalia and had lengthy question-and-answer sessions with fans. Much of their core audience considered the stunt to be a conscious push toward the mainstream.

Whether calculated or considerate, the band's new celebrity paid enormous dividends. MTV put the group in heavy rotation, and their videos for "Got the Life" and "Freak on a Leash" became mainstays on MTV's Total Request Live, a teen-targeted daily video countdown. With fellow heavier acts Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock, Korn balanced out the sugary pop of boy bands such as *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys and teen idols Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.

Follow the Leader debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, went on to multiplatinum success, and became their best-selling album. Issues followed in December 1999, debuting atop the album chart as well. Although Korn never again matched the honesty and intensity of their debut album, the group maintained a consistent, signature sound. Musically, they compromised little to achieve their mainstream success. It was not until Untouchables (2002) that they began to add more melody to their music and even recorded their first version of a ballad, "Alone I Break." The band released the song in 2002 as the third single from the album. This mainstream-minded move once again tested its core fan base. But throughout Korn's career the dependability of the consistent, throbbing pulse, gloomy atmosphere, and intensely personal lyrics captured the allegiance of frustrated youth.

Spot Light: "Freak on a Leash" Video

Korn's music video for "Freak on a Leash" was wildly popular and received several awards, despite its controversial imagery and unfortunate timing. The video, directed by Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris, and Todd McFarlane, features a bullet flying through scenes of everyday American life. The shot originates from the accidental firing of a security guard's gun in an animated world, and it is thrust into reality. The bullet eventually reaches Korn performing. Finally, it returns to the animated world, where a young girl catches it and gives it to the officer.

It became an instant success on MTV's Total Request Live, and viewer votes pushed it to number one on February 25, 1999. The video stayed on or near the top spot until its obligatory retirement after sixty-five days on the countdown. It received little airtime, though, during the last three weeks of its impressive run. The massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, occurred on April 20 of that year. Showing sensitivity to the incident and responsibility toward its viewers, MTV decided to edit out all scenes that include the bullet, which left little to air. Though it was essentially hidden from viewers for the remainder of the year, it was nominated for eight MTV Video Music Awards and won for Best Rock Video and Best Editing. The following year the Grammy Awards also recognized it as Best Music Video (Short Form).

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Korn (Immortal/Epic, 1994); Life Is Peachy (Immortal/Epic, 1996); Follow the Leader (Immortal/Epic, 1998); Issues (Immortal/Epic, 1999).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

L. Furman and E. Furman, Korn: Life in the Pit (New York, 2000).

WEBSITES:

www.korn.com; www.kornweb.com; www.korntv.com.

dave powers