|
|
Time, of course, is a cruel thing. And it seems a harsh irony that, in a year where US metal has been dominated by punk getting political again with the "Rock Against Bush" movement on one hand and the resurrection of proper skyscraping epic glam metal with the emergence of Velvet Revolver on the other, that one-time nu-metal megaliths Korn should throw out a "Greatest Hits".
This, y'see, should be a triumph. But it isn't. Not least because time hasn't just been unkind to Korn, it's been bloody brutal. Remember how ten years ago when they broke on the scene with the pummelling "Blind", they sounded like furious angry bastards ready to tear the post-grunge metal environment a new arsehole? Sadly it doesn't work like that anymore. Where Jonathan Davis once sounded like he was pouring every single ounce of bile and hatred in his wiry frame out at once, next to the wasted eloquence of Scott Weiland and the righteous anger of groups like Bad Religion and the new-look Ministry, he just sounds like a spoilt little brat who needs to grow the fuck up and put his issues behind him. And whereas once the guitars sounded like six-string spiked breezeblocks repeatedly smashing you in the face, next to Slash's shameless proficiency and the lightning quick axework of the likes of Billie Joe Armstrong, they now just sound artless and dull. And what little sympathy you may have left for Korn quickly evaporates once you realise that, had the metal landscape not been in such a parlous state around 1994-98, this band probably wouldn't have been anywhere near as big as they were.
Sad but true - this band will never rock your world again. File next to Limp Bizkit in the "hope they get the message and call it a day some time soon" folder.
Rating: 4/10
Reviewed by Andy James
