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Issues
11/16/1999 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Sandy Masuo
By now Korn's signature seething angst and twisted tales are a familiar landmark on the hard-rock landscape, but that doesn't mean Bakersfield's foremost aggro outfit is immune to growth. Over the course of four albums, the quintet has steadily refined its gnarly rock with playing sharpened by years of touring and a steadily expanding palette of sounds.
Sandwiched between the bagpipe and drum intro and the staticky white noise
outro of "Issues" are the usual grinding rhythms and Jonathan Davis's
idiosyncratic vocals, plus a few pleasing--if not pleasant--surprises. Genuine
harmonies lash out in "Falling Away From Me"; "Let's Get The Party Started"
opens with guitars that are astonishingly naked without abrasive layers of
distortion; the doomy dance floor action in "Hey Daddy" is the funkiest Korn
kernel to date. The issues fueling Korn may be losing their shock value, but
they're still charged enough to keep the band moving forward.
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