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Korn
Untouchables
label: Epic/Immortal
released: 06.11.02
our score: 4.0 out of 5.0
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Since their
debut self-titled album, Korn has been considered not only one
of the pioneers of rap/rock, but the definitive group for the
genre. In the years following and through subsequent successful
releases Korn bred a strong following of rock/rap bands eager
to embrace this new genre.
Still, what
bands like Limp Bizkit and their kin were missing, and what would
never get them to a level higher than that occupied by Korn, was
the raw emotionality of Jonathan Davis' lyrics and the band's
refusal to adhere to a set formula. Rather than follow, they led
the genre... and they have led it well.
Untouchables
finds the band moving on from the hype of the rap/rock revolution.
Instead of churning out yet another photocopy of what they bred
and others copied, Untouchables is an exercise in hard-edge
metal. There's no rapping to be found, and it's easily the band's
hardest work to date.
That being
said, Untouchables also finds Korn at their most melodic.
Throughout the album's fourteen tracks the listener is barraged
by a nonstop musical rock flood; but rather than fall into the
rut so many other hard rock bands end up in Untouchables
is a highly melodic and dynamic album. And it's in this simply
amazing use of dynamics that the band truly excels over the rest
of its followers.
In the past
few years I've lost much of my appreciation for bands like Korn,
dismissing them as of a dying breed and replacing their hard-edged
mental expulsions with the lighter sounds of Coldplay or the vintage
rock of The Strokes... and Untouchables isn't enough
for me to re-embrace the entire hard-rock genre. It will, however,
find a place in my 200 disc cd changer - the place my better albums
call home.
25-Aug-2002
5:56 PM

If you
liked Untouchables...
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Tracklist:
1.
Here To Stay
2. Make Believe
3. Blame
4. Hollow Life
5. Bottled Up Inside
6. Thoughtless
7. Hating
8. One More Time
9. Alone I Break
10. Embrace
11. Beat It Upright
12. Wake Up Hate
13. I'm Hiding
14. No One's There
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