“That was the shit right there!”
“Thanks, dude.”
-Munky and Ray at the end of “Pop A Pill”
Korn has a rock legacy that not that many bands have reached. 17 years in, Korn has blazed a path across the world with tens of millions of records sold and world tours that are well into the double digits. A band loved by many and coming into this year, forgotten by more, III: Remember Who Are sees the band returning to their original mindset. The III in the title referring to this being the spiritual successor to their sophomore album, Life Is Peachy. It doesn’t aim to copy or mimic, but to add to the base with 14 years of experience.
The last 5 years of the band have been the most turbulent. Two original members leaving the band and 2 albums seeing the worst sales of the bands career (See You On The Other Side and Untitled sold “well”, just not up to the huge standards set by the previous 3 or 4). Korn has always changed things up, never trying to repeat themselves. Over the years their albums got larger and grandiose, many thinking for the worse. Crazy album production that often were difficult for the band to play well live. SYOTOS and Untitled brought in more electronic/pop producers that took the edge off the band. There were layers and layers of audio going on, a far cry from the old days. For the record, I don’t think Korn has ever made a bad album, just ones that are better than others. Each one is a different slice of life, each one with it’s own spirit that is still inherently Korn. I thought Untitled was a more concise and thoughtful record than SYOTOS, but the sound has been different and not in the direction that made me love Korn in the first place.
But enough about the past records. Remember Who You Are brings producer Ross Robinson back and he’s punched, kicked and abused Korn back into a raw, powerful nerve of music. The production is much simpler, closer to their original recording style then ever before. Just the 4 bandmates (drummer Ray Luzier gets his first encounter with Robinson here and thankfully he lived through it) recording in a small studio. The album they’ve made here is one that could only be made by Korn, no one else out there sounds like this.
That old Korn energy and spirit is back. It’s loud, it’s obnoxious, it’s wild, it breaths. It makes me feel, something my favorite music does. I think the 12 tracks on this album are the best they’ve done in years.
Ross Robinson has focused Korn’s talents back together; the band just totally gels. Jonathan Davis’ singing is closer to his original style than in recent years. Manic and wild with great changes in pitch and tone show off his emotion that few singers dare to show. Davis has one of the most unique voices around and it works to great effect here. Munky has some of the best guitar work he’s done since Head left. Catchy riffs, notes that swirl and swagger around with punctuations of eerie and weird guitar effects. Fieldy is having a blast here and after the last two albums of his bass being mixed so far behind everyone it’s a joy to hear his trademark sound return with a thunderous groove.
The last element at work here is Ray Luzier on drums. He was made a member of the band in mid-2007 and has put the backbone back into Korn. See You On The Other Side was David Silveria’s worst work (he lost the drive to make music around this time) and Untitled has three drummer credits. There wasn’t a clear and sole vision behind those drums despite being played well by Brooks Wackerman and Terry Bozzio. Ray is a monster behind the kit, he has the passion and drive for making music that David lost. He hits hard and razor sharp like David did, he can change tempo in the blink of an eye and is fast as hell when a song calls for it. He’s a perfect fit for the band and he’s one of the nicest people you could ever meet (I say so having met him in 2009 during the Escape From the Studio Tour). Ray and Fieldy work so well together it’s stupid (just listen to “Fear Is A Place To Live”).
It’s a dirty and powerful album with shades of Korn’s past work sprinkled throughout. There’s a good Life of Peachy vibe at work here that I completely love (most notably on “Pop A Pill”). I really dig the music through the whole disc, it’s a rare find to be able to play an album straight through these days. That said, I have some issues with how Jonathan Davis delivers some lines and he’s got some lackluster lyrics here and there (which isn’t unusual when talking about JD), the first verse to “Holding All These Lies” being my biggest eyebrow raiser. Even so, the bits in the arrangements that I didn’t like on the first few plays have grown on me and make sense to me now.
I’ve always thought Korn was really about the sum of it’s parts. No individual part (or person) of the band would win the accolades of everyone, but together it’s just a different world being pumped into your ears. That really applies on this album. I don’t think Remember Who You Are will convert anyone who thinks Korn stinks, but if you are or ever have been a fan, it’s an amazing feeling.
*The Deluxe Edition has 3 bonus tracks and a DVD. “Trapped Underneath The Stairs” and “People Pleaser”. Both are great but People Pleaser is really only 4 minutes long. The last 3 minutes is pretty much nonsense. Disappointing as I was looking forward to hearing what Korn would come with it for their first really lengthy track. The last bonus track is a live recording of “Blind” from the Hammerstein in NYC from this year. The DVD is decent. It has footage from the recording studio edited to make a music video. The problem is the poor editing (really don’t need to see JD 80% of the time) and the awful and cheap looking effects placed on top of the video. There’s no “making of” footage here like on the DVD that came with Untitled which is really disappointing. Some great video of that nature can be found online though.*