Each Korn album is ranked from worst to best (2023)

Kornare the founding fathers ofnow metallic, and a band that single-handedly changed the direction of heavy music in the 1990s. They've had their ups and downs, but their best albums are among the best in metal. Here are Korn's 14 albums so far, from worst to best.

14. Korn III: Remember Who You Are (2010)

On paper, the decision to bring the producer backRoss Robinsonfor the first time in over a decade, and it was exciting to have him on a heavier, lighter album. Unfortunately, that's not really what we brought with usMore III. Instead, it's a forced and inappropriate reworking of his earlier material. Start with the lightOildale (leave me alone)but it goes south pretty quickly with songs liketake a pillmiare you ready to liveThey sound uncomfortably disjointed, not catchy enough to compete with their newer material, and certainly not as effective as the overwhelming material on the first album. everything comes outMore IIIin a frustrating no man's land.

13. Look in the Mirror (2003)

By 2003, the nu metal scene was in tatters and the band themselves were catching up. The latest record with drummer David Silveria and guitarist.Brian „Cabeza“ Welch(at least until he returned over a decade later),look in the mirrorit's quite a limp effort, normal. But ironically with an openerAt the momentremains a fan favorite to this day and how ridiculousyou only want oneAs it represents a unique moment in Korn's career, it's unfair to call the album that a total failure, except surrounded by too many mundane moments to stand out in a catalog of such quality.

12. Untitled Album (2007)

Korn deserve credit for at least trying something new on their officially untitled eighth album. They've teamed up with the writing and production team at The Matrix, best known for their work with Britney Spears and Avril Lavigne, to create the most popular album of their career. It might have looked like an odd fit on paper, but for the first half at least, it works like a charm.Bitch we got a problem, start over, waitand especially the simple onesEvolutionGive Korn new life. Unfortunately, the album falls off a cliff in the second half, but it's still interesting enough to look at positively.

11. See you on the other side (2005)

By the mid-2000s, Korn was creaking under the pressure of her own legacy. ANDsee you on the other sidebad record? Absolutely not. actually you guessmushroom head, Godhead or any of the bands that came after would give up their insane collection of beards to pretty much write a songTwisted TransistorÖRuin.But at the end of the day, the album is just an inferior version of what was previously served, stretched by 60 minutes. Still, if this were your first Korn album, there's a lot here that would make you dig deeper.

10. The Paradigm Shift (2013)

Hugely popular with the Korn fan base at the time because it was the first album in a decade to bring Head back to guitar, but with the benefit of distance it's clear they've done a better job before and since. With a lot of great singles (Love and meth, haters,Never) felt like a kind of rebirth. But looking at the album as a whole it doesn't seem to be consistent enough to chart higher.

9. The Serenity of Suffering (2016)

one step higherthe paradigm shift,ButThe Serenity of Sufferingit's still a bit sketchy to hold its own against the best of Korn's back catalogue. The Return of Scat Singing Styles fromjonathan daviswas the big theme of the album's brilliant first singlerots in vain, and the furious furrow ofHassit is impossible not to be seduced. But the vaunted appearance ofdidn't workCorey Taylor emanother worldIt was a disappointment to do itThe Serenity of Sufferinga mix of an album.

8. The Way of Wholeness (2011)

Without doubt,The Way of Wholenessit is the most original record of Korn's career. Recorded at the height of Jonathan Davis' dubstep obsession, this is essentially an all electronic record with Davis at the helm. It includes collaborations with the biggest names in dub-step at the time, like Excision, Noisia and Downlink, but the biggest hits were when Korn teamed up with scene king Skrillex with artists like SkrillexArise! Chaos lives in everythingand absolutely massiveNarcissistic cannibal.Many fans hated it, many loved it: Almost a decade later, it still sounds good in some places and dated in others, so maybe they were both right. Regardless, it belongs in a decent position on our list due to its innovative and innovative nature.

7th editions (1999)

IfProblemsReleased in 1999, Korn were real superstars: in the week it was released, it reached #1 on the Billboard 200 and held its ownDr. Dreand Celine Dion, selling over half a million copies in six days. On the album itself, Korn returned to the darker themes they had avoided on their previous album.follow the leader, while maintaining the brilliant sound and massive production that made this album such a success. The result is usually great:Pray for me, wrong memisomeone someoneThey're as good as anything Korn has ever made, andfall away from meit is one of his best anthems. The only reason it's so low on this list is because the bar is set so high.

6. Life is Perfect (1996)

The long-awaited sequel to one of metal's greatest debuts,life is perfectdelivery mostly. A much more experimental and occasionally wacky album than its predecessor, it offers moments of genuine brilliance:There's nowhere to hideCover for ice bucketMeanwith Chino Moreno outskill, the troublemakerHerr Rogersand the madmanChi.But all are surpassed by natureGood God, which boasts the best song Korn has ever written. It's just the stupid parts of the album - a cover of Warlow rider,the useless drift ofcreep pornand the blasphemy prevailsHe can! –which disappointed him altogether.

5. Or Nothing (2019)

A deeply heartbreaking and personal album,Or nothingwas recorded after the tragic death ofDeven, ex-wife of Jonathan Davis. Somehow Davis found the strength to make the best Korn album in almost 20 years.cold can you hear memiThe dark is revealingThey're as big as anything the band has created in the 21st century, but they were also filled with unfiltered anger, pain and sadness. There are also sound experiments with tempo, rhythm and electronic elements in songs likeidiosyncrasy,show that Korn is far from a creatively spent force. A triumph of tragedy.

4. Requiem

In these unprecedented times, what coin is worth the simplicity of nostalgia? if it's grainRequiem It's all to get through, big problems.RequiemThe scarce 32-minute runtime eschews the experimentation that allowed Korn to overcome nu-metal's demise and strips away all the fat to deliver a masterclass in Korn's most basic and essential ingredients. There's something pure and anthemic in songs likeforgotten,lost in sizemiseparate, whileThe healing beginsfeels like an implicit acknowledgment of the difficulties the band has facedOr nothing. The fact that Korn has managed to make the top 20 albums in both the UK and US (as well as number one in Australia) certainly lends credibility to the idea of ​​oneNu-Metal-Revival.

3. Follow the Leader (1998)

follow the leadermade Korn into superstars.Monsters on a leashis almost certainly the song they are best known for,i have lifeis as lively as Korn has ever sounded, and howIt's on, bodies everywheremiB.B.K.It's the first time Korn has heard the massive precision performance of stadium metal meld with its booming, booming dynamics to such a crushing effect. What disappoints is the filling: Fred DurstIs connectedeveryone in the familyhasn't aged well musically or lyrically, the same goes for those likecamel sugarand the cover of Cheech & Chong'searache my eye.A classic, for sure, and an incredibly important record, but it sounds a bit tired in places these days.

2. Untouchables (2002)

The band estimates the most expensive album ever recorded at the time of its release.inviolableIt cost over $3 million to make. It sounds like money well spent, with Brian Welch and James 'Munky' Shaffer's pounding guitars as wild as ever and Fieldy's bass low enough to shake the ocean floor. But that would be nothing without the songs themselves.goose lifeIt was the first time the gothic noir that Korn now uses so well was heard,i just breakit was incredibly close to ballad territory for Korn and yet it worked and of course the mountainous groove ofhere to stayit's one of the most beloved moments in the band's career. But it could have been expensiveinviolableit is almost untouchable.

1. Korn (1994)

It really couldn't be anything else. More than a quarter century after its publication, Kornalbum debutcaused a seismic shift in the metal. From the moment Jonathan Davis asked us if we were readyBlindchanged our scene forever. They drew on the influence of Faith No More, Rage Against The Machine and hip-hop, but made something completely new out of it.spherical tongue,Divine,The topicmishots and laddersit seethed with pain, anger and self-loathing in a way metal bands had never expressed before.

A parade of imitators and followers who took the album's sound and reworked it without the touch of innovation Korn possessed, but the legacy of the original remains intact: this is a record as important to modern metal as it is first. .black saturdayalbum thatmetallicvonPuppeteer.