DATE: NOVEMBER 6, 1998
FROM: AMANDA CAGAN/ MITCH SCHNEIDER
KORN
`FOLLOW THE LEADER'
CRITICAL SOUNDBITES
"FOLLOW THE LEADER is Korn's challenge to a crop of newcomer bands within the brutal genre the boys from Bakersfield almost single-handedly spawned."
–John Pecorelli, ALTERNATIVE PRESS, September 1998
"In attack and distemper, Korn have the Nineties hip-hop, amp-death aesthetic…down to ferocious perfection."
–David Fricke, ROLLING STONE, Sept. 3, 1998 (four-star review)
"Clearly, the messiah of skateboard punks has outgrown cult status with this theatrical, cathartic and volcanic soundtrack for the young and the reckless… Hammering beats, twin guitar assaults and Jonathan Davis' manic bleats drive home the music's raw rage and untamed spirit."
–Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY, September 1, 1998
"FOLLOW THE LEADER is as tortured as the band's previous records, but its experimental textures and sometimes-eerie melodies mark it as a step forward… Several of the songs mesh Korn's grinding assault with rap in a much more organic way than Run-D.M.C.'s `Walk This Way' could ever have foretold."
–Caren Myers, DETAILS, October 1998
"FOLLOW THE LEADER features some of the most innovative guitar tones ever committed to tape."
–Chris Gill, MAXIMUM GUITAR, October 1998
"One deliciously vicious volley after another of Fieldy's slap-happy bass work and Davis' spit-storm of angry rapping, it is the band's best album yet, virtually ensuring an ever-growing throng of Korn-heads."
–Sara Scribner, REQUEST, October 1998
"On FOLLOW THE LEADER, Korn talks the talk, walks the walk, and rocks the house… Follow this Leader and you can't go wrong."
–Buzz Morison, GUITAR, October 1998
"With FOLLOW THE LEADER, Korn have continued in a modern metal-rock vein, making their heaviest, darkest and perhaps most ambitious album to date."
–Kevin John, ADDICTED TO NOISE, Aug. 28, 1998
"True to Korn form, the album thunders with heavy-hitting guitar and growling lyrics–also true to Korn form, a little hip-hop is tossed in the mix… If you need an adrenaline boost, this is better than a six-pack of Jolt Cola and all five Rocky movies combined. Required listening."
–Jamie Pietras, U MAGAZINE, Fall 1998
"Sledgehammer riffs mixed with techno sound effects and over-the-top shrieks and death-rattle moans from Davis."
–Steve Morse, BOSTON GLOBE, August 14, 1998
"With its fusion of metal guitars, funky rhythms and hip-hop, FOLLOW THE LEADER is a natural extension of the stew-pot sound heard on the band's two previous releases… It all makes FOLLOW THE LEADER a perfect vehicle for suburban tweekers, metalheads, stoners and 7-Eleven devotees to find solace from their problems. Korn's work continues to embrace one big, unhappy family."
–Steffan Chirazi, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, August 16,1998
"Some of the heaviest, most disturbing metal material Korn has released. Teenage wasteland will never be the same."
–Ron Hart, CMJ, August 19, 1998
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