Rank The Albums!

Let's rank some Korn.

14. Remember Who You Are
13. Untitled
12. The Path of Totality
11. See You on the Other Side
10. Life is Peachy
9. The Serenity of Suffering
8. The Paradigm Shift
7. Take a Look in the Mirror
6. Untouchables
5. Issues
4. Requiem
3. The Nothing
2. Follow the Leader
1. Korn

@LeeVing get in on this
I woulda guessed they had 8 albums in their discography.
 
Korn.



I’m going to start by saying that I don’t think they have any “bad” albums. There’s some at the bottom that I think aren’t great...and I just don’t listen to those all that often. But even those have a song or 2 that I like.


14. Life Is Peachy - a disappointing sophomore album, too much filler

13. Untitled - sounds a bit tired. First album w/out original drummer.

12. Remember Who You Are - going “back to their roots” didn’t work…some tracks are really good.

11. See You On The Other Side - not bad…just a bit more of the same

10. Take A Look In The Mirror - again…not bad…just a bit more of the same

09. The Path Of Totality - I didn’t like this when it came out and I pretty much ignored it. I’ve recently come around and it’s not that bad. I give them a pass for trying out something new. I see it like the White Zombie/Rob Zombie remix albums that I like - only this is an original remix album.

08. The Paradigm Shift - a good “comeback” album after the dub-step

07. Untouchables - #7 thru #3 can be moved all around and could change any time…they all are great albums.

06. The Serenity Of Suffering - not a bad album, but I do need to listen to it more.

05. Follow The Leader - great "mainstream" album...has gotten a touch out of date.

04. Requiem - I've been very impressed with their new albums. I think having Head back in the band has been a good thing.

03. Issues - this album seems to have most of the tracks that I want to hear when I think that I need to listen to Korn.

02. The Nothing - their first “great” album in a while.

01. Korn - I was a little late liking this - I really didn’t care for “nu-metal” when it first started coming around - I was still big on Metallica. But a friend in college got me listening to this and it stuck - RIP Josh.


I'll add that i own them all on vinyl except for See You On The Other Side...as there isn't an official vinyl release of it. There's a somewhat recent counterfeit pressing, but I don't like it enough to spend the absurd amount counterfeits are priced at.
 
Last edited:
Korn.



I’m going to start by saying that I don’t think they have any “bad” albums. There’s some at the bottom that I think aren’t great...and I just don’t listen to those all that often. But even those have a song or 2 that I like.


14. Life Is Peachy - a disappointing sophomore album, too much filler

13. Untitled - sounds a bit tired. First album w/out original drummer.

12. Remember Who You Are - going “back to their roots” didn’t work…some tracks are really good.

11. See You On The Other Side - not bad…just a bit more of the same

10. Take A Look In The Mirror - again…not bad…just a bit more of the same

09. The Path Of Totality - I didn’t like this when it came out and I pretty much ignored it. I’ve recently come around and it’s not that bad. I give them a pass for trying out something new. I see it like the White Zombie/Rob Zombie remix albums that I like - only this is an original remix album.

08. The Paradigm Shift - a good “comeback” album after the dub-step

07. Untouchables - #7 thru #3 can be moved all around and could change any time…they all are great albums.

06. The Serenity Of Suffering - not a bad album, but I do need to listen to it more.

05. Follow The Leader - great "mainstream" album...has gotten a touch out of date.

04. Requiem - I've been very impressed with their new albums. I think having Head back in the band has been a good thing.

03. Issues - this album seems to have most of the tracks that I want to hear when I think that I need to listen to Korn.

02. The Nothing - their first “great” album in a while.

01. Korn - I was a little late liking this - I really didn’t care for “nu-metal” when it first started coming around - I was still big on Metallica. But a friend in college got me listening to this and it stuck - RIP Josh.


I'll add that i own them all on vinyl except for See You On The Other Side...as there isn't an official vinyl release of it. There's a somewhat recent counterfeit pressing, but I don't like it enough to spend the absurd amount counterfeits are priced at.
I haven't followed them since Untouchables, but these rankings convinced me to listen to The Nothing, which was pretty interesting. They don't really move me anymore, but I can see the uptick in quality.

1) Jonathan Davis still sounds pretty amazing, his voice hasn't aged. I like that he's embraced that low, near-death, growl.
2) I do occasionally put on Ball Tongue from the S/T. That chorus still sounds remarkable. I mean, when that came out nobody sounded like him when he did his "scatting," for lack of a better term. As that song builds to the final chorus, he just sounds like a wild animal.
 
I haven't followed them since Untouchables, but these rankings convinced me to listen to The Nothing, which was pretty interesting. They don't really move me anymore, but I can see the uptick in quality.

1) Jonathan Davis still sounds pretty amazing, his voice hasn't aged. I like that he's embraced that low, near-death, growl.
2) I do occasionally put on Ball Tongue from the S/T. That chorus still sounds remarkable. I mean, when that came out nobody sounded like him when he did his "scatting," for lack of a better term. As that song builds to the final chorus, he just sounds like a wild animal.
For a couple years in high school, they were absolutely the band to listen to, it was wild. And not just for the outcasts, but the jocks and (some of the) girls alike. This was 2003-2005, so not like they were putting out their best stuff either, we were just poring over their back catalog. So many distinct tracks on their S/T, which for 1994 was absolutely groundbreaking. Blind, Ball Tongue, Clown, F*get, Shoots and Ladders, Predictable.
 
I think I'm well versed enough in the A Thousand Leaves and after SY albums to do a ranking now. I feel like I listen to them more presently than I ever have thanks to spending the last couple years familiarizing myself with their later work. As you can see ATL/MS/SN especially made an imprint on me...

Sonic Youth

1. Daydream Nation
2. Goo
3. Sister
4. Murray Street
5. A Thousand Leaves
6. Dirty
7. Sonic Nurse
8. Experimental Jet Set, Trash And No Star
9. Washing Machine
10. EVOL
11. Rather Ripped
12. Bad Moon Rising
13. The Eternal
14. NYC Ghosts & Flowers
15. Confusion Is Sex
16. Sonic Youth

This was the SY ranking that was closest to mine.

1. Daydream Nation
2. Goo
3. Sister
4. Murray Street
5. EVOL
6. Dirty
7. Confusion Is Sex
8. Washing Machine
9. Bad Moon Rising
10. Experimental Jet Set, Trash And No Star
11. NYC Ghosts & Flowers
12. A Thousand Leaves
13. The Eternal
14. Rather Ripped
15. Sonic Nurse
16. Sonic Youth

I really love Murray St -- I'd bought it more or less when it came out but hadn't really given it a long listen, and I had had foot surgery, and wound up hobbling through my father's house leaving bloody footprints, dizzy from the painkillers. I crashed on the bed, too dizzy to move, and the last thing i did was hit play on the CD player. It's an amazing album. I like NYCG&F more than others, I guess -- the beat influence is strong on it and I dig that -- but I get why people aren't as into it as the other stuff. Confusion is Sex is to me when they really started bridging out from the NY no wave noise punks into the more heady artsy aggro noise stuff; I blame the SWANS tour they went on between the first album and CIS ("world is red" has Gira lyrics on it I think)
 
For a couple years in high school, they were absolutely the band to listen to, it was wild. And not just for the outcasts, but the jocks and (some of the) girls alike. This was 2003-2005, so not like they were putting out their best stuff either, we were just poring over their back catalog. So many distinct tracks on their S/T, which for 1994 was absolutely groundbreaking. Blind, Ball Tongue, Clown, F*get, Shoots and Ladders, Predictable.
I watched one of the Woodstock 99 documentaries, and seeing the crowd when they opened with Blind there was... intense.
 
re: korn

I owned their first 3 on CD back in high school but I can’t say I’ve had much desire to go back an revisit any of them.

this is also my feeling on them. Much like weezer, the first album is amazing, the 2nd was pretty good and everything after is forgettable trash that should be forgotten PDQ. Which is so weird, because that first album was so, so fresh. They really did a unique thing with hardcore that no one else was doing, musically, and the emo goth hardcore freakout lyrics were also incredibly unique.
 
13. The Eternal
14. Rather Ripped
15. Sonic Nurse
Based on your ranking of the rest of SY latter day albums and your fondness of Murray Street once you finally spent som time with it, have you just neglected those albums or do ya genuinely not enjoy them nearly as much? Just curious. Personally Murray Street, Sonic Nurse and Rather Ripped are all of similar quality and sound stylistically.
 
Based on your ranking of the rest of SY latter day albums and your fondness of Murray Street once you finally spent som time with it, have you just neglected those albums or do ya genuinely not enjoy them nearly as much? Just curious.
I just think the other albums are better than those. I spend serious time with nurse, ripped and eternal. I think eternal is a strong end to the band and ripped/nurse are solid, through and through. The first album is the only one I think is really "meh". (detroyed room / inOUTin / I would put sliiiightly above the nurse/ripped/eternal trio)

Personally Murray Street, Sonic Nurse and Rather Ripped are all of similar quality and sound stylistically.

I think Murray St is head and shoulders better than the other three -- it's more melodic and I think O'Rourke really added to it. His other contributions to the band were good, but not as good (see SYR etc etc)
 
I just think the other albums are better than those. I spend serious time with nurse, ripped and eternal. I think eternal is a strong end to the band and ripped/nurse are solid, through and through. The first album is the only one I think is really "meh". (detroyed room / inOUTin / I would put sliiiightly above the nurse/ripped/eternal trio)



I think Murray St is head and shoulders better than the other three -- it's more melodic and I think O'Rourke really added to it. His other contributions to the band were good, but not as good (see SYR etc etc)
Yeah, Murray is my fave too but I have Sonic Nurse and Rather Ripped more interspersed throughout but like you said it’s not they any of them a bad. It’s mostly a preference thing in a lot of cases.
 
re: korn



this is also my feeling on them. Much like weezer, the first album is amazing, the 2nd was pretty good and everything after is forgettable trash that should be forgotten PDQ. Which is so weird, because that first album was so, so fresh. They really did a unique thing with hardcore that no one else was doing, musically, and the emo goth hardcore freakout lyrics were also incredibly unique.

I'd add make believe to the list of listenable Weezer albums.
 
George Harrison

Not sure what came over me but I started listening to his solo albums over the past month. I read the reviews of the records after listening and it surprised me how much Dark Horse has been absolutely hated. I think the laryngitis voice fits the theme of the album

1. All Things Must Pass
2. Dark Horse
3. Cloud Nine
4. Brainwashed
5. Living In The Material World
6. George Harrison
7. Extra Texture
8. Thirty Three & 1/3
9. Gone Troppo
10. Somewhere In England
11. Wonderwall
12. Electric Sound
I've been working my way through these lately too. It's been so many years since I've heard most of them that it's like discovering several for the first time. Like, I don't remember loving Cloud Nine before, but I'm loving it now. Dark Horse is up next.
 
I've been working my way through these lately too. It's been so many years since I've heard most of them that it's like discovering several for the first time. Like, I don't remember loving Cloud Nine before, but I'm loving it now. Dark Horse is up next.
Think I might listen along with you, if you don’t mind…
 
eh, it's really not that bad IMO. It kind of fits with that "classic surf rock" vibe the album has. If it originally had come out in the 1960s it would fit right in.
I also didn’t realize it was an homage to this album, released in 1979

 
Think I might listen along with you, if you don’t mind…
I've really come to love Dark Horse and have listened to it about half a dozen times over the last couple weeks. Living in the Material World has fallen the furthest with me liking it far less than I recall, and Wonderwall Music has climbed the highest with it being one I've listened to a couple times and quite enjoy now but didn't much care for when I was younger. But my top three are matching yours too. Dark Horse is great!
 
I also didn’t realize it was an homage to this album, released in 1979

This reminded me, Tennis did a very cool AMA last week that’s worth checking out



The track “Robin” of Young and Old was asked about and Alaina said it was paying homage to a very old song on the Robin Hood soundtrack from 1973. So this tracks that they’re very into some vintage styles in their look and sound.
 
This reminded me, Tennis did a very cool AMA last week that’s worth checking out



The track “Robin” of Young and Old was asked about and Alaina said it was paying homage to a very old song on the Robin Hood soundtrack from 1973. So this tracks that they’re very into some vintage styles in their look and sound.

That’s cool, I’ve more appreciation for the album cover now that I know it wasn’t quite as deliberate of a design choice.

I was reading my 1000 Album Covers book and that Lisa one just popped up and I was like

7C23AD02-36D0-4E9E-B5CB-342660BAC188.jpeg
 
Back
Top