So marching in to start the album is Dead, a short bagpipe-led marching bandesque tune laced with simply chanted vocals and inlaid with Jon whispering 'All I want in life to be happy.' (Don't we all?)
Picking up after just over a minute into the album, we meet one of Korn's legendary tunes (one of many on this album - and another good reason for its success): Falling Away from Me! Its instantly recognizable guitar intro (which endures almost entirely throughout) and polar opposites of vocals, which at times entwine to good effect, make it a spectacularly cathartic piece of music, making way for a second legend in the form of Trash. A real headbanger, full of loathing and Jon's freaky vocals, you can understand his reasoning for the title. It dissolves into a feeling of despair by its close which is extended as the album rolls into 4 U - a massive contrast with its slow delicacy of drum, cymbals and soft guitar, only roughened by Jon's distorted vocals, and made to feel quite personal by his single unadorned 'for you' at the end.
Swaggering back into form is Beg for Me, a raw stomping track, almost schizophrenic in the way Jon's voice transitions from shout to whisper and mirrors the beat in the chorus. But as much as I may have liked this tune, the third iconic Korn song comes along to blow that out of the water. The sinister little guitar intro quickly leads into the recognizable drum 'n bass of Make Me Bad, mixing Jon's initial soft vocals (which at times seem to purr) with raw shouts and that little schizophrenic sing-song voice, and wiping that all away for what feels like a much cleaner sound in the chorus. As it fades out, I almost want it to start over - but no, I get this. Jon's drunken-sounding raving and a simple drum/cymbal and droning guitar tune in It's Gonna Go Away, slowly drowned out by his chant of 'It's [not] gonna go away'.
As if we needed reminding, Wake Up throws us into a wall of noise and pounding vocals, a well-constructed guitar tune, a little swagger and softer vocals, then rewind and repeat, before diving into the chorus. This sounds like it could be about a disagreement in the band - 'Let's take the stage and remember what we play for'; whatever the case, I love it. Maybe not so much the next track, Am I Going Crazy, which practically makes my skin crawl with its backwards sounds and vocals, fitting when you consider Track #10: Hey Daddy. The swaggering intro and Jon's sing-song vocals are just disturbing, like the eye of a storm, before you're hit by the 'wall' in the form of the chorus. These two combine by the end, to staggering effect, fading out to Jon singing 'Hey daddy' (the theme for much of Korn's early discography never ends!)
But then we're treated to what I think is the album lynchpin (some might consider it to be Falling Away From Me, but it needs to be more central, ergo, Somebody Someone). A very recognizable quiet intro which quickly mounts in volume and is then dropped, bouncing back and forth between harsh and soft, and then stumbling into an urgent breakdown with Jon screaming 'I'm dying!', at which point the tempo drops but the weight increases - brilliant - until it ends, and I find my 'filler' track: No Way, neither remarkable nor bad.
The deceptively quiet start to Let's Get This Party Started feels very Korn-esque, but when the heart of the song opens up, all hell breaks loose with very raw vocals and a driving change in guitar. However, the next song departs quite suddenly from convention. The peculiarity of the short, fast (and honestly disturbing) lyrics of Wish You Could Be Me, when mixed with the DJ disc sounds, make for a bit of a head-fuck (if you'll pardon the language), but then it's back to home territory with Counting, a swagger-beat which seems to break down for the anguish-filled chorus. The little voices (this time sounding as if they came from a radio) are present in this one too.
And so to the final song - Dirty. Soft, slow, invasive (sounds like something equally wrong) and swiftly descending into chaos and desperation, highlighted by Jon's line 'I wish you could see the world through my eyes', and back again. The same ominous guitar tune plays throughout, even behind a spate of shouted abusive lyrics, until the whole thing tails off into static.
So yeah, that was Issues. These reviews are making me see these songs for what they really are, and I'm loving it. Next up: Untouchables. See you then!
