No Filler Music Podcast - Ep 33: Korn and the Rise of Nu-Metal

Episode Date: April 7, 2019

We take a deep dive into Korn, the pioneers that took metal into new directions with their unique blend of funk, hip hop, and thrash. Nu-metal took off with a slew of imitators and fast-followers, but Korn's lead singer Jonathan Davis and the rest of his bandmates always stayed one step ahead of the sound they created, pushing the envelope and finding new ways to evolve the genre. What really made Korn so different than their successors was Davis' truly unique vocal performances, ranging from unfiltered emotional outbursts to spazzy scat freakouts and everything in between. Here's our look at Korn's first four amazing records. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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It's hockey season, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can't get a nice rank on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just plain old ice? Yes, we deliver those. Goaltenders, no, but chicken tenders, yes. because those are groceries and we deliver those too, along with your favorite restaurant food, alcohol, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. Welcome to No Filler. The music podcast dedicated to sharing the often overlooked hidden gyms that fill the space between the singles on our favorite records. My name is Travis. I'm fucking pumped up right now, dude. Because of that song, it gets me going every time.

What's my name, dude? Thanks for introducing me. I got my brother Quentin here. Just trash on the sidewalk, dude. Hold on a minute. Throwback. So that's a Fleet Fox's song right there. So if you don't know who that was,

or if you didn't read the episode title that you're listening to right now, we are talking about the new metal pioneers corn. So is that, how do you spell that? How do you spell corn with a C? Spelled with a K and a backwards R. And there's a story behind all of that, Cam. We'll go into that later. So we did not record a sidetrack episode last week.

No, we did not. And you know what? I'm getting sick and tired of my computers being the problem, dude. Because we've dealt with this in the past where, like, like last time it was my Macbook where like my recordings would we'd listen back to my end of the conversation

it would be all glitchy and weird now my fucking Windows laptop decided that the fan just decided to shit out on us so the central cooling fan in my laptop just fucking died pretty much

and it popped up this weird message is like, hey, just letting you know your laptop's going to be overheating if you keep using it. So I just wanted to let you know. I mean, at least it was nice enough to tell you that. Yeah. So we recorded our sidetrack for the Tribe Called Quest episode that we did. And then when I tried to save it, it just did the whole, you know, hourglass symbol. And it just kept doing that for like hours. And I kept checking back on it like, well, maybe if I give it some time, it'll figure it out and it'll save it.

And then it just died. Yeah, that's the equivalent of the spinning wheel on a Mac or the blinking light on an Xbox 360. Or the blue screen of death, right? Right. Well, that's all right. So, yeah, so I got an external cooling fan. The laptop's sitting on top of it now. I think it's doing fine, bro.

I hope so. You know what? If you're listening to this now, all is kosher. But I'm kind of bummed because I was pretty excited to share some tunes from this band we're going to cover called Digable Planets, which is another hip-hop band from the same era as a tribe called Quest. They're great. I would put them in the jazz hip-hop category, just like Tribe. And I think they deserve a shout-out.

Maybe we'll do a full episode on them someday. Because I want to cover more hip-hop at some point, dude. Absolutely. Yeah, I had a blast talking about Tribe last week. two weeks ago. Yeah, that was great, man. That was great. But, hey, we're pulling a 180 now.

So, I don't know, man. I was well aware of who corn was back then, because, like you and like many people, our age, so we're in our early 30s, we were all about MTV and TRL when we, you know, around that time, I run the time that corn hit the scene. But I didn't listen to them on my own.

Well, I mean, that's where you and I differ, because I did listen to them on my own. Our father had to purchase issues, the album that came out in 1999 for me because I was too young to buy it myself. It had like a, you know, parental guidance warning label slapped on it. Hang on, issues, issues. Oh, dude, I recognize that now.

I'm looking at the album cover. Right. Falling away from me jumps out. That was one of their singles on that. Yep. Holy shit, man. I didn't know you owned that. Yeah, man.

So here's the funny thing, dude. I was actually thinking about this. If I had handed over a copy of either their self-titled album or Life is Peachy to my dad and was like, hey, can you get, can you buy me this? I bet you he wouldn't have done it. I feel like Issues is the first. album cover well maybe maybe father later

doesn't look too bad but like if I said hey can you buy me this and show him the self-titled he would have been like fuck now because that album is creepy looking dude or life is peachy that is fucking creepy

holy shit oh my god okay I just want to describe the cover real quick here looks like a kid looking at himself in the mirror and in the mirror reflection

there's like a creepy-ass shadowy looking figure standing directly behind him. But like, you can see the back of the kid looking at himself in the mirror. And that fucking figure is not there in real life. So whatever that is, that's like an apparition or whatever. Inner demon, maybe. I don't like it. I don't like it.

There you go. So like issues, it's just like a, it looks like a voodoo doll with his guts spilling out. I, dude, that's innocent. I remember that album cover vividly Probably because you owned it I just didn't I don't remember that man Right So anyway

You know I was a budding Metal enthusiast even at the age of like 13 You know so So anyway I will say that I never really Went beyond that As far as like listening to them It wasn't until maybe last year

Or the year before that I really gave Corn a good listen through. And I'm a huge, huge fan of their, their body of work now. And there's just something about,

I mean, they really were the kind of the first new metal, that's in you metal. The first new metal band that really got, got mainstream attention and, and, you know, had the huge record sales

to back it up. What exactly is new metal? What does that mean? What's the difference between that and old school metal? New metal, the main characteristics of new metal, it mixes sort of thrash metal and like funk metal, groove metal with hip-hop and rap elements. And a lot of times it's defined by these like drop-down tuned,

like seven-string guitars. That's why when you hear like new metal guitar riffs, It is super, like, low end and, like, super heavy and like... Yeah, dude. It's like, especially with, like, the bass lines, it almost sounds like... It's like they've loosened it to the point that it's, you know, like, there's almost no tension at all. Yeah, well, the, yeah, the bass player of Korn, his name is Reginald Fieldy Arvizu. Like, he slaps that, like he...

What part of that name did he change? just for the sake of being in the spotlight. Reginald? Yeah, that's probably why he was like, man, guys, we got to come up with nicknames because my name is Reginald. What was the nickname? Reginald what now? Fieldy.

Yeah, so we'll, I'll name the roster here in a second. But like, yeah, he does this really like, like it's very like sort of a signature sound. Like he's got this, he just slaps the shit out. Like, it's, you know, slapping the bass, right? Yeah. So anyway, Corn is kind of

the band that is responsible for like new metals mainstream popularity and Limp Biscuit and Kid Rock were making music the same time

that corn was. And then in the early 2000s is when it just went huge as far as like mainstream popularity and you had bands like Papa Roach

stained POD Stained, dude. And, and, and, uh,

You said Lincoln Park. I think Lincoln Park, I mean, they were definitely huge. Linkin Park, because, dude, because they had that one dude that always wore those crazy contact lenses that made his eyes look all blacked out. No, you're thinking of Limpisket. Oh, my bad. That guy was on Limpisket. Okay. But Lincoln Park had the dude that, like, wrapped.

Yeah. It would be like a few lines in every song where a guy wrapped. Well, that's it. Okay, so that's part of it. That's new metal. Okay. That's the thing is that Corn, uh, the lead singer Jonathan Navis, Davis, he never really rapped.

He himself never wrapped. We'll talk about all that. So let's get into corn. So let me ask you this real quick, dude, because you haven't mentioned any yet, I'm just curious. Are we covering one specific album today, or are we just going to kind of dive into corn? I wanted to play, I'm going to play a song from each of their first four albums. Nice. Okay.

Because I couldn't decide on one. And I think their earlier music doesn't get much attention. you know, because once Follow the Leader came out, they were, they exploded into fucking mainstream popularity. They were all over MTV and the earlier stuff doesn't get much recognition. So. And that was their third album. That was their third album.

Yeah. So I guess we could maybe talk about, just briefly kind of talk about the bands that kind of influenced like the predecessors. So like I was saying earlier, it's funk metal. Funk alternative rock kind of stuff like Rage Against the Machine, red hot chili peppers, bands like Helmet, and then you have on like the more like metal side, like thrash and groove metal, bands like Sepuletura, Anthrax, Pantera. And the thing about anthrax is that they, they were kind of the first metal bands to really

integrate rap into their music. they had like a heavy metal rap album that came out in 87 like an EP called I'm the Man. So like that's kind of the groundwork for new metal is bands like that. That's who influenced Korn and those other bands that we talked about. So let's name the roster here for Korn. You've got James Monkey Schaefer on rhythm guitar. As I said earlier, Reginald Fieldy Arvizu on bass, Brian Head Welch

Lee Guitar backing vocals Jonathan Davis lead singer He also played bagpipes On some of the songs What? Yeah You can hear it

On some of the tracks And then David Silveria Was the drummer He for whatever reason Him and Jonathan did not have nicknames But the other guys did So anyway Monkey

Fieldy and David the drummer, had a band in 1989 that was more funk metal called LAPD. And they listed off Faith No More and Red Hot Chili Peppers as their influences. Head joined shortly afterwards and they renamed their band to Creep. So they had a singer that they played with. and I guess he wasn't really, I'm going to quote Ross Robinson here. He's the producer of their first two records, Korn's first two records. He was talking about LAPD, or I guess they were called Creep.

He says, the band wasn't dark yet. It had killer grooves and good riffs, but there was a happy edge to it. And when Jonathan walked into the room, it went dark and goff. So basically, here's how Jonathan comes into the picture. He was in a different band called Sex Art. There was also funk metal. He was like 22 years old at the time. And what kind of made him stand out to the group is how emotionally raw his performances would be

and how like intense he would get. And so they asked him to come rehearse for them. and he shows up and as Ross Robinson says he says that during the first song he started freaking the hell out and you couldn't hear his voice

but you felt chills all over your body and they all felt like you know hey this is this is the guy like he's the one so like basically you know the way that you know the guitar is the bass the drum it has this dark edge to it

but if paired with just your standard kind of singer, it just doesn't work too well. But when you pair it up with Jonathan Davis and what he brings to the table, that's when you have this unique sound. So let's just go ahead and dive right into a track off their very first record. And this song in particular, it's called Ball Tongue. and as Fieldy says about the song he says that when they heard

like when they heard this played back to them in the studio like while they were recording he says that it felt like they had finally hit that song that represented everything the corn had stood for again it's called ball tongue so here we go so you heard

Jonathan Davis sort of started doing that kind of like scat kind of thing that he kind of does sometimes, you know? Yeah. He was actually saying words like, you know, later on like on like a freak on a leash and some songs on their next album. Like he's doing sort of the gibberish kind of scatting that he sort of does, right? It's almost like he's speaking in tongues or something.

But like he was doing that right from the beginning, you know, like. So like like what fieldie was saying, it's like this was a song where they're like, Like, this is the sound, you know. They already figured it out and there's their first record, you know. And if you're listening to the guitar and the bass and stuff, the guitar work is very similar to, like I mentioned, bands like Helmet. There's even like this thrash band, thrash metal band called Prong that sounds like the guitar work is very familiar. So it's like, you know, they were influenced by those sort of like more alternative metal bands like that. Yeah, and the drums like for me, right off the bat, I noticed like that super, super tight snare drum.

Kind of reminded me of that like piccolo snare. That the drummer from 311 would always, you know, that was like the 311 sound. I guess for drummers, you notice like. like super, super tight snare drum, you know? Yeah, yeah. Like you almost don't even notice the snares on it, if that makes any sense to anyone. Yeah, well, I mean,

it's that super tight snare drum. Like 311 is even considered, they're considered a funk rock, uh, rap rock band as well. They're not, they're not really new metal. Yeah.

But, I mean, especially their early stuff. Yeah. And with 311, they've got like that reggae side to them, you know? And I feel like there's a little bit of that with that, that drums on, right? right so anyway exactly so that you know this was kind of the sound that that made corn stand out and really in my opinion it's jonathan davis's voice that makes him so unique and like he even heard on that song like he's really good at like going from like really soft sort of like he's got this like sickly sweet kind of tone to his voice and then he'll just go straight into like just screaming you know yeah i like i like i like i

I like the juxtaposition there. Like, it's almost like a whisper. Like, you know, it's just like right there in your ears. Yeah. Like if you're listening to it with headphones. Yeah. It's, it's very intense. So like, so let's talk about, let's talk about his, his background for a little bit here.

Because there's a reason that he can bring such emotion, uh, to his music and his lyrics. It's because of his, his history. So I'll just briefly kind of go over some things here. So apparently he had a really bad relationship with his former stepmother. She would like harass and torture him, lock him in cabinets, put cigarette burns on his arms.

Like fucked up stuff like that. You know, he was, you know, he's the guy on the, the kid on the playground that got bullied all the time. You know, he wouldn't, he would wear eyeliner and listen to like new wave music and stuff like that. So people made fun of him for that. And, you know, that happens to a lot of people. But when you, you know, add that on top of, like, he doesn't have a safe space to go home to,

there's no, like, comfort zone at home. It's like it just, you know. So anyway, also, and this is sort of a well-known tidbit about him. I shouldn't call it. It's not a tidbit. This is a way. He was, so he was, he was abused. Just a fun fact.

Yeah, here's a fun little fact here. But like, so there was a family friend that used to like babysit him, a man, male. And like he was raped and abused by this guy. And so this was captured on the song, Daddy, which is on the first record. It was written about him getting raped. And he's not parsing words. Like you read the lyrics, it's, it's, I'm not going to read him on this, on this podcast. but it's worth listening to because it is such a powerful song.

And what happens during the recording is like he literally starts to break down and sob and cry in the vocal booth. And Rob Robinson, I'm sorry, Ross Robinson, the producer, he had the foresight to keep recording as this is happening. And he sort of like motions to the band in the studio to like keep. going, you know? And so basically the band is just kind of jamming doing this jam session and you're just listening to him sob and curse to this guy like in the in the vocal booth and stuff. It's it is it is disturbing to listen to but at the same time like it's really like a powerful thing to listen to. It's like a disturbing as fuck like the lyrics are insane. Dude I mean what like what other example could we point to?

like that in like the history of recorded music that seems so unique to me and yeah well i think that's one of the things that made corn stand out was that his lyrics were so like up front about what he was talking about you know what i mean and so a lot of people could relate to it uh so i mean i mean that's not to say that that a lot of artists don't you know dig deep and right from the heart about personal issues, but, yeah. I mean, dude, yeah, that's something else, man. Yeah. Like I said, if you're up to it, you should definitely give it a listen.

But like I said, like, just be prepared because it's pretty messed up. But at the same time, you can really... Dude, yeah, I don't have no desire to listen to that. I'm just saying, but you can, though. It's like, you know, go ahead and listen to it. I'm just warning you. But anyway, so interestingly enough, Ross Robinson, the producer, his mom is a world famous self-help author.

So she wasn't well known at the time, but she was working on these early workshops and stuff. So he was using the techniques that his mother would use on Jonathan Davis in the studio. Yeah, so there's a unique, like, yeah, a unique trait to have or, like, technique to have. It's like a perfect marriage for this record. his Yeah, I was going to say like what are the odds that this guy would get paired up with corn

and that he would have you know, this, I guess, skill set. Right. And to bring this stuff out of him. Right. So like some other producer might have been like, hey, cut, you know,

hey, stop the recording. Let's do this again. Do you need a box of Kleenex? Yeah, you need some time, you know, you want to just do this tomorrow. But instead he was like, hey, let's keep this going. This is powerful stuff. So like,

dude. Anyway. Yeah. So I've got a quote here from Monkey, who again is one of the guitar players, about the lyrics and stuff. So he says, talking about Davis, what he's saying about was always dark. And even when he sings something uplifting, the band lean towards a minor key. It's just who we are. We always have a darker sound, whether it's lyrically or melodies. I'm used to him writing that way. And none of us have ever said, you shouldn't say that. As a lyricist and singer, you have to be very vulnerable and exposed part of who you are, and that takes a lot of courage. He exposes a lot of fear and anxiety, and ultimately that helps people because it makes them feel less alone.

So there you go. That's why he was able to, that's why corn was able to reach out and sort of connect with so many, like, young people, you know, people who don't have a... That's great, actually. Yeah, they don't... That makes a lot of sense. Yeah, exactly. So I've actually got a quote here from a clip that we're going to play of this is like some Canadian rock, you know, show or something like that. They were interviewing them, I think, after their second record. And she asks the fucking dumbest question to ask like a metal band, but let's just let it play. And then Davis kind of has a response. I think that's interesting.

It seems pretty angry. You know, you think, the album? It's angry. mad, sad, it's everything. It's just emotion. That's a release. I'm doing for kids too. They get to come to the shows. Get all those aggressions out,

have a good time, and just feel, you know, leave feeling, they got it off the chest, you know? So, I mean, it's working out good. Lots of kids related to what I'm talking about. I'm happy for that. So, yeah, first off, dumb question.

Yeah, come on, come on. Does she have to ask that to every single metal band that she interviews? Because it's like... Sounds kind of angry. Yeah, right. But, you know, if that was like some, some newspapers like that that was or like a news channel that was interviewing them,

maybe you can ask that question. Like a rock, a rock show. Anyway, I liked his, again, his response. Yeah,

I was, I was going to comment on that too. I like how he said, it's working out well. Right. You know? Exactly. Like,

that's what we're trying to do is to connect with, you know, troubled young people that went through the same shit that I did. Right. You know, that's what's our whole goal here. Yeah. And it's interesting that he, I mean, he's still a kid too. He's like 24, probably, 25, maybe younger at this point.

And he said the kids are relating to this. So like he's even acknowledging that's like. He's got to be talking. So he's got to be talking about teenagers or even younger than that because he himself, yeah, he himself is still pretty fucking young. So he knows this is helping people come to release their aggression and stuff. That's great. Yeah. It's awesome.

That's what metal has always been. But like, like I said earlier, he, his lyrics are super personal and about like struggles that he has. It's kind of like our discussion about emo music. The lyrics are more like internal versus like external, you know, as far as like. Yeah.

And that was like, that was like the big, the big change from like, evolving from punk into emo. was the, it was mainly the lyrics. So I guess, I guess you're saying that that was the big change here between like old school metal and new metal, like other than like the funky aspects and stuff that that got thrown in there. But it was really more like self-reflective lyrics. Yeah, exactly.

Exactly. All right. So let's move on to their next album. Yeah, I was going to say, let's listen to some more tunes, dude. Yeah. So anyway, you know, that kind of lays the groundwork. that kind of tells you what it's all about why Jonathan Davis is such a

I guess it kind of lends credibility to him as to how he can talk about this stuff because he actually experienced it, you know. Yeah. And dude, dude, I just want to bring up, man, this, uh, their self-titled album. That's, that's a creepy fucking album cover, dude. You know what I just noticed?

What? So it's got the girl on the swing. Right. You notice how like, if you look at her shadow, with the line in the K looks like she's hanging, dude like she's fucking hanging

swinging from a noose dude I never picked up on that I just noticed that dude and then there's a creepy-ass shadow of whoever the hell is standing over her You notice how he actually looks like he's got claws to Yes creepy

Dude you know I'm just not realizing He looks like fucking slender man But this was way before Slender Man even was a thing Hang on. How long has Slender Man been around? She's saying, dude. Wikipedia, that shit. But no, doesn't it look like she's, yeah, of course it does.

That has to be on purpose, too. It looks like someone who is swinging from like a news. The Slender Man story dates to 2009, 15 years after. What are the origins of that? Who started that shit? It was something on creepy pasta. Okay, man. Yeah, so anyway, that's kind of fucked up.

I don't. Like it. All right. Let's move on to Life is Peachy, which is another creepy-ass album cover, dude. Indeed, man. God. It all goes hand in hand. All right, so we're going to have, this one's going to be a little bit more fun.

All right. So this album is called Life is Peachy. It came out in 1996, so two years later. And they cover an Ice Cube song on this record. So as we talked about with new metal, it blends in elements of hip-hop and rap, right? They actually had somebody come on and. and cover an ice cube song called Wicked.

Because like I said, Jonathan Davis never raps. So if you hear rap on a corn album, it's none of the members of corn. It's always somebody else. So interestingly enough, they brought in the lead singer of the deaf tones. So deaf tones,

I don't know that much about the deaf tones, but they share it so, I mean. Okay, well, they're kind of like an alternate rock, alt metal. Okay. It's metal, but it's not like

Metallica or Pantera. Yeah. But they're not new metal and they're not hip hop or rap, right? So anyway, let's listen to the song that's called Wicked. You know, Chuck, we got running mixes and a headbones.

That's fucking great, wasn't it? Yeah, it's all right. I wasn't a fan of that dude's voice, dude. Well, he's not a rapper, dude. I guess I'll never get in. to the deaf tones. We just established that he's not a rapper. Ah, and it shows.

Why didn't they get, why didn't they get Ice T on? Or Ice Cube, why didn't they get Ice Cube on there to do it? Oh, don't worry. They get Ice Cube involved later, dude. That's the whole point of this. All right, so. Hang on. Really?

Yes. We'll get into that. But just for fun, just for fun. I wanted to play the actual Ice Cube song. So let's cue that up real quick. Now this one dedicated to the man, I'm called my guy for. And no, double seven James Bond. My man inside the area.

Maxima on respect to the mind them call ice kew and no busts no dudes do so Tray eight about four four work here. All right. So what's interesting to me about this, hearing the actual song, right? So you can kind of see how they sort of adapt elements of hip hop and bring it into their songs, right? So like obviously this is a cover. So that's obvious.

But I'm saying like. Yeah, that was pretty spot on. I'm just saying, man. So like, you know, they kind of, that sort of keyboard thing or whatever it is that that really classic hip hop sound that's kind of going throughout that song. They're doing that on their guitars, right? Yeah.

So anyway, what's interesting about this is that this obviously opens up some sort of communication line with Ice Cube because he gets involved pretty heavily with corn like throughout their career. He even goes on tour with them

for the Family Values Tour. Well, let's just mention that that Ice Cube song came out in 92. Yeah. And then Life is Peachy was 96. That was four years later. Right. Yeah. So basically what Corn does is brings their fame base and introduces them to Ice Cube in a way.

Because there's probably a lot of people that listen to Corn that never considered listening to Ice Cube or never listened to Ice Cube. And now it's like, oh, this is a cover. Let's go check out Ice Cube. and then Ice Cube gets involved with corn on the next album. So we're not going to play that song, but he actually wraps on the song called Children of the Corn, which is on Follow the Leader. So anyway, I don't know much about sort of the recording process

or anything like that with Life is Peachy. I know that Ross Robinson was the producer again. like he was the he was a guy that got got davis to have such a uh that release that emotional release during the recording of daddy and he sort of tried to go back to the well you know with that and tried to do that again so he would constantly be like you know getting under davis's skin and like messing with him and doing all this kind of stuff and it kind of got it didn't work as well right you can't you can't just keep doing that but that became like sort of his it became how he produced All bands.

Like, that's kind of his thing. So it works obviously very well with corn to get that performance out of Davis, but he had varying degrees of success with it in the future. But anyway, so with Follow the Leader, like we kind of talked about earlier, they came out with a few singles, specifically music videos that became hugely popular and successful on Total Request Live on MTV. So much so that the video forgot the life was the first video on Total Request Live

to be quote unquote retired, which is insane to me. So wait, what does that mean? What does that mean? So they just came up with a way, I think it was like after like 62 weeks or something. Well, shit, maybe not that long. Let me look this up because 62 weeks is like a fucking year.

Usually, here we go, this is from Wikipedia. Usually the same video will stay on the number one spot for a series of weeks, but after a certain period, it will be retired or honorably discharged from the countdown and be put into the Hall of Fame. So I don't know if they had a particular, like, formula or something like that to figure that out. But what's interesting about... You're saying that Corn was the first band where they decided, hey, we need to make something up here to get this song off the top.

in? Yeah. Got the life was the first one where they're like this, you know. That's insane. Right. So anyway. What were some other bands that they were competing with back then? Well, here's the thing.

So like it never got to the first spot. That's what's interesting to me is that it was retired, but not because it was in the number one slot, because it was constantly in the number three spot. Because in sync and Britney Spears and bands like that were constantly in the number one and Which is insane. If you think about the music scene like the, what was the, like the musical landscape of the late 90s

was, I mean, that's the full, those are opposite ends of the spectrum, you know? It was boy bands and and corn. I mean, it's crazy. Four bands and Bernie Spears and corn. It's insane. I mean, who else? I mean, obviously there are plenty of other Blink 22 would have been

on that list, right? Yeah. So I'm just saying like, who else, man? I can't I can't think of who else. Maybe like Jennifer Lopez or something. All right. Well, if you look at the, like if you look at the, I'm looking at, there's a list of, of the TRL number ones, right? Yeah.

It's nothing but Backstreet Boys in sync, Britney Spears. You get to 99, freak on a leash was a number one. Now that's from the same record. But again, it's, okay, 98 degrees. So I'm sorry, I forgot about them. They were showed up. So again, you look at it. Hey, dude.

You know what? You can't forget about. 90 degrees, man. No, I guess not. Nick Lachet or whatever. No, no, you can. But guess what comes up on July 29th, 1999? Hang on.

The first band besides corn and these boy bands and Britney Spears. Limbiscuit. Yeah, you're right, dude. Limp biscuit. So, yeah. Was it, was it nooky? Yeah, it was nooky, exactly. Oh, my God.

And then you got, uh, shame. Shame on us, brother. This is fucking hilarious because I remember this video. August 27th, 1999. The number one song on TRL was the bum bum song by Tom Green. Yes. Hear that shit. Dude, what about, uh...

And then, and then, and then, and then, and then, and then, and then, and then, and then, and then, for falling away from me. What was that, what was that one band that was singing about, like, uh, fucking like animals? I think they were called, um, ah, shit, you and me, yeah, the, uh, something gang.

You and me, baby, yeah, yeah, that was around the same time. dude those are those are weird times for like popular music yeah you know exactly and this that this proves bloodhound gang was the bloodhound gang bloodhound gang so anyway uh yeah again uh it's crazy right so i feel like i feel like there was there was such a wide range of of music that was considered popular back then that would be popular enough yeah to to to be on mTV dude and i don't know the, I don't know the statistics, but I'm sure TRL is probably like one of their number one shows at the time. Oh, I had to be. Yeah. So anyway, um, so yeah, that just kind of tells you how, how insanely popular they had become. And, um, on this record, they kind of brought in a bunch of

these guest vocalists, including Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit. He's saying on all the family. Ice cube, like I mentioned, saying on children of the corn, or I should say, wrapped on children of the corn. And then Trey Hartson of the Far Side wrapped on a song called Camel Tosis. So anyway, this essentially seals the deal as far as like merging metal and wrap. You know what I mean?

That's what new metal was. And, you know, that was mostly because, well, at least for corn, they would sort of bring in elements of hip-hop and rap into their music, but they wouldn't necessarily wrap. And so they just brought rappers onto their records. Bands like Lincoln Park, like we had mentioned, actually did rap. Like they had a rapper as part of the group, right?

Right. The corn never did that. But this sort of opened the door for that to happen, you know. They basically proved like, hey, these two audiences actually can kind of come together here, you know. And so like Ice Cube, like I said earlier, went on the family values tour, including limp biscuit. Obviously, Corrin was like the headliner. Inky Biss was one of the bands that popped up on that tour. Yeah.

And I would love to do, we need to do an episode on Inchibis for sure. Oh, yeah, that's happening. Let's just do one song here from Follow the Leader. But, yeah, so let's just play the song. This is called, let's do Reclaim My Place. So one thing that really stands out from the stuff they're doing on this record compared to their first two is there's a lot more melody in this music. I don't know if you can kind of get that vibe,

but that's why, you know, you can't have a mainstream song that reaches a wide audience if it doesn't have a good hook to it, you know. Got the Life is one of the catchiest freaking songs that I fucking love that song. And that's where we played. That was our intro song that played us into this episode. And that's the one that freaking dominated TRL so much that they had to retire it. So I've got a quote here from Davis, Jonathan Davis. He says, with regard to the making of follow the leader, he says,

we were listening to tons of rap, but we also liked bands like Pantera and Sepaltura. And as we evolved, I think we learned to mix those two styles better. Plus, I grew up on New Wave, and I always. always wanted to make music that had lots of melody. We got that into the first two records, but followed the leader was where we were able to really emphasize the hooks, and people loved that shit. So there you go.

Like he said, they really started to learn, they started to learn how to mix those two styles a lot. Here's what I like about that quote, is that that was Davis talking and not, like, that wasn't from record label influence, you know like that was just him evolving as a singer-songwriter and learning you know to appeal to a wider audience that was just that was all him right you know like that wasn't record label influence right exactly and so here's another here's another quote here um from monkey

he said it kind of felt like we'd coined this sound and then we were trying to follow it up with something we'd already done. So when Follow the Leader came around, it was like, either we're going to make the same record for the next 25 years, or we're going to be a band that evolves. I think that was the turning point. He says that they thought they knew the formula, and all of a sudden we put on this record that's hip-hop, rock, metal.

If you listen to the first album, and then you listen to Follow the Leader, it's almost like two different bands. So another thing. kind of to point out here is they were so successful and really were sort of the pioneers of new metal that one of the reasons they named it follow the leader is they were kind of making fun of all these other bands that were sort of doing their sound. Like Limbiscate or something? Yeah, basically they were like, okay, you know what the formula is?

How about you follow the leader because we're about to evolve it even more. Yeah, that's awesome. And that's like the album cover too. It's got the girl like hop, what's it called? Hopscotch and off the cliff. Exactly. She's hopscotch and off a cliff. So anyway, I've got another clip from this song, but we're going to kind of play it, let it play out.

So there's something that interesting that kind of happens towards the end. That's another sort of like signature corn, Jonathan Davis moment. So that's great. That's great. That's classic corn right there Well, okay, what part of that is classic corn? Well, there's two Is it like the breakdown and then

There's, I mean, here's the thing. Number one, there's two different bridges in this song And then there's that outro that we just heard Yeah So when you said the outro is just him saying What the fuck over and over, right? Yeah, and then like the, you know, the head banging like yelling and stuff like that

Which to me reminds me of the rage against the machine song killing in the name of at the end where he's like uh you know what does he say he says fuck you i won't do what you tell me over and over again yeah you know it's the same kind of tell me exactly and then he starts yelling it's the same kind of thing you know but that was done i don't know a few years earlier but but anyway uh that was great dude yeah it's awesome right that's that's that's what you get when you listen to a corn album there's moments like that on just about every song.

Yeah. Especially on Follow the Leader. But, so anyway, if you look at the lyrics, he's kind of talking about being bullied as a kid again. And, you know, the name of the song is Reclaim My Place. So in other words, like, you know, trying to say like, you can't take my person from me, I guess. Trying to like, you know, stand up for himself. But there's interesting. There's a lyric here.

Go ahead. Let me ask you this, dude. I'm noticing on all the album art and you're saying, you know, these lyrics are about him being bullied as a kid. Yeah. You know, these first four albums, the ones are covering today. They all have aspects of like childhood. There's either a kid on the album cover.

There's like a childhood. Like there's a girl in a swing set. Yeah. There's a girl playing doing hopscotch. There's a fucking a doll on issues. It's almost every single record cover that they do. The, like they're, they're, I guess, logo corn you know the r is backwards right like is this just a a theme in and well it's yeah

their their stuff like yeah like is this a theme in and in and in the lyrics in corn songs is he just a lot of it just him like revisiting the shit that happened to him as a kid yeah it's absolutely that i mean it i think it's jonathan davis is what we're saying you know what i mean that this is all him you know he's i mean this is like his this is like his this is like entries in his diary. Yeah, exactly. I mean, he was obviously had a very troubled childhood and he reflects on it. And he gets his anger and frustration and this is like this is his release, you know, this music.

Yeah, I like how their, I like how their name looks like it's like it's children's handwriting. I like that. Yeah, well, I didn't mention this earlier, but he actually worked at Tours A Russ when he was younger. And you know how the R is backwards and Tours of R Us. he lifted that straight from from that okay uh nice so anyway um yeah that that's that's the that's the theme like that's almost every single almost every single record has some element of like a childhood thing like the album after that that came out untouchables that came out after issues after issues it's a bunch of children who look like kind of the it's called untouchables these are kind of like

to outcast if you look at it. There's even a kid with a Jewish star on his jacket. So like from like, you know, Nazi era Germany. Yeah, there's a kid with Corn Rose. Yeah. There's a kid wearing the kids. Dude, there's a kid back in the foreground. He's got his hoodie, like his hood on.

He's got a bruised eye, like a black eye like he was, he's been getting beat up. And there's a kid wearing a corn shirt. yeah so his fans exactly so anyway yeah and i recognize that album cover dude man well hey dude let's listen to let's listen to the song from issues dude all right we got one more song here uh that's just to to to cover our bases here we're wrapping up in 1999 1999 end of the millennium so exactly that's another interesting thing i guess i didn't realize that um this is all a span of five years and they saw a huge amounts of success

in five years. It's kind of one of those classic scenarios where they get so much money they don't even know what to do with it, you know? Right. We talked about that in, was that our last episode? We talked about that with like

young athletes and... Yeah, well, we were kind of talking about like how rap music started to change again, the lyrics. Oh, yeah, yeah. Right. You just show off your money because you're young

and you just handed just a bunch of money all at once you don't know what to do with it. Yeah, that same thing happened to Corn. He said that, you know, the success of Freak on a Leachan got the life, the two singles on that record gave them so much success that they freaked out. They freaked him out.

Like, basically, none of the band members were getting along. They couldn't go out into the crowd and, like, talk to the fans and stuff. Like they used to, he needed a bodyguard everywhere he went and stuff like that. That would freak me out too, man. Yeah. I'd be like, shit, man, am I that really that important?

Yeah. And he, you know, he said he couldn't go anywhere because people would recognize him and rush him. I mean, they did stand out in a crowd, I bet, with the dreadlocks and stuff and the freaking Adidas tracks suits. I mean, dude, I just remember him always wearing those, like, it was like yellow-tinted goggle-looking glasses.

Yeah, they definitely had some weird fashion choices. And cornrows and stuff, yeah. Yeah. All right. So anyway, issues. This record came out the very next year. So they're very prolific. All right. So this song is called Beg for Me. I have a classic Jonathan Davis thing, right? The verse, he goes from screaming to, you know, the soft, you know, the classic Jonathan Davis thing. But on this particular song, it sounds almost like he's got the freaking, you know, citizens of hell. Halloween Town singing singing that part like from Nightmare on before Christmas. Yeah. Listen, we're gonna, you know what, dude.

Play it again. We'll just listen to the first verse because I want you to pay attention. Pay attention to, um, the, the verse. He goes back and voice. Are you talking about like, they've got these effects on his voice. Yes, exactly. Just, yeah, let's hear it again. That's great.

You're talking about how like he, yeah, it's like he's singing over his own voice, right? Yeah, they're doing a bunch of different. effects on and stuff. But yeah, it's like multiple versions of himself singing on top of it, you know? Yeah. But yeah, to me it sounds like a Tim Burton kind of thing, you know what I mean? Kind of, yeah. Dude, and one thing I've noticed with him, how he sings.

And this, as far as I know, is unique to him. But like, he pronounces things weird, dude. Yeah. That's not how you say me. No, but I mean, come on. Boy! Yeah, I mean, no one's, I mean, like, if I'm going to make, if I'm going to parody a corn song, that's how I'm going to do it. Well, the easiest way to parody a corn song is just to be like, don't, yeah, don't do it, dude.

I'll do it. That's even better. Well, I listen to the corn, you don't. So I feel like I haven't really gotten a good sense from you. if you're if you're a fan of all of this what do you think well let me let's just put it this way okay and i have a question for you as well but because i know that your usual response to metal music but yeah that's that's what i was gonna that's what i was getting in here okay uh as you know historically you know i don't seek out metal and like i always say i appreciate it i'm glad that it

exists. But I enjoy corn music more so than the metal that you usually bring to me. Well, Q, here we go. I got a quote for you right here from Jonathan Davis. I always felt like we were a black sheep. To me, metal bands are Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. Shit like that. We were nothing like them.

We were more of a funk band, if anything, more about grooves and heaviness. So there you go. That's probably why you like him. They're not like the traditional metal band. Then the question that I have to ask you, brother. So you've been listening to metal for, you know, at least 10 years. Yeah. Right?

Right. Well, 20. Shit. Yeah, we're that old now. All right. So you've been listening to metal for a long time. What about? What is it about corn that really makes them stand out?

You know, set aside everything that you've read about them and, you know, I mean, I guess maybe we've already covered all that. But like, what is your thoughts on corn as a band in that genre? Like in the big umbrella metal genre where, you know, what do they mean to you as a metal fan? well to me it's all about Jonathan Davis not to discredit the other members of the of the band because they're definitely contribute because yes but like so much of it and again coming from someone who doesn't listen to metal you listen to those to those baselines and even like all the weird shit that they're doing with with the guitar and stuff like I just like like like you were saying they're more about the grooves and like the funky stuff right now yeah is that really is that really

the big difference, the main difference? Like, it's not like a chugging, like, I don't know, man. Like, yes, yes. Well, here's the thing. Like I said, I'm not to discredit the other band members, but what makes corn corn is Jonathan Davis. And like the way that he brings that emotional like outbursts and stuff. And the way that he just, he just has such a unique voice and, you know, a unique approach to his delivery and stuff. But on the same token, like, yeah, you know, the other band members are also, you know, fantastic.

The bass playing is great, you know, the slap bass and stuff. It's really cool. You don't really hear that on metal bands very often. That's what makes it funk metal, you know. But like, you know, that's what made corn, corn compared to the other new metal bands. Like fucking limp biscuit is now more of a punchline than anything, right? Really. I was about to say, like, don't even, you know.

Limbiscuit to me is as bad is saying the word nickelback on this on this podcast. Right. It's the same kind of thing. It's like it's, you know, it's a joke. And that's the thing. New Metal, the new metal tag became sort of like a joke, you know. Like it was, it's not remembered very fondly. But I think, I think corn, even though they're responsible for it.

I think they deserve respect and they deserve a fair. Listen. I don't know. I don't know how many people that are, you know, much younger than us who are music fans. I don't know how many people know anything if they know what corn is or if they, let's just put it this way. I don't know how many people that are in their early 20s know that corn is spelled with a K. Just put it that way. You know, you know. Well, yeah, you're not going to know that if you, if you just hear the name corn in passing and you've never heard. or had any sort of exposure to them. Well, even if you've heard a corn song, if you don't, if you're not a fan of corn, you've heard their music and you like it, but if you, if you're not a fan, you don't know, it's spelled to the K. Yeah, well, yeah.

I mean, that's like, that's like, uh, people spelling outcast with a C, you know. Yeah, true. So there you go. All right. So, um, that's that. That's corn. I've always wanted to get corn on this podcast. Maybe we'll circle back and do them again.

Yeah. But not for a long time. Yeah. And you know what? Let's knock on wood here. I feel like my laptop's pulling through, which means that we should have a sidetrack for you next week. Something in the same vein as corn. Yeah.

I've got plenty of ideas for that. So hopefully we can get back to our regular sketch. Hey, and I want to give a quick shout out here to another podcaster. His name's Jesse Case. He has a podcast called Jesse versus Cancer. One of my favorite podcast that I listen to, I listen to every single one of their episodes. It's called Probably Science.

It's a bunch of comedians that goof off talk about, you know, relevant science articles, but most of the time they just goof off. Jesse Case was one of their hosts. And he got cancer, had to move back to his hometown, started his own podcast. And he gave us a little shout out at the end of his latest episode. So I wanted to give him one too, man. There you go.

If you don't mind our occasional curse words and somewhat, I mean, dude, I mean, honestly, we're not that raunchy. But you know what? If you like our humor, I think you dig, Jesse. He's a good dude. And yeah, you should hop over and listen to some of his stuff. Again, his podcast is called Jesse versus cancer. Yeah, anyways, hey, Jesse. I hope you're listening.

Love you, buddy. Do you think he listened to the entire episode, though? I don't know. But I listen to all of his. Dude, how about this, man? Jesse, if you're listening on your next episode, say this keyword, eggplant. Okay.

Just like right at the end, usually he signs out, well, I don't even know how he sounds out usually, because I honestly don't go that, get that far. But yeah, dude, just say eggplant at the very end. Yeah, because there's no, there's no way the word eggplant would have come up naturally. You could just be like, and, yeah, eggplant. Yeah, exactly.

That'll tell us, that'll let us know that you listen to it, and then that'll make my day. I mean, that's why I figured he might give us a shout-out because, like, Jesse is a huge music nerd. Like, more so than us, dude. What? Yeah, he's, he's, no, dude. So he's in Nashville right now. His dad, he goes by Lizard, and he is a blues grass legend, apparently.

Like, pretty much, like, like, everyone in the blues grass world knows who Lizard case is. And Jesse is helping him record a new album right now. So, yeah, dude, he's in, you know, he, it's our, it's our people, you know. Yeah. Jesse and Lizard and, you know what, anyone who listens to Jesse Case, to Jesse versus cancer is a friend of mine. Let's just put it that way. Well, all right, then.

So anyways, yeah, love you, Jesse. Keep on fighting the good fight. He has cancer of the ass. That's how he puts it. And he's in remission right now. So I was going to say, I guess if he put it that way, yeah, and then that's fine. I forget what the medical term is for the kind of cancer that he has, colon cancer or something.

Anyways, yep, I think we've talked enough about Jesse. Indeed. So, yeah, that's it for today. Travis, thanks for getting me into corn, man. So that's a wrap. This is our take on corn. I'm excited to hear what you got for me next week, dude. And I guess we can, well, we'll talk about our next full-length episode next week.

But I'm pretty excited about the next, next band we're going to do. I won't spill beans this time. All right. So that's that. Thanks for tuning in. Check out our website, no-filler podcast.com. You can find us on SoundCloud, iTunes, or any other podcast platform. And that's that.

We will talk at you guys next week. My name is Travis. And I'm Quentin. Bye-bye. It was the night before the gathering and all through the house. The host wrapped a cozy cashmere throw from Home Sense for their spouse, kids' toys for $6.99 under the tree, and crystal glasses for just $14.99 for their brother Lee.

A baking dish made in Portugal for Tom and Sue. And a nice $599 candle. Perfectly priced. just for you. Happy holidays to all. And to all a good price. Home Sense. Endless presents perfectly priced.