4B - The Michigan Daily - Weekend, etc. Magazine - Thursday, March 30, 2000
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The Michigan Daily -*eekend, etc. Maf
Korn nation reconvenes this week for sold-out Palace gig
By Jason Birchmeier
Daily Arts Writer
Nearly a decade after the demise
of heavy metal as a popular style of
music, Korn seems an exception.
Few musical acts outside of the teen
scene have connected with fans as
effectively as this post-heavy metal
band from California.
Coming out
of nowhere in
late 1994 with
their dread-
locks, songs
about psycho-
logical trauma
and self-titled
album, Korn
spent the
remainder of
the decade
becoming
arguably the
most popular
non-rap musi-
cal act among
Korn
ThePalace of
Auburn Hills
Tonight at 8
the young male
their last album in an act of cross-
marketing.
To further understand Korn's
unbelievable success, examine their
recently released fourth album,
"Issues," an album that sold 573,785
units in its first week, a ridiculous
amount of merchandise. Think
quickly about all the marketing-gen-
erated hype surrounding Smashing
Pumpkins' new album, "Machina."
Long considered the prototypical
band for America's rock-oriented
youth, Smashing Pumpkins hit num-
ber three on Billboard but only
ended up selling about a quarter as
many albums as Korn in their first
week.
Next consider Korn's infamous
concerts. Want to see what all the.
fuss is about? Good luck. They sell
out America's largest arenas (The
Palace of Auburn Hills, Nassau
Coliseum, Target Center) within
hours. Those lucky enough to get
tickets get to experience arguably
the most intense concert on Earth,
with thousands of energetic youths
going absolutely manic - moshing,
screaming, yelling, pumping their
fists, exorcising every inch of pent-
up aggression and angst in their
young souls.
So what attracts millions of
youths to the tormented sounds of
Korn with their wall-shaking gui-
tars, pulverizing drums and
screamed vocals about inner
demons? What makes tens of thou-
sands wait in the cold all night to get
tcu Retro Recordings
BR sheds
the "Grain"
By Gab.eFeun
Daily Arts itor
By the time "Against the Grain" landed
on record shop shelves in 1990, Bad
Religion had already made a name for itself
as the world's premier punk rock outfit.
More than any other album in the band's cat-
alog, "Against the Grain" proved why Bad
Religion earned that reputation.
Opening with the blinding speed of
"Modern Man," Greg Graffin and company
unleash a fury on "Against the Grain" that to
date simply has never been matched.
a'e
Bad Religion
Against the Grain
Epitaph Records
Released: 1990
Though the
record doesn't
mark any sort of
musical reinven-
tion for the band,
"Against the
Grain' over the
course of its 17
Courtesy of DreamWorks Pictures
Russell Crowe is Maximus, a former Roman General who was sold into slavery and must
fight for his life in DreamWorks Pictures' 'Gladiator.'
"Pak"ersindrag,Pak®
Depp to don d.0Ikilt
American demographic.
It seems strange that while every
other metal band from the early '90s
has either sold out to the mainstream
(the case with bands such as
Metallica) or simply lost touch with
America's rapidly changing youth
(the case with bands such as
Pantera) Korn has attained a monop-
oly. The only band to rival the
Microsoft of rock is Limp Bizkit, a
band Korn brought on tour with
them and prominently featured on
Courtesy of Epic Records
Korn's tendency towards chaos and intensity is discernible in most everything they do, but especially their live show.
tracks, embodies what BR is all about. Long
before Kurt Cobain gave the word "alterna-
tive" swimming lessons and tossed it into
the mainstream, Bad Religion was shouting
the sort of "alternative" ideals that seemed
to appear out of thin air in 1991.
"Against the Grain" proved Bad Religion
could make a masterpiece out of the stan-
dard bass/drums/guitar/vocals punk rock
sound. There's not a song on "Against the
Grain" that's made up of more than five
chords, yet each simple composition is
unique and unquestionably anthemic.
"A gainst the Grain" screams ansinst ideolo-
tickets to a concert where everyone
forgets about social norms and
emanates suppressed aggression?
It is an accepted fact that most
anyone over the age of twenty is
probably a bit critical of Korn. And
we all know parents sure as all hell
don't want their kids listening to
songs with anthemic choruses that
chant lyrics such as "All day I dream
about sex" and "Your feelings, I
can't help but rape them/I'm sorry I
can't feel the same/My heart inside
is constantly hating-I'm sorry that I
See KORN, Page 16B
Z4,
'ANZiBA'
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gy and idiocy, telling instead of asking lis-
teners to get off their asses and do some-
thing. }
Though the record might not incite many
to riot in the streets, a spin on the average
record player makes it hard to resist raising
a fist in the air and chanting along with all
too easy to memorize choruses like "Against
the grain/that's where I'll stay/swimming
upstream/I maintain against the grain."
Some fans might recognize the album
mainly because it marked the first appear-
ance of the band's later hit "21st Century
Digital Boy." The song's original version is
certainly up to snuff with the rest of the
release. But by managing to blend the power
and raw energy of the Sex Pistols with intel-
ligent, informed lyrics, numbers like "Flat
Earth Society," "Anesthesia" and "Walk
Away" became the album's real gems.
"Against the Grain" wasn't a huge com-
mercial success when it was released in
1990, but then again, no one thought it
would go platinum. That wasn't the point. It
made its statements and did so intelligently
and extremely loudly. And if that wasn't
enough, it solidified Bad Religion's position
at the top of the punk rock pantheon.
w How can this edition of
Hollywood news begin without some
juicy leftover tidbits from the
Oscars? In a move that guarantees
that they will never be nominated
again, "South Park" creators Matt
Stone and Trey Parker arrived at the
glitzy show in drag to celebrate their
Best Song nomination for "Blame
Canada." (The "South Park: Bigger,
Longer and Uncut" song was per-
formed at the Shrine Auditorium by
Robin Williams in full Mork mode.)
Stone wore a pink gown reminis-
cent of Gwyneth Paltrow's dress last
year by Ralph Lauren. Parker's dress
was a knockoff of Jennifer Lopez's
green "'bathrobe" from the Grammy
Awards. I would have given my left
kidney to see them come up front and
give an acceptance speech. These two
guys are probably the cause of that
helicopter crashing while covering
the Oscars. Let's hope-from now on
they spend more time indoors away
from'crowds.
E "The Sixth Sense" and the ter-
minally quiet Haley Joel Osment did-
n't take home any Oscars, but they
have something better going for
them. The creepy movie has official-
ly taken in more than $290 million
dollars at the box office, becoming
the 10th highest grossing film of all
time. The movie bumped? Sadly, one
of the all-time great sequels, "The
Empire Strikes Back." Not to say
"Sense" isn't a good movie, but bet-
ter than "Empire?" It's a sad develop-
ment for Wookiees everywhere.
A And how about that dumpster
diver who found the missing Oscars?
The Academy folks condescended to
let him attend the show, and he
arrived in a classy tuxedo, complete
with top hat. It just goes to show, you
can rifle through other people's ran-
cid groceries and still be a classy-
looking guy.
A It seems the whole Academy is
just a bunch of smug kids that secret-
ly run the show. Do you know how
many masturbation jokes there were
in Billy Crystal's monolouges? Yes,
Kevin Spacey "did it" in "American
Beauty," but puh-leez ... that was
funny when I was about thirteen.
Grow up, lackeys of Jack Valenti.
4 Enough of these stuffy indoors
Hollywood types. For some real
entertainment, check out Ridley
Scott's "Gladiator," starrring Russell
Crowe ("The Insider"). Advance
reviews have been through the roof
in their praise for this action-packed
epic set in Roman times. The movie
comes out May 5, so strap on your
sandals and get out your trident from
storage, 'cuz this film is going to
rock the house (or at the very least,
rock some chariot axles).
, No wonder the Scots get pissed
off so easily - Hollywood's films
about Scottish people never star
native actors. Mel Gibson played
William Wallace, Christopher
Lambert played the Highlander -
and now Johnny Depp is set to play
Scottish poet and working-class
artistic icon Robert Burns in a
biopic. Scots protested at this, but the
film's makers said it needed "an
international actor for an internation-
al audience." You would think Ewan
McGregor playing Obi-Wan Kenobi
would be enough, but nooo...
A Haley Joel Osment sees dead
people, but he's also seeing great
movie deals shoved in his pint-sized
mug after the phenomenal success of
"The Sixth Sense." The young actor
is close to working out a deal to star
with Jude "patron saint of the full-
frontals" Law in Steven Spielberg's
next project, "A. ." The sci-fi pic fea-
tures a doomsday scenario with
super-smart robots. Let's hope these
robots are slightly more menacing
than Robin Williams as a
"Bicentennial Man" or those goony
bowling balls from "The Phantom
Menace."
- Compiled by Daily Arts Writer
David Victor. Page 6
("wwpage6.com) and
Entertainnient Weekly Online
(www ew.com) contributed to the
report.
Top 10 Pop Abums
(The nations best-selling albums for the
1. Carlos Santana, "Supernatt
2. Sisqo, "Unleash the Dragon
3. Dr. Dre, "2001"
4. Macy Gray, "On How Life Is"
5. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, "B
6. Black Rob, "Life Story"
7. Destiny's Child, "The Writir
8. Kid Rock, "Devil Without a
9. George Strait, "Latest Grea
10. Christina Aguilera, "Christ
Top 10 Books
(The week's best-selling hardcover ficti
1. "The Brethren," John Grishw
2. "Carolina Moon," Nora Rob
3. "Daughter of Fortune," Isab
4. "Bridget Jones: The Edge o
5. "Gap Creek," Robert Morg
6. "The Lion's Game," Nelson
7. "Day of Reckoning,"Jack Hi
8. "Tough Cookie," Diane Mot
9. "Moment of Truth," Lisa Sc
10. "Sick Puppy," Carl Hiaase
Top 10 Movies
(Who released them and how much th
1. "Erin Brockovich," Universal,
2. "Romeo Must Die," Warner
3. "Final Destination," New Line,
4. "Mission to Mars," Touchston
5. "Here on Earth," Fox, $4.5
6. "Whatever it Takes," TriStar, $
7. "American Beauty," DreamWor
8. "My Dog Skip," Warner Brc
9. "The Cider House Rules," Miram
10. "The Whole Nine Yards," Wai
THE WEEKLY Qu
Oh, the wacky things famc
"If you're wondering whl
sticky tape. I happen to
-"South Park's" Trey
"I had to pour myself in
I was a fat, shiny, pink
and busted the strap, an
-Sandra Bullock, rem
"Bush says he'll debate
attention.' I think if peoj
wouldn't be the nominee
-Jay Leno, on "The
"Erick (Barkley) has ha
pressure lately about his
tions), but he's an outsta
schedule to graduate, in
--St. John's basketball
22-year-old sophom
"For most-men, most of th
their face and they're very
-Natasha Henstridge
--Compiled by Je