Korn

The nu-metal grandfathers have returned, dropping a whole album of funky guitar angst, wall-punching rap angst and skull-splitting drum angst. When they are nailing it -- which is often, but try "Politics" for starters -- you can see why Snoop and Lil Jon deemed the band cool enough to appear in the (hilarious) video for "Twisted Transistor."

Is there life after rap metal? The beneficiaries of a ridiculously large recent record
contract, Korn have a lot riding on their first album since losing guitarist Brian "Head" Welch
to born-again Christianity. Korn have never shied away from studio slickness, but here they
employ not only Trent Reznor collaborator Atticus Ross but also the Matrix, the teen-pop
production team behind Avril Lavigne and other shameless puffballs. Although lo... More >