KORN

All the members had common influences - the urban stylings ofhip-hop, and the heavy riffs of death metal. But the sound thatemerged from Korn was entirely fresh, and set off a wave ofimitators that eventually threatened to engulf the banditself.

Signed by Immortal in 1994, Korn issued their debut album laterthat year. The album was testament to the influences of the bandand mixed punk, metal, and hip hop along with a guitar sound thatwas much heavier than most of their rock contemporaries thanks tothe already-low 7-string guitars being tuned even lower. The soundwas metal sludge, but was also tempered by bassist Fieldy anddrummer Silveria, who added a mix of porn-soundtrack funk andhip-hop rhythms.

Thanks to a relentless tour schedule that included stints openingfor Ozzy Osbourne, Megadeth, Marilyn Manson, and 311, the recordslowly but steadily rose up the charts, and eventually went gold.Building on this success Korn hit the road and began to amass afollowing that would send their next album, 1996's 'Life isPeachy', into platinum sales, reaching the number three spot on theUS album charts.

More years of touring followed, and the band fortified its fan-baseto the degree that their next album, 1998's 'Follow the Leader',debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard Chart's Top 200. That year theFamily Values tour also began it's annual tenure, and featured aline up that consisted of Korn collaborators such as Limp Bizkitand Ice Cube, and like-minded artists such as Rammstein. The tourwas an enormous success, so much so that it continued on with Kornoverseeing the line up for years after.

By now, almost every heavy band on the planet was playingdown-tuned 7-string guitars (which were virtually extinct beforeKORN). The proliferation of sound-alike bands ironically placed theband in a tenuous position. KORN knew that another 'Peachy' or'Leader', would not do. It was time to reinvent themselves. When'Issues' was finally released in 1999, their change of directionpaid off, and for the second time in their career Korn debuted atNo. 1 on the US Billboard Charts; this time going quadrupleplatinum.

Prior to them returning to the studio in 2001 the band took timeoff. Silveria dipped into the world of fashion, Fieldy released agangsta rap album, and Davis scored the film 'Queen of the Damned'.But the band eventually re-convened, and 2002 saw the release of"Untouchables". Debuting at No 2 on the US Billboard chart, thealbum used a 24-BIT sampling rate (twice the highest rate normallyused for recording), and was uncompromisingly heavy, cementingKorn's reputation as the leaders of the new metal world.

In 2005, Welch left the band, evidently due to his newfoundChristian faith. But Korn continued, playing shows that summer as aquartet and signing an expansive recording and development dealwith Virgin. The following December they released See You on theOther Side, a number three hit that featured a batch of songsco-written with hitmaking production team the Matrix. Live &Rare, an aptly titled disc of live recordings and rarities, wasreleased in May 2006 with the live acoustic recording MTV Unpluggedfollowing in March 2007. Later that year, after returning to thestudio, this time without drummer David Silveria, the bandresurfaced with an underwhelming album appropriately namedUntitled.

[Update from 2005 - Allmusic]