The newest Korn-ographic sound: The Paradigm Shift

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With nearly twenty years of dark angst and dreadlocks, Korn still has it in them with their newest album The Paradigm Shift.  With their return of Brian "Head" Welch, Korn went back to their roots and have made their attempt to fall back into a more appealing raw sound.  Being a Korn fan for the past five years, I have really been able to know Korn's sound, but sadly also have to hear their new music that they have been releasing for the past five years now.  When The Paradigm Shift came out I was pulled into the movement, especially after watching interviews about the sound and how Welch will be aiding them.  Many have waited for the possible return of Welch as well as the return of Korn's original sound.  The Paradigm Shift has been topic of many interviews and has been a work many -including myself- have waited for.  DISCLAIMER: KORN FEATURES DARK MESSAGES, INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE, SUGGESTIVE THEMES, AND IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THOSE SENSITIVE TO DRUG ABUSE, MOLESTATION, AND SUICIDE RELATED TOPICS.

 [Top is from The Paradigm Shift bottom is from Follow the Leader (1998).]

Korn is band with a shifting sound from Alternative Metal, to Goth, but is mainly considered Nu-Metal.  Korn has dark lyrics with a raw, high gain sound with their guitars, their kits have a Grunge house kit sound, and their bass is incredibly discordant and raw with its intense gain and brutal slapping along with precise fingering and flat noise.  From 1994 to 2013 Korn has released music all over the world.  Korn is led by lead singer, Bagpipist, and keyboard head Jonathan Davis.  Little fact is that in high school Jonathan was voted "most likely to own a mortuary" and soon after high school Jonathan was actually a morticians assistant.  Davis didn't start with singing and actually has asthma so bad that as a child he was presumed dead for minutes due to an epic asthma attack, but no Davis played bagpipes for six hours on a daily basis.  Guitarist Brian Welch reminds me a lot of Robert Carr, for he is a single father with a former meth addiction, but took the turn to Christ once again.  Welch had been friends with Davis and "Munky" since at least middle school.  Second guitarist "Munky" is not the most popular member, but is easily the voice of the band as long as interviews go.  Surprisingly "Munky" got into guitar after severing his finger in a three wheeling accident.  Korn's bassist Fieldy is actually my favorite bassist of all time.  Fieldy is so intense with his slap style that some consider him to almost be a percussionist with the bass.  Nice fact is that for his fifth birthday, Fieldy received a bass guitar and has played bass for nearly 40 years.  He may not be the original drummer but Ray Luzier is a great addition to Korn.  Luzier is a self taught drummer and known for his past as a farm boy.  Korn has one two Grammys and several other awards, their most nominated song being Freak on a Leash.

[Welch left, Fieldy, Luzier, Munk left, Davis bottom.]

 Korn is original plain and simple.  Korn helped pave the way for Nu-metal just as Nirvana did with Grunge.  Slipknot has the closest sound to Korn that I can really think of; their sound is very distinct.  With The Paradigm Shift Korn brought back many of their old techniques and sound, but kept with some of the new.  It has the simplicity and high gain of their self titled album, the darkness of Issues, the intensity of Take a Look In the Mirror, - which is my favorite album by them by far - and the techno sound of The Path of Totality.  One Youtuber even brought up that the song Mass Hysteria from The Paradigm Shift  has an almost exact same sheet as No Way off the Issues album.

In the mind of an angst filled teen lies dark and aggressive things.  It is such intense raw emotion that it would be missing a great opportunity to not put it into a form of art.  Korn resembles letting the emotion out, talking about your problems, and sharing your experiences and letting others know that they are not the only ones.  Korn fits into the teen angst, hate everything, darkness and death culture.  Gruesome imagery and unsettling verses are sewn in Korn's lyrics, but that is one of the big reasons many people have grown to appreciate them.  If Korn's music fits any stereotype it would be a creepy goth stereotype; you know like the one guy from your high school who seemed way more messed up than everyone and rarely spoke and carved dark images in the cheap wood desks.


The Paradigm Shift was a well needed change and bested the last 8 years and 3 albums the came before it.  With Welch back the band's collaborative attempts have reached a great outcome.  Love & Meth, Spike in my Veins, and Paranoid and Aroused are probably my three favorites.  All three have to with several of the band members' former addictions with substances such as meth, but it also holds Welch's story of overcoming it through Christ.  These songs had the raw creepy sound of Issues and the mosh starting intensity of Take a Look In the Mirror.  On the flip side the main downfall of this album was its ending song It's All Wrong.  It's All Wrong was easily the worst song and ended the album poorly, but luckily for those who bought the Deluxe Edition, you get a better end to the album with bonus tracks.  http://www.rocksound.tv/reviews/article/korn-the-paradigm-shift here is a quick positive note on The Paradigm Shift.  All in all this honestly wasn't Korn's greatest work, but it was better than the crap that has profusely been spewed by them into the music world for the past several years.  The Paradigm Shift is a figure of Korn returning to a sound many of their fans know and miss dearly.

Prior to this I've spent time watching interviews and listened to leaked clips of songs.  I plan on buying The Paradigm Shift and putting it in my collection of discs.  I have a few friends that appreciate Korn, but none have had the time to really listen to the album except the most pop sounding song Never Never.  Time has been taken by me to evaluate the lyrics and individually listen to each instrument specifically as well as the songs as a whole.  When it comes to Korn I have dedication and when it comes to music I have time.


In researching this I have realized that I actually really enjoy the sound of the Issues album.  Jonathan Davis' past has now been put more to my attention as well.  At first I hated the Dubstep that was put into Korn's sound in 2011, but I feel that now I like it with The Paradigm Shift.  Korn may be old but I still love them for their old and new work.  The Paradigm Shift may not have been a huge success, but I feel it is just the first step on a new era of Korn.

 Here are 3 of my favorite Korn songs in a well balanced time format.  From 1994, to 2003, to 2013

For those who are very intrigued you can check out these interviews about the return of Welch, the wait, and the making of The Paradigm Shift.  Just a little fun fact, through a big part of the making of the album Jonathan Davis was actually in rehab, yet still made some sick lyrics that he can't even remember exactly doing for the little time he worked with the rest of the band.


Works Cited:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0787313/bio
 http://life.is.peachy.angelfire.com/
http://www.followtheleader.20m.com/whats_new.html
https://kornrow.com/ray-luzier-bio/

The history and concepts within Ooo

There are adult cartoons such as South Park, child cartoons like Spongebob Squarepants, toddler cartoons like Blue's Clues, but nowadays pre-teens, teens, and young adults have their own cartoon, Adventure Time!

Originally only being a short six minute long slurry of animation and slim to no plot what-so-ever on Nicktoons, Adventure Time was nothing more than a short in-between episodes back in December of 2008.  Two years later and absolutely no showing besides the one six minute long pilot on Nicktoons, Adventure Time aired on Cartoon Network and doubled its air-time; the show was an instant hit.  Adventure Time is lead by the main protagonists Finn and Jake.  Finn is the only human left in the entire known universe after a nuclear fallout, or the "Great Mushroom War."  Jake, on the other hand, is one of many dogs in the Land of Ooo.  Ooo is the world Finn and Jake and many other key characters reside in, but is by far not the only world.  The episode I watched was season five's "Princess Potluck" featuring nearly every princess taken note of, Finn, Jack, Ice King, Gunther; the only "princess" not shown in the show is Marceline the Vampire Queen.  Ice King is the once genius and loving man who has been overcome by the power of temptation and destruction within a magical crown; Gunther is Ice King's favorite penguin lackey.  Princess Bubblegum is the ruler and insanely skilled scientist of the most popular kingdom, the Candy Kingdom, and plays a vital role in the show.  Marceline is the dark character of the show, and has always been a vital role, but her past is a confusing and cryptic one; Marceline is half demon and half vampire, as well as next in line to rule the Nightosphere.  The episode is simply a party with every princess, and their heroes Finn and Jake, but Ice King soon realizes he was not invited to the epic party, and goes to no end to ruin it for them.  In the fifteen minutes I watched Adventure Time several short advertisements were shown.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Action Figures, NBA 2K14, Bop-it Tetris, several Nerf commercials, Cocoa Pebbles, Airhogs, and Beyblade Shogun were all advertisements shown after the show.

In my opinion, Adventure Time is considered a very edgy and subliminal television show that takes kind of a "Memento" approach on the chronology.  Adventure Time does the job well when it comes to being innovative and unique.  In this episode alone they deal with stalking, effeminate men, casual sex, police corruption, and the downfall of postal mail.  Adventure Time is filled with odd and absurd lingo.  Finn generally has his signature hood, golden locks of hair, his green backpack, blue shirt and shorts, and his black shoes.  The only characters that often change outfits are Princess Bubblegum and Marceline; who are also hundreds of years old and current enemies.  I feel Adventure Time is very similar to South Park with its edgy topics and subliminal messages, but definitely not as foul.  Adventure Time mainly contrasts from other shows, especially cartoons, for having an actual episodic take, but definitely not in any straight chronology.  The farthest back the show goes is the very start of the Great Mushroom War.  The show tells of dogs at war with "rainicorns," and humans fighting one another in utter chaos. 

Adventure Time holds many of old renaissance epics' stereotypes.  Finn plays the knight, the hero, the one pure of heart but naive in soul.  Jake is the talking animal companion, but Jake is also Finn's angel and devil on his shoulder; being older than Finn, Jake has wise advice, but also has a dark past and can sometimes be shady.  Princess Bubblegum plays a more new age character, for she is the feminist, leader, scientist, world saving, independent woman she is.  Marceline is the dark protagonist lost between good and evil, always going by her own rules, so lonely and cold.  Ice King is the evil, pitiful, sad sap of a king with no suitor and no real kingdom.  Flame Princess was once a huge character, but recently she has not shown up after dumping Finn and dethroning her father to become ruler of Flame Kingdom.  Flame Princess plays the hot woman with a rebellious side, but is willing to see Finn's side and try to defy the elements just to be with him.

Here is a good article on reddit about the relation of D&D with Adventure Time.


http://www.reddit.com/r/adventuretime/comments/14y9dy/the_world_of_adventure_time_is_a_game_of_dd/



 Almost every commercial I saw was a product generally popular in the 80's to early 2000's, or simply targetted for young teens  TMNT, Bop-it and Tetris, Nerf, Cocoa Pebbles, and Beyblades were all much larger in the past.  NBA and Airhogs are more for older and people with higher incomes.  If I had to be a foreigner and on the plane watch this show as I enter the U.S. I would question my knowledge of American English that is for sure!

There is no doubt in my mind that Adventure Time is entertaining.  I love the randomness, the action, the romance, the bonds, the music, the alternate reality, and the extensive plot.  With Adventure Time though, I really can't say it has everything; sometimes I just want to watch stand up, or you know, actual humans.  Though the world of Adventure Time, and parts of the multiverse within Adventure Time is incredibly fictional and obscure, I really feel it can also relate to every day life.  Friendships are broken, relationships end, brothers fight, love is real, and we as people can be so varied and yet so predictable.

http://www.smosh.com/smosh-pit/articles/8-most-inspirational-quotes-adventure-time ... For those who want to read just a few inspirational words of wisdom via Adventure Time.

All in all I love the epic plot, the fact that things aren't in a boring past to present order, but rather everything in time is floating in space and the more you watch the more it all pieces together.  Personally I watch this show with my girlfriend and it has its emotional times, and I can always appreciate a show that gets my soft side and lets me wipe a tear from her eye.

http://www.indiewire.com/article/why-adventure-time-now-in-its-fifth-season-is-more-groundbreaking-than-you-may-realize?page=1#articleHeaderPanel (Callura) Love this article, because they understand several of the demographics of the show.  Though the article is about the newest season it is still very promising and gives insight to the morals of the show.



I would have to say I am a part of the innovators end of our consumer scale when it comes to Adventure Time, and in some way I let it define me.  I watch the show with my girlfriend, friends, family, on television, social media, and the site itself.  I am a fan of several Adventure Time related pages on Facebook, and I watch the show every Monday.  My Tumblr blog is involved with the Adventure Time fandom even.

Ever watch Spongebob Squarepants?  Voice actor Tom Kenny plays Spongebob, Ice King, and dozens of other popular cartoon characters.  The show has won several awards and is considered one of Cartoon Network's most successful shows currently.  For you Trek fans, George Takei plays a seductive heart man in featured Adventure Time episodes.

After all this I was inspired by many people's theories on Tumblr [seriously suggest checking out Adventure Time Fandoms on Tumblr.]  Through researching all of this and contemplating the show as a whole I have found how much more it is than just a television show because they really do well on creating emotional ties to the characters.  I never knew Adventure Time started as an animated short on Nicktoons!  100% recommend watching this show.

 Here is the ending theme, and it really is beautiful sounding [though they never play it anymore...]  To get on a personal level my girlfriend learned the opening theme long ago, and she is a beautiful singer, but too bad for you guys I have a very poor singing voice and cannot hit high notes at all.  If you want, you can watch the quick performance below.