From Library Journal
While many rock biographies capitalize on harrowing tales of backstage chemical dependencies, Furman, the author of numerous biographies of teen pop stars, balks at the binges and instead offers a surprising glimpse of Korn as aggressive yet lovesick band mates who use their commercial success in the rap-metal realm to sustain comfortable family lives--a view that the National Organization for Women and Mothers Against Korn would find surprising. However, die-hard devotees of the Bakersfield, CA, quintet will be hard pressed to find any new or revealing information about their favorite kernel (Korn band member) in this scant work. Much of Korn's history has already been discussed in magazine interviews and posted on countless fan web sites. Yet with casual listeners greatly outnumbering Korn disciples, this would fit well into any public library where adolescents roam the shelves in search of something contemporary.
-Robert Morast, Halliday, ND Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Here they are again: the black T-shirts, the sinister sneers. This time, they are the "diabolical blend of schizoid seven-string guitars, maniacal forked-tongue vocals, bludgeoning bass and pummeling drums" known as Korn, whose concerts are "an homage to 'roid rage," says Furman, that typically "end in a heap of sweltering bodies--spent from mirroring Korn's death-defying onstage antics." Death-defying? Well, the lads do owe a certain debt to Iggy Pop, though their antics don't really seem to be in quite the same league as the erstwhile Stooges leader's, let alone those of shock rockers like G. G. Allin or Wayne County. But Korn's is the sound of sullen youth, Y2K style, a rap and heavy metal fusion that youngsters who are not all thinking vile and malevolent thoughts respond to; and Furman's book, though fawning at times, tells the band's story well. Acquire it quick, though, before the next wave hits, and then, perhaps, schedule a staff retreat to go moshing the next time Korn komes to town.
Mike TribbyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
